San Francisco Opera Announces Updated 2022–23 Centennial Season Initiatives and Events
Release date: 7/21/2022
SAN FRANCISCO OPERA ANNOUNCES UPDATED
2022–23 CENTENNIAL SEASON INITIATIVES AND EVENTS:
PARTNERSHIP WITH THE DOLBY FAMILY TO OFFER
$10 TICKETS TO BAY AREA RESIDENTS
OPERA AT THE BALLPARK FREE SIMULCAST OF VERDI’S LA TRAVIATA
EIGHT MAINSTAGE OPERAS INCLUDE TWO NEW WORKS, THREE NEW PRODUCTIONS AND THREE WORKS WITH IMPORTANT TIES TO
SAN FRANCISCO OPERA
Special Centennial Events Include Bohème Out of the Box,
The Traviata Encounter, Free Streaming of Historic Recordings, Exhibitions,
Community Open House and The Opera in You Storytelling Program
Join the Celebration at sfopera.com/100
For Tickets, Visit sfopera.com or Call (415) 864-3330
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Updated_Centennial_Events.pdf Photos
San Francisco Opera celebrates its first 100 years with a blockbuster 2022–23 opera season and an array of opportunities for deep engagement with the Company’s history. San Francisco Opera’s centennial will be marked by activities designed to commemorate the past and welcome the community into the exciting new era just beginning under the baton of Caroline H. Hume Music Director Eun Sun Kim.
San Francisco Opera announces a new partnership with the Dolby Family to offer Opera for the Bay, a reduced-price ticket program for Bay Area residents throughout the Centennial Season. In collaboration with the San Francisco Giants, Opera at the Ballpark makes its return on November 11 with a free simulcast of Giuseppe Verdi’s La Traviata to the videoboard at Oracle Park. On October 23, the Company will open its doors for Community Open House, a day of fun and exploration as families, music fans and the opera-curious witness the magic of opera from behind the scenes. The Traviata Encounter (November 19) will offer the first act of Verdi’s opera and an immersive after-party inspired by the decadence of Belle Epoque Paris. The very first opera to be presented by San Francisco Opera 100 years ago, Giacomo Puccini’s La Bohème, will be delivered to several Bay Area communities in a converted shipping container with Bohème Out of the Box in 2023.
The Company invites everyone to develop and share their own stories through The Opera in You writing program. In a series of digital releases, Streaming the First Century invites people from around the world to explore landmark San Francisco Opera performances with a cohort of expert guides. Around the Bay Area, public exhibitions will relate the story of San Francisco Opera’s first century through a variety of lenses, from an exhibition of rare costumes and artifacts at the SFO Museum at San Francisco International Airport to explorations of the Company’s roots in the Italian community at the Museo Italo Americano and the City’s longstanding support for the Opera at the San Francisco Public Library.
On September 26, 1923, Gaetano Merola inaugurated his new resident company for the opera-loving metropolis of San Francisco with a performance of Puccini’s La Bohème at the Civic Auditorium. A century later, San Francisco Opera remains a vital and dynamic artistic institution. Its culture of innovation has led to pioneering uses of technology and repertory-expanding new works by leading composers; its audience has witnessed the American debuts of operatic legends; and its training programs have equipped generations of new artists for stages around the world.
San Francisco Opera is one of only three American opera companies to celebrate 100 years (the Metropolitan Opera will launch its 137th season this year and Cincinnati Opera marked its centenary in 2020). San Francisco Opera’s Centennial Season begins with an event-filled opening weekend that includes the Opera Ball: The Centennial Celebration (September 9), the world premiere of John Adams’ new opera Antony and Cleopatra (September 10) and the free Opera in the Park concert at Golden Gate Park (September 11).
UPDATED CENTENNIAL EVENTS AND ACTIVITIES CALENDAR
Dolby Family’s Opera for the Bay Ticket Initiative
As the Company celebrates 100 years of producing opera in the Bay Area, the Dolby Family is providing a new benefit to residents. Throughout the Centennial Season, $10 tickets in prime seating sections will be available to anyone with a Bay Area mailing address zip code (beginning with 940–954) who has not attended San Francisco Opera in the past three years. The Dolby Family is generously offering 100 Opera for the Bay seats for every mainstage performance.
