Opera, jazz, crushed clowns and singing nuns

It’s a music-filled week in Bellingham with some of the city’s finest jazz artists, as well as acclaimed touring musicians. Historic Fairhaven stars in a couple of leading roles, when you can learn about two icons of the neighborhood — “Dirty” Dan Harris and the Fairhaven Hotel. Western’s Opera Theatre presents a duet of thought-provoking productions, and the hills come alive at Skagit Valley College! 

Western Washington University’s Opera Theatre presents two one-act operas: Carlisle Floyd’s gritty American operatic play “Slow Dusk,” followed by Giacomo Puccini’s sublime “Suor Angelica” at 7:30 p.m. April 21 through 23 and 2 p.m. April 24 at the Performing Arts Center Choir Room 16. 

Both pieces are set in the late 1950s and speak to the oppression of women hidden under the guise of religious righteousness.