On June 9, 2022, San Francisco Opera announced a new, multidisciplinary program titled “Instigators.”

The program is designed to guide future directions for the San Francisco. Six artists, or “instigators,” will take part in a number of performances, conversations, and immersive activities throughout the company’s campus. Each instigator will explore a certain avenue of artistic production to ultimately bring new perspectives to opera.

The inaugural cohort is comprised of writer/musician Jad Abumrad; writer/director Samantha Gorman; artistic director Abhishek Majumdar; design technologist Paula Te; chef/author Bryant Terry; and architect/software engineer Peter Zuspan.

“As we begin San Francisco Opera’s second century, I’m thrilled to welcome the Instigators into our artistic family,” said San Francisco General Director Matthew Shilvock in an official press release made by the company. “Creativity is in this Company’s DNA, and this bold initiative will allow us to surge forward with a group of innovators leading our R&D lab. Just as they push the boundaries of their own diverse disciplines, they will bring their rigor, intelligence and curiosity to opera. They will help us to envision future directions for our opera community and art form—ones we can’t even imagine at this moment. The donors to our Creative Edge Fund believe in the vital importance of exploration and risk, and I’m so grateful for their partnership as we embark on this new chapter.”