Dagmar Dolby said: “100 years ago, San Francisco Opera was born through the confluence of bold ideas, great artistry and passionate support. With the Company now entering its second century, we want to invite people of all ages and backgrounds around the Bay Area to experience the art produced by this dynamic institution—their opera company. We hope the Opera for the Bay ticket initiative is the catalyst that encourages the newcomer, entices the opera curious and welcomes back those who have not been in a while. This once-in-a-lifetime Centennial Season is the perfect time to be inspired.”
The Dolby Family’s Opera for the Bay tickets will be available on a first-come basis at sfopera.com one month before the first performance of each opera, starting on August 9 for the Centennial Celebration Concert and Antony and Cleopatra. Each eligible resident may purchase up to two $10 tickets for one performance during the 2022–23 Season. For more information, visit sfopera.com/operaforthebay.
Centennial Exhibitions
Costumes worn on stage by San Francisco Opera stars, including Leontyne Price, Kirsten Flagstad and Dorothy Kirsten, along with rare photographs, set models and artifacts from the San Francisco Opera Archives will be exhibited throughout the year. In partnership with the SFO Museum at the San Francisco International Airport, the San Francisco Public Library, Museo Italo Americano and other community partners, rarely seen treasures from 100 years of San Francisco theatrical history will be on view around the city and the greater Bay Area in public exhibitions.
Streaming the First Century
For the first time, San Francisco Opera is providing digital access to a curated selection of historic radio broadcasts, house recordings, archival interviews and newly captured conversations. Streaming the First Century will feature highlights from San Francisco Opera’s preserved audio history in four free installments linked thematically to the Centennial Season’s onstage repertory. Contemporary scholars, performers and Company members introduce each milestone performance, which include a 20th-century work conducted with unforgettable intensity by a local legend, a neglected French romance dusted off for an only-in-San-Francisco dream cast, a banner Puccini night with three iconic artists all making role debuts and a beloved favorite in one of her most entrancing and provocative performances, among many others. More details will be announced for the four monthly releases beginning in September.
Community Open House, October 23
In addition to the Opera’s 100th season, this year also marks the 90th anniversary of the War Memorial Opera House. In celebration of both anniversaries, San Francisco Opera opens the doors of its historic home at a free event on Sunday, October 23 to reveal some of the fun and magic that transpires inside one of the most beautiful theaters in the world. The day’s activities will include musical performances, backstage show-and-tell tours, demonstrations of stage magic, an operatic scavenger hunt and hands-on crafts. Bring the whole family and spend the day in one of the Bay Area’s historic community gathering spaces and a world-renowned site for opera.
Opera at the Ballpark Simulcast of Verdi’s La Traviata, November 11
In partnership with the San Francisco Giants, San Francisco Opera’s new production of Verdi’s La Traviata—the Company’s first new staging of the romantic classic in 35 years—will be jointly unveiled at the War Memorial Opera House and the stunning 71-foot-high x 153-foot-wide, 4K videoboard at Oracle Park on Friday, November 11 through a free, live Opera at the Ballpark simulcast. As Music Director Eun Sun Kim gives the down beat and the curtain rises for the first time on director Shawna Lucey’s new vision for La Traviata, audiences on the field and in the stands at the picturesque home of the Giants will share in the opening night excitement while enjoying ballpark concessions. Since 2007, the popular Bay Area event has attracted more than 300,000 attendees. Registration for Opera at the Ballpark will open in August. For more information about this free community event visit sfopera.com/ballpark.
The Traviata Encounter, November 19
This one-night-only event offers attendees the opportunity to experience the first act of La Traviata in the auditorium and then enjoy a rollicking after-party throughout the lobbies which will be transformed with inspiration from the remaining portions of the opera, in collaboration with the production’s creative team. Special food and drink offerings, dancing and selfie-worthy moments will complete this immersive encounter designed to transport guests into the decadent setting of Verdi’s masterwork.
The Opera in You
Stories connect us to our past, present and future. The stories we tell can reveal amazing journeys and teach us empathy. Opera is storytelling on a grand scale where big ideas and big emotions make us laugh, cry and bring comfort. Whether dramatic tales of triumph, survival, perseverance or hope, everyone has a story to tell, no matter their age or background. San Francisco Opera’s Department of Diversity, Equity and Community leads The Opera in You, a new story writing program to uncover the stories that are within each of us. Through alliances with partners, including the Ruth Asawa School of the Arts and the San Francisco Public Library system, anyone can participate in free 5- or 9-week workshops in memoir writing and storytelling (space permitting; tools will also be made available online). Participants will have an opportunity to dive deeper into the creative experience with their stories and share them with the public.
