It is always such a joy to launch a new year with a new season announcement, and I hope that you’ve had a chance to explore the varied offerings of the 2019–20 season. One of the most exciting for me is the inception of a new Mozart trilogy, composed of the operas he wrote with librettist Lorenzo da Ponte—The Marriage of Figaro, Così fan tutte, and Don Giovanni.

What an incredible year of opera we have just experienced!

It all began on April 13 when we began our first musical rehearsals for the Ring cycle, ushering in eight months of intense creativity and transformational artistic experiences onstage.

The Ring was one of those moments that defined San Francisco Opera as one of the great opera companies of the world: a level of excellence in all aspects of our art and craft that made this Ring a life-changing experience for many, and one that scaled the heights of emotional possibility.

We are currently in the midst of our highly acclaimed production of It’s a Wonderful Life, the new holiday opera by Jake Heggie and Gene Scheer, co-commissioned with Houston Grand Opera (where it premiered in 2016) and Indiana University. I have been thrilled by the heartfelt reaction from audiences and critics alike—it is a work for which a pack of Kleenex is pretty much a necessity as we follow the journeys of George Bailey and his guardian angel, Clara.