San Francisco composer Erling Wold’s new chamber opera, Certitude & Joy, opens this week. The opera is a semi-autobiographical work that mixes Wold's personal struggle with religious faith with a real-life San Francisco. Wold is a renowned composer – his pieces have been played from the Bay Area to Bulgaria. He’s also an accomplished computer scientist, with multiple software patents to his name.
KALW’s Jen Chien spoke with Erling Wold about how he balances art and science, and about the effort to make meaning out of tragedy, through music.