Bohème Out of the Box
An abridged version of Puccini’s La Bohème will travel around the Bay Area in a converted shipping container and be performed by the San Francisco Opera Adler Fellows in Italian with English narration and keyboard accompaniment. These free performances on a state-of-the-art mobile stage will bring powerful emotions and soaring arias directly to communities in a relaxed, intimate environment. Dates and locations will be announced soon.
Bookmark sfopera.com/100 for the latest news and updates.
THE CENTENNIAL SEASON OPERAS
San Francisco Opera’s 100th season is anchored by the premieres of new works from two important Bay Area composers: the world premiere of Antony and Cleopatra by John Adams, which was commissioned for the Company’s centenary, and the local premiere of Gabriela Lena Frank’s El último sueño de Frida y Diego, a San Francisco Opera co-commission with San Diego Opera. Opening September 10 as the first opera of the Centennial Season, Antony and Cleopatra will be directed by Elkhanah Pulitzer and features a cast headed by Gerald Finley and Amina Edris under the baton of Eun Sun Kim. El último sueño de Frida y Diego, opening in June 2023, stars Daniela Mack and Alfredo Daza as the iconic artists in a staging directed by Lorena Maza in her Company debut.
New San Francisco Opera productions include director Shawna Lucey’s staging of Verdi’s La Traviata starring soprano Pretty Yende in her Company debut; Gluck’s Orpheus and Eurydice in a new production by Matthew Ozawa featuring countertenor Jakub Józef Orliński as Orfeo and a new interpretation of Puccini’s Madame Butterfly by director Amon Miyamoto starring soprano Karah Son and tenor Michael Fabiano.
Two towering operatic masterpieces of the twentieth century return to San Francisco Opera where each had its American premiere during the 1950s: Francis Poulenc’s Dialogues of the Carmelites with Heidi Stober as Blanche de la Force and Richard Strauss’ momentous Die Frau ohne Schatten featuring the returns of Nina Stemme, Camilla Nylund and former San Francisco Opera Music Director Sir Donald Runnicles in David Hockney’s production. Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin will be presented in the Bay Area premiere of Robert Carsen’s acclaimed production. Centennial celebrations reach another pinnacle on June 16, 2023 with the 100th Anniversary Concert, a festive event that looks back at the Company’s first century and on toward the future.
TICKETS AND INFORMATION
Subscriptions for San Francisco Opera’s Centennial Season operas are priced from $178 to $3,248 for Full Series (6–8 productions), $42 to $1,624 for Half Series (2–4 productions) and a Design Your Own (DYO) option (minimum three operas). Single (non-subscription) tickets for the Centennial Season range from $26 to $422 and are available at the San Francisco Opera Box Office, by phone at (415) 864-3330 and online at sfopera.com.
The Dolby Family’s Opera for the Bay tickets will be available on a first-come basis at sfopera.com to eligible residents one month before the first performance of each opera, starting on August 9 for the Centennial Celebration Concert and Antony and Cleopatra. Eligible ticket holders must have a Bay Area mailing address zip code (beginning with 940–954) and have not attended San Francisco Opera in the past three years. Each eligible resident may purchase up to two $10 tickets for one performance during the 2022–23 Season. For more information, visit sfopera.com/operaforthebay.
Ticket and registration information for other Centennial Season events is included in the attached calendar.
The San Francisco Opera Box Office window is located in the Opera House at 301 Van Ness Avenue. Box Office hours are Monday 10 a.m.–5 p.m.; Tuesday through Friday 10 a.m.–6 p.m.; Saturday 10 a.m.–6 p.m. (Saturdays phone only). A $2 per-ticket facility fee is included in Balcony 1, 2 and 3 zone prices; all other zones include a $3 per-ticket facility fee.
For information about subscriber benefits and special series subscriptions, including the Out-of-Town Series offering two or three operas over a 2–3 day period and the Student & Teacher Series offering 50% off select Full and Half Series, visit sfopera.com/subscribe.
