50 Years of Opera in the Park: A Love Story in Music and Tradition
(1971)/Photo Unknown)
Among those who gather each year, few stories reflect the heart of the tradition as clearly as that of Bob Meyer and Dianne Boate. For over forty years, Bob arrives at 5 AM with a tarp and Bloody Marys, Dianne comes later with homemade cake, and friends join them as the day progresses. Their devotion to one another is woven so tightly into the ritual that it’s impossible to separate their love story from the tradition itself.
1. Bob Meyer/Courtesy of Jeff Lee 2. Far left- Dianne, Center Bob Meyer, 90th Bday & Friends (2018)/Photo: Drew Altizer 3. Bob and friends/Courtesy of Jeff Lee
How It Began
Opera in the Park began in 1971, thanks to the persistence of Parks and Recreation’s Mario Cotrubo. The inaugural performance was modest: a few singers on the Music Concourse band shell stage, a young conductor, Charles Wilson, and a curious crowd listening under the trees to Evelyn Lear, Irene Dalis, and Thomas Stewart.
Within a couple of years, it blossomed into a civic ritual. Luciano Pavarotti and Beverly Sills’s appearances in the 1970s drew record-breaking audiences, followed by luminaries such as Marilyn Horne and Montserrat Caballé singing together in 1981. Opera was no longer confined to gilded theaters; it was performed and enjoyed in the open air for a diverse crowd of both opera enthusiasts and newcomers.
1. Luciano Pavarotti (1979)/Photo: Carol Johnson 2. Beverly Sills (1976)/Photo: Carol Johnson
It was during this blossoming moment that Bob and Dianne joined. They met in 1979 and attended their first Opera in the Park together. They recall it as though it were yesterday: “I remember exactly what I wore—a blue‑and‑white blouse, a denim skirt I’d made myself, and a chocolate cake I carried in. Everyone was so happy. It was magical,” said Dianne. “And don’t forget Pavarotti,” Bob adds in quickly.
1. Soprano Montserrat Caballé and Mezzo-soprano Marilyn Horne (1981-82)/Photo: Carol Johnson
A Ritual of the Meadow
Since that first picnic, they haven’t missed a year. Bob is legendary among their circle and staff for arriving at five in the morning. With Irish coffee in hand, he claims their spot. “I’ve been doing this every year,” he says, smiling. “I’m the first one there.” Everyone knows how to find them: just look for the giant watermelon umbrella taped to the fence, a beacon for new arrivals and old companions alike. By late morning, the annual guests arrive, and the meadow itself seems to join in the reunion.
The event has also become Bob’s birthday tradition, born on September 12. He recalls it only landing on his actual birth day once, in 1981, but that didn’t matter to the group of friends who flew in from around the world to celebrate him and the music. Nor did it matter to the locals who befriended Bob and Dianne once a year, all bringing champagne, elaborate picnics, and festival-like exuberance. Some are surgeons, winemakers, politicians, or international film festival producers, but at Opera in the Park everyone shares the same ground cloth.
1. Dianne cutting cake/Courtesy of Dianne Boate 2. Cake by Dianne/Courtesy of Dianne Boate 3. Bob Meyer/Courtesy of Jeff Lee
Dianne’s cakes became legendary. What started as a chocolate birthday cake soon became a kind of park cakewalk. “One year I baked an alligator cake with chocolate‑chip scales and a split of champagne in its mouth,” she recalls. “I guess it turned into a dragon. This year, I’m planning a white coconut alligator—an albino.” She started selling her cakes to restaurants and fending off greedy mouths that would try to bite into Bob’s cake before the candles were blown out.
Where Opera Belongs to Everyone
In 1991, after earthquake damage closed the band shell, the event moved to Robin Williams Meadow (formerly named after Senator William Sharon). The atmosphere leveled the experience, making everyone feel welcome. For Bob and Dianne, the joy lies in how it breaks down barriers: “...newcomers and veterans side by side, sharing food, sharing song,” said Bob.
They’ve witnessed unforgettable moments. “One year, Pene Pati stopped the meadow cold with a soaring rendition of Over the Rainbow. Everybody went quiet,” Bob remembers. “The whole crowd just fell apart, not a dry eye in the park,” adds Dianne.
Pene Pati (2016-17)/Photo: Matthew Washburn
Of course, not everything went smoothly. During Pamela Rosenberg’s time as General Director, a helicopter once hovered above the site so closely that the performance came to a sudden stop. Bob still recalls the moment with a shake of his head: “The singers just couldn’t be heard over the noise. Pamela was on the stage waving her arms at the helicopter. It was terrible.”
