Mary Poland has been elected as the President of the San Francisco Opera Guild. Poland, who will succeed Jane Mudge, was announced as President on Tuesday, Nov. 13, at the organization’s annual meeting at the Westin St. Francis San Francisco on Union Square. She will serve a two-year term. Her leadership will kick off the 80th anniversary of the San {…}
As we get ready for Thanksgiving, we can look around and be thankful for all the opera options in North America. Here’s a look at what you can check out before you start to think about your Thanksgiving feast. Poppea – Bare Opera It might be a reduced version of Monteverdi’s masterpiece, but it remains a vital piece of work {…}
The San Francisco Opera will present the San Francisco Opera Chorus in concert on Friday, Nov. 30, 2018. Company Chorus Director Ian Robertson will lead the singers in a diverse program of a cappella choral music and accompanied works with instrumental support from Associate Chorus Master and pianist Fabrizio Corona and members of the San Francisco Opera Orchestra. The concert will {…}
The San Francisco Opera Guild will present its sixth annual “An Evening on the Stage” to honor John A. and Cynthia Fry Gunn. The event will take place on Nov. 28, 2018. At the event, John Gunn, Chairman of San Francisco Opera’s Board of Director and Cynthia Fry Gunn, an arts patron, will be presented with the Opera Guild’s 2018 {…}
David Daniels has been removed from the San Francisco Opera’s upcoming production of “Orlando.” The San Francisco Opera has announced in a press statement that “it is removing countertenor David Daniels from the role of Medoro in the Company’s June 2019 presentation of Handel’s ‘Orlando.’” The company said in a statement that “the decision to part ways with Mr. Daniels, for business {…}
The San Francisco Opera Center has announced its 2019 Adler Fellows. The 12 recipients this coming year include sopranos Mary Evelyn Hangley and Natalie Image; mezzo-sopranos Ashley Dixon and Simone McIntosh; countertenor Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen; tenors Zhengyi Bai, Christopher Colmenero, and Christopher Oglesby; baritone SeokJong Baek; and bass-baritone Christian Pursell. Hangley, McIntosh, Bai, Colmenero, Oglesby, and Baek are entering their first year as Adler fellows while Image, Ashley Dixon, Cohen, {…}
In just a few weeks, the San Francisco Opera will showcase Jake Heggie and Gene Scheer’s “It’s a Wonderful Life.” In anticipation of the production’s opening, the company held an event on Nov. 1, 2018, to showcase music, story and theme genesis designed for educators and the press. Both Heggie and Scheer were in attendance alongside Dramaturg Kip Cranna, soprano Kearstin {…}
The San Francisco Opera is set to present the West Coast premiere of “It’s a Wonderful Life” by composer Jake Heggie and librettist Gene Scheer in nine holiday-season performances. The opera, scheduled to be performed from Nov. 17 through Dec. 9, is a co-production between San Francisco Opera, Houston Grand Opera and the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music and {…}
Like last week’s list, you’ll see a lot of classic works up for recommendation. But you’ll also see a showcase featuring brand new vocal works. Let’s dig in (in alphabetical order by company). Modularis – Experiments in Opera On Friday and Saturday, this unique company will showcase four new works for voice and modular synthesizer. Even if modern opera isn’t {…}
The San Francisco Opera is teaming up with the Compass Family Services and Community Housing Partnership for the “Earn Your Wings” campaign. Both Compass Family Services and Community Housing Partnership help the homeless in San Francisco find stable housing and find economic self-sufficiency. The campaign is inspired by the company’s upcoming “It’s a Wonderful Life,” and during National Hunger and {…}
It’s National Opera Week, so as you can imagine, there are a ton of operas being offered this weekend. So we looked through and picked out the five we feel you have to see no matter what (in alphabetical order by company). You’ll notice that many are slowly but surely drawing to a close and this might just be your {…}