COVID-19 safety protocols will be in effect for all performances and events. For up-to-date information about San Francisco Opera’s safety measures, visit sfopera.com/safetyfirst.
Gifts of all sizes help create San Francisco Opera’s programs. To donate, visit sfopera.com/give.
All casting, programs, schedules and ticket prices are subject to change. For further information about San Francisco Opera’s 2022–23 Season, visit sfopera.com.
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2022–23 CENTENNIAL CALENDAR
OPERA BALL: THE CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION
Friday, September 9, 2022 at 8 p.m.
War Memorial Opera House, 301 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco
San Francisco Opera’s Centennial Season opens with a benefit gala, Opera Ball: The Centennial Celebration, presented by San Francisco Opera and San Francisco Opera Guild, and concert featuring Music Director Eun Sun Kim leading the San Francisco Opera Orchestra with soprano Nadine Sierra, tenors Michael Fabiano and Pene Pati and baritone Lucas Meachem. Opera Ball: The Centennial Celebration, co-chaired by Jack Calhoun and Maryam Muduroglu, includes pre-performance cocktails and dinner at San Francisco’s City Hall followed by an after-party in the City Hall rotunda. For more information and tickets to Opera Ball benefit gala events and the Centennial Celebration Concert, visit sfopera.com/seasons/2022-23-season/opera-ball/.
World Premiere
ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA by John Adams
September 10–October 5, 2022 (7 performances)
War Memorial Opera House, 301 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco
The highly anticipated new opera by Bay Area composer John Adams is based on Shakespeare’s tragedy and commissioned to inaugurate San Francisco Opera’s Centennial Season. Starring bass-baritone Gerald Finley and soprano Amina Edris in the title roles, the work is directed by Elkhanah Pulitzer and conducted by Music Director Eun Sun Kim.
SAN FRANCISCO PUBLIC LIBRARY
Bringing the Opera to the People and the People to the Opera
September 10, 2022–January 12, 2023
Main Library, 100 Larkin Street, 4th Floor, Art, Music & Recreation Center, San Francisco
FREE
Materials from the collection of the San Francisco Public Library highlight the ways that San Francisco Opera has drawn upon the local community to realize its performances and create a dynamic social scene that nourishes the people of San Francisco. The exhibition is free and open to the public. More information: sfpl.org/exhibits/2022/09/10/bringing-opera-people-and-people-opera.
OPERA IN THE PARK
Sunday, September 11, 2022 at 1:30 p.m.
Robin Williams Meadow, Golden Gate Park, San Francisco
FREE
As part of opening weekend, San Francisco Opera’s Opera in the Park will feature artists from the Company’s 2022 Fall Season with the San Francisco Opera Orchestra, led by Music Director Eun Sun Kim. This annual concert, held at Robin Williams Meadow in Golden Gate Park, is free and open to the public. More information at sfopera.com/operainthepark.
STREAMING THE FIRST CENTURY: SESSION 1
Monday, September 12, 2022 (online release date)
FREE
As the stage is prepared for Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin (opening September 25), the first installment of free historic recordings will be released. Showcasing the Slavic and Czech repertories, the session features unforgettable performances of works by Dmitri Shostakovich and Leoš Janáček from the stage of the War Memorial Opera House along with excerpts from other works spanning the past century with new introductory essays, interviews, archival photo galleries and program articles. Streams are free to the public. To access and for more information, visit sfopera.com/100.
EUGENE ONEGIN by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
September 25–October 14, 2022 (7 performances)
War Memorial Opera House, 301 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco
Absent from San Francisco Opera’s repertory for nearly two decades, Tchaikovsky’s romantic masterpiece returns in the acclaimed production by director Robert Carsen and features the debuts of several rising operatic artists including soprano Evgenia Muraveva in her U.S. debut as Tatyana and baritone Gordon Bintner in the title role. Greek maestro Vassilis Christopoulos, also in his American debut, leads San Francisco Opera’s combined orchestral and vocal forces.
STREAMING THE FIRST CENTURY: SESSION 2
Monday, October 10, 2022 (online release date)
FREE
With the imminent opening of Francis Poulenc’s Dialogues of the Carmelites later in the week, Session 2 of Streaming the First Century offers a deep dive into the Company’s history of presenting works from the French tradition. Details to be announced. Streams are free to the public. To access and for more information, visit sfopera.com/100.