“One year, which is pretty good odds, the show was rained out,” said Dianne. “Yes, and then there was the year Pavarotti didn’t show up. That was an angry civilized crowd,” said Bob.
1. Pamela Rosenberg (2005)/Photo: Stefan Cohen 2. Nicola Luisotti (2005)/Photo: Stefan Cohen 3. 2005/Photo: Stefan Cohen
Even when COVID silenced the stage, Bob refused to let tradition die. “When COVID hit, Opera in the Park had to shut down for two years. So I started Opera on the Island. I hired an electrician, set up woofer speakers by the water, and we had a picnic. It was fun but we were all sure glad when San Francisco Opera got to come back.”
From Diva-Driven to People-Powered
After Pavarotti’s no-show in 1982, the realization that no one artist should carry the weight of the event, the performance model changed. Opera in the Park evolved to reflect a more inclusive vision, one truer to its origins. Rather than hinge on a single megastar, the concerts started featuring a constellation of voices: stars of the mainstage season, rising Adler Fellows, and surprise guests. Grand artists like J’Nai Bridges, Daniela Mack, Dmitri Hvorostovsky, Brian Mulligan, and Christian Van Horn, among others, electrify the stage. There is always an unmistakable moment when the crowd realizes they’re not just spectators but part of the experience.
1. Daniela Mack (2008-09)/Photo: Kristen Loken 2. J’Nai Bridges (2016-17/Photo: Cory Weaver 3. Brian Mulligan (2010-11)/Photo: Cory Weaver
For Bob and Dianne, this gathering has become a fixture of their lives. As Dianne puts it with a smile, “For us, Opera in the Park and Toys for Tots are the two things we never miss each year.”
A Legacy of Harmony
Half a century on, Opera in the Park survives not just because of the singers and visionary conductors like Donald Runnicles, Nicola Luisotti, and now Eun Sun Kim, but because of the people who give it life, year after year. Families, friends, and strangers sharing food, shade, and applause. It’s no accident that “Libiamo” from La Traviata became the sing-along encore. Printed “Bravo!” cards even include lyrics, inviting newcomers to try their hand at Verdi. “Oh, yeah, we sing. Loud and proud,” said Bob.
1. & 2. Opera Fans (2007) 3. David Gockley (2007)/Photos: Unknown
Join Bob, Dianne, and San Francisco Opera
On Sunday, September 7, 2025, the meadow will bloom again. Music Director Eun Sun Kim will lead a concert drawn from the season’s most stirring works. There will be veterans. There will be debutants. There will likely be a picnic blanket near you hosting brie, bubbles, and binoculars, vying to win this year’s picnic contest. And always, always: free. Opera in the Park has never charged admission. Not during strikes. Not after earthquakes. Not after pandemics. It is, in every sense, a gift from the Opera to the city. And the city—sun-kissed, blissed out, wine-sipping, aria-humming—gives that love right back.
1. Brett Waxdeck and Tom Horn (2022)/Photo: Drew Altizer 2. Maestro Eun Sun Kim (2024)/Kristen Loken 3. Maria Manetti Shrem, Mauro Aprile Zanetti, and Meron Foster (2023)/Photo: Drew Altizer
Near the fence, you’ll find Bob and Dianne, anchored by the watermelon umbrella, ready with cake and champagne. Opera in the Park is a gift. It belongs to everyone. But for Bob and Dianne, and many others, it has been far more.
As Bob puts it, with the bluntness of a man who has lived a tremendous life:
“I’ve been to ten Super Bowls, lots of film festivals, even attended Grace Kelly’s wedding. But Opera in the Park—this belongs to me and Dianne. We built our life around it.”
And Dianne adds softly:
“Every year when the music starts, I still get goosebumps. We’ve had so many birthdays there, so many friends gathered. I can’t imagine my life without it.”
1. Bob Meyer (2024)/Courtesy of Jeff Lee 2. Dianne Boate/Courtesy of Dianne Boate 3. Bob and Dianne/Courtesy of Dianne Boate
Few embody the intersection of tradition and Innovation more completely than Bob and Dianne. They are living proof that opera is not only about stages and scores, but about communities built in harmony.
1. Matthew Shilvock, Tad and Dianne Taube General Director (2024)/Photo: Kristen Loken 2. Luciano Pavarotti (1979)/Photo: Unknown