DIALOGUES OF THE CARMELITES by Francis Poulenc
October 15–30, 2022 (5 performances)
War Memorial Opera House, 301 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco
In honor of the Company’s U.S. premiere of the work in 1957, Dialogues of the Carmelites, a searing mid-century classic, returns to the War Memorial Opera House stage in Olivier Py’s award-winning staging. Music Director Eun Sun Kim conducts Poulenc’s haunting, poetic score and a cast headed by Heidi Stober as Blanche, the fearful novice to an order of Carmelite nuns facing the guillotine, and Michelle Bradley as the new prioress Madame Lidoine.
COMMUNITY OPEN HOUSE
Sunday, October 23, 2022
War Memorial Opera House, 301 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco
FREE
Explore the behind-the-scenes magic of opera inside the War Memorial Opera House. Family-friendly activities, performances and demonstrations will be offered throughout the day. Community Open House is free and open to the public. For more information visit sfopera.com/100.
STREAMING THE FIRST CENTURY: SESSION 3
Monday, November 5, 2022 (online release date)
FREE
In commemoration of the Company’s new productions of two key works of the Italian repertory, Gluck’s Orpheus and Eurydice and Verdi’s La Traviata, Streaming the First Century delves into the Company’s Italian roots. Featured recordings and other details to be announced. Streams are free to the public. To access and for more information, visit sfopera.com/100.
New Production
LA TRAVIATA by Giuseppe Verdi
November 11–December 3, 2022 (8 performances)
War Memorial Opera House, 301 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco
One of opera’s most beloved works returns to San Francisco Opera in a new staging—the first original La Traviata production built by the Company in 35 years—by director Shawna Lucey. South African star soprano Pretty Yende makes her highly anticipated Company debut as Violetta and Eun Sun Kim conducts.
OPERA AT THE BALLPARK
Free Live Simulcast of Verdi’s La Traviata
Friday, November 11, 2022 at 7:30 p.m.
Oracle Park, 24 Willie Mays Plaza, San Francisco
FREE
Baseball and opera fans alike can experience the opening of San Francisco Opera’s new production of Verdi’s La Traviata at Oracle Park. See and hear the internationally renowned artists of San Francisco Opera while enjoying garlic fries and other ballpark concessions during this live simulcast from the stage of the War Memorial Opera House to the videoboard at the home of the San Francisco Giants. Free and open to the public. Registration opens in August. More information available here sfopera.com/ballpark.
New Production
ORPHEUS AND EURYDICE by Christoph Willibald Gluck
November 15–December 1, 2022 (5 performances)
War Memorial Opera House, 301 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco
Gluck’s retelling of the Orpheus myth revolutionized opera during the eighteenth century and still compels audiences today with its magical alloy of poetry, melody and movement. In his new production which traces the stages of Orpheus’ grief, director Matthew Ozawa brings this compelling work back to the Company’s stage for the first time in more than six decades. Polish countertenor Jakub Józef Orliński stars with period instrument specialist Peter Whelan leading the Orchestra, choreography by Rena Butler and the work’s stirring choruses prepared by San Francisco Opera Chorus Director John Keene.
THE TRAVIATA ENCOUNTER
Saturday, November 19, 2022
War Memorial Opera House, 301 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco
Experience the romance, drama and passion of opera at The Traviata Encounter. Enjoy the first act of Verdi’s beloved opera, followed by an immersive Traviata-inspired after-party complete with drinks, dancing and selfie-worthy moments inside the transformed Opera House. Tickets range from $39-$189. For more information, visit sfopera.com/TheEncounter.
SFO MUSEUM AT SAN FRANCISCO INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
San Francisco Opera: A Centennial Celebration
November 19, 2022–August 20, 2023
San Francisco International Airport, Harvey Milk Terminal 1
FREE
San Francisco Opera: A Centennial Celebration will showcase the vibrant history of San Francisco’s beloved opera company. Produced by SFO Museum, the exhibition will feature one hundred years of costumes, artifacts and images from the collections of San Francisco Opera, the Museum of Performance + Design and the Metropolitan Opera Archives. Exhibition highlights include a costume worn by Beniamino Gigli during San Francisco Opera’s inaugural 1923 season and a focus on opera superstars who have graced San Francisco’s stage, including Kirsten Flagstad, Lily Pons, Dorothy Kirsten and Leontyne Price. San Francisco Opera: A Centennial Celebration will be on view post-security in Harvey Milk Terminal 1 of the San Francisco International Airport to SFO ticketed passengers; the exhibition can also be viewed by appointment by emailing curator@flysfo.com. More information: sfomuseum.org/exhibitions/upcoming-exhibition-san-francisco-opera-centennial-celebration.
THE FUTURE IS NOW: ADLER FELLOWS CONCERT
Friday, December 2, 2022 at 7:30 p.m.
Herbst Theatre, Veterans Building, 401 Van Ness, San Francisco
Music Director Eun Sun Kim conducts this annual showcase for San Francisco Opera’s resident artists in opera scenes and arias with the San Francisco Opera Orchestra at the Herbst Theatre. Tickets range from $34 to $69 and are available at sfopera.com/on-stage/adler-fellows-concert. For more information about the San Francisco Opera Center and the Adler Fellowship Program, visit sfopera.com/operacenter.
STREAMING THE FIRST CENTURY: SESSION 4
Monday, December 5, 2022 (online release date)
FREE
Streaming the First Century prepares audiences for the Company’s June 2023 presentations of Strauss’ Die Frau ohne Schatten with a tour of German-language highlights from San Francisco Opera’s first 100 years. The works of Strauss, Wagner, Beethoven and Korngold are featured. Details to be announced. Streams are free to the public. To access and for more information, visit sfopera.com/100.
MUSEO ITALO AMERICANO
March 16–September 30, 2023
Fort Mason Center, 2 Marina Blvd., San Francisco
The Museo Italo Americano is proud to celebrate the 100th anniversary of San Francisco Opera with a multimedia exhibition focusing on the Company’s Italian and Italian American roots. The exhibition will trace the history of Italian opera in the city from the Gold Rush years through the establishment of the opera company in 1923, including the pivotal role of founding director Gaetano Merola and the impact of Italian and Italian American artists on the Company, past and present.
BOHÈME OUT OF THE BOX
March–April 2023, Locations to be announced
FREE
San Francisco Opera takes Puccini’s compelling love story out of the Opera House and brings it into communities around the Bay Area. Audiences will be able to enjoy an abridged version of La Bohème performed by San Francisco Opera’s Adler Fellows live on a shipping-container-turned-opera stage. More information will be announced. For updates, visit sfopera.com/100.
New Co-Production
MADAME BUTTERFLY by Giacomo Puccini
June 3–July 1, 2023 (8 performances)
War Memorial Opera House, 301 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco
Puccini’s tragic masterpiece reveals itself as never before in this new production by director Amon Miyamoto which relates the story through the eyes and experience of Trouble, the child of Cio-Cio-San and Lieutenant B.F. Pinkerton. Eun Sun Kim conducts this compelling vision with costumes designed by the late fashion icon Kenzō Takada and a cast headed by Karah Son and Michael Fabiano.
DIE FRAU OHNE SCHATTEN by Richard Strauss
June 4–28, 2023 (5 performances)
War Memorial Opera House, 301 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco
Richard Strauss and librettist Hugo von Hofmannsthal’s fantastical fairy tale of motherhood and humanity was once considered impossible to present due to its musical and scenic demands. Undaunted, San Francisco Opera championed the modern masterwork, giving its American premiere in 1959 and returning to it many times. In this Centennial Season, Die Frau ohne Schatten returns under the baton of former San Francisco Opera Music Director Sir Donald Runnicles in the exuberant production by David Hockney and with an extraordinary cast headed by leading Straussian sopranos Nina Stemme and Camilla Nylund, along with debuting artists David Butt Philip, Johan Reuter and Linda Watson.
New Co-Commission
EL ÚLTIMO SUEÑO DE FRIDA Y DIEGO by Gabriela Lena Frank; libretto by Nilo Cruz
June 13–30, 2023 (5 performances)
War Memorial Opera House, 301 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco
In their pioneering new opera, Bay Area composer Gabriela Lena Frank and Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Nilo Cruz explore life, death and desire through two of the twentieth century’s iconic visual artists. Argentine mezzo-soprano Daniela Mack is Frida Kahlo, the Mexican painter who found the peace in death she never knew in life, and baritone Alfredo Daza is renowned muralist Diego Rivera. Conductor Roberto Kalb conducts the first Spanish opera presentation in Company history in the production by director Lorena Maza.
100TH ANNIVERSARY CONCERT
Friday, June 16, 2023 at 7:30 p.m.
War Memorial Opera House, 301 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco
San Francisco Opera’s Centennial Season culminates with a historic evening of music and memories. A roster of treasured San Francisco Opera artists will be featured with the San Francisco Opera Orchestra and Chorus in a program spanning the Company’s rich, 100-year history.
San Francisco Opera is sponsored, in part, by Norby Anderson, Jerome L. and Thao N. Dodson, The Dolby Family, Carol and Dixon Doll, Bertie Bialek Elliott, Peter Fenton and Kate Greer, Keith and Priscilla Geeslin, Gordon Getty, John A. and Cynthia Fry Gunn, Burgess and Elizabeth Jamieson, Franklin and Catherine Johnson, Edmund W. and Jeannik Méquet Littlefield Fund, Steven M. Menzies, Bernard and Barbro Osher, Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Shrem, Dianne and Tad Taube, Phyllis C. Wattis Endowment Funds, Diane B. Wilsey, and Barbara A. Wolfe.
Opera Ball: The Centennial Celebration is made possible, in part, by Opening Weekend Grand Sponsor Diane B. Wilsey. Additional concert support provided by Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Shrem.
Opera in the Park is made possible, in part, by Opening Weekend Grand Sponsor Diane B. Wilsey. Additional support provided by the William and Gretchen Kimball Fund.
Antony and Cleopatra is made possible, in part, by Opening Weekend Grand Sponsor Diane B. Wilsey. Additional support provided by Bertie Bialek Elliott; the Carol Franc Buck Foundation; Bob Ellis; John A. and Cynthia Fry Gunn; the Phyllis C. Wattis Fund for New Productions; and an award from the National Endowment for the Arts.
Eugene Onegin is made possible, in part, by Jerome L. and Thao N. Dodson; John A. and Cynthia Fry Gunn; the San Francisco Opera Guild; and Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Shrem.
Dialogues of the Carmelites is made possible, in part, by Louise Gund; Bernard and Barbro Osher; and Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Shrem.
La Traviata is made possible, in part, by Barbara A. Wolfe; Jerome L. and Thao N. Dodson; John A. and Cynthia Fry Gunn; Burgess and Elizabeth Jamieson; the Edmund W. and Jeannik Méquet Littlefield Fund; Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Shrem; and the Thomas Tilton Production Fund.
Orpheus and Eurydice is made possible, in part, by Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Shrem.
Madame Butterfly is made possible, in part, by Jerome L. and Thao N. Dodson; Burgess and Elizabeth Jamieson; and Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Shrem.
Die Frau ohne Schatten is made possible, in part, by Jerome L. and Thao N. Dodson; and Bernard and Barbro Osher.
El último sueño de Frida y Diego is made possible, in part, by Norby Anderson; John A. and Cynthia Fry Gunn; and Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Shrem.
The 100th Anniversary Concert is made possible, in part, by Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Shrem.
Centennial Exhibitions, Streaming the First Century, Community Open House, The Traviata Encounter, The Opera in You, and Bohème Out of the Box are made possible, in part, by the Creative Edge Fund, with major support from founding funders Carol and Dixon Doll, Peter Fenton and Kate Greer, Bob Ellis, and The Osher Audience of the Future Fund. Additional support for Streaming the First Century provided by Julie Dickson.
To learn more about becoming a sponsor or making a gift in honor of the Centennial Season, please contact Chief Philanthropy Officer Lisa Bury at lbury@sfopera.com or (415) 551-6226.
Yamaha is the official piano of San Francisco Opera.
San Francisco Opera is supported, in part, by a grant from Grants for the Arts.
OFFICIAL AIRLINE
San Francisco Opera is a member of
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PRESS PHOTOS: High-resolution, downloadable photographs for San Francisco Opera’s 2022–23 Season are available at sfopera.com/press.
For further press information, please contact San Francisco Opera Communications:
Julia Inouye (415) 565-6430 / jinouye@sfopera.com
Jeffery McMillan (415) 565-6451 / jmcmillan@sfopera.com
Teresa Concepcion (415) 565-6470 / tconcepcion@sfopera.com
*For the complete press release, including program, please view the attached PDF.
sfopera.com/100