San Francisco Opera Blog

May 15, 2020

Bats vs. Batons: Are Opera Fans and Baseball Fans Really All That Different?

The fans are on their feet, cheering and whistling. You shout and clap along with everyone else, swept up in the sights and sounds, the rush of excitement. Are you at an opera performance or a baseball game?

April 25, 2020

Backstage with Matthew: Behind the Mask

We are a company that excels in solving complex problems in the theater, and it is so heartening to see that same creative urge shaping the Company’s response to the virus. We recently were able to make a large donation of personal protective equipment to UCSF from the Opera’s supplies, and our Costume Shop has been creating masks for the Bay Area’s community of hospitals and first responders.

May 1, 2019

San Francisco Opera Pays Tribute to Paris at Solidarity Concert

In a cathedral lit in the colors of the French flag, artists and musicians from around the Bay Area came together to pay tribute to San Francisco’s sister city, Paris, and the tragedy that befell it on April 15.

July 17, 2017

Don Giovanni with Garlic Fries: Tweets from Opera at the Ballpark

On Friday, June 30, more than 23,000 people of all ages kicked off the July 4th weekend with an evening of opera at AT&T Park. The free live simulcast of Mozart’s Don Giovanni came from the stage of the War Memorial Opera House to the 103-foot wide scoreboard at the home of the San Francisco Giants.

June 13, 2017

Tweeting Bohemian Paris

Continuing San Francisco Opera’s experiments with social media, a band of brave live tweeters attended last week’s final dress rehearsal of Puccini’s La Bohème. This hardy group of opera newbies and experts sent out observations, reactions and emojis by the dozen as onstage the romantic tragedy played out. Here are a few of their tweets under the hashtag #BohemeSF:

March 21, 2017

Save the National Endowment for the Arts

The NEA was founded in 1965 to encourage participation in the arts, recognize the importance of arts learning and celebrate America’s rich cultural heritage. These are not just noble goals for government, they are absolute necessities for society.

November 3, 2016 Aida

Live tweeters tackle visually stunning Aida

Some courageous twitter adventurers stepped into the War Memorial Opera House on Wednesday evening for an evening of brilliant singers, arresting visuals and timeless music. These are their thoughts—encapsulated in 140 characters.

June 30, 2016

Emerging Stars

Each year our stage is graced with superb operatic talent, but this season offers something completely new, thanks to the generosity of Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Shrem: our first-ever Emerging Star of the Year Competition and Award.

May 27, 2016 Carmen

Love, Lust and Murder: Live Tweeting Carmen

What happens when you gather twenty, social-savvy opera lovers for the final dress rehearsal of Bizet’s Carmen? They tweet about it!

December 7, 2015 The Magic Flute

Our Newest Collaboration with Music App Developer Smule

Over the last two years, we have been working with San Francisco-based musical app developer Smule to bring songs from productions like The Magic Flute and The Barber of Seville to the Smule Songbook, as well artist performances to the Smule app platform. Our latest collaboration gives users a taste of what it feels like to sing on stage at the War Memorial Opera House with the the “SF Opera” vocal effect in Sing! Karaoke on iOS.

October 26, 2015 The Magic Flute

Live Magic – Live Tweeting The Magic Flute Dress Rehearsal

Recently a group of social-savvy tweeters gathered at the Opera House to live tweet the final dress rehearsal of Mozart’s The Magic Flute.

July 6, 2015

Hitting it out of the Park: The Marriage of Figaro at the Ballpark

On July 3, opera fans converged on AT&T Park for the 9th simulcast from the War Memorial Opera House since 2006. Mozart’s classic, The Marriage of Figaro, was greeted with joy by over 30,000 spectators at the ballpark along with some 3,000 audience members in the House.

June 17, 2015

Live Tweeting a Marriage... of Figaro

On June 11 a brave band gathered in a box to live tweet their views from the final dress rehearsal of Mozart’s Marriage of Figaro.

June 15, 2015

Adler Profile: Edward Nelson

First year Adler Fellow Edward Nelson made his professional debut at San Francisco Opera this past weekend as Lieutenant John Buckley in the world premiere of Two Women.

May 26, 2015

The Dogs of San Francisco Opera

Today we're barking up a totally different tree! This blog is dedicated to our outstanding staff members and the four-legged furry friends that inspire them—#OperaDoggies!

April 29, 2015

Adler Profile: Zanda Svede

Second year Adler Fellow Zanda Švēde has graced the War Memorial stage countless times since she joined us last year. Originally from Latvia, Zanda has undoubtedly flourished during her time in San Francisco, and we can't wait to see her shine this Summer and Fall in our productions of La Ciociara, Lucia di Lammermoor, and The Magic Flute.

April 7, 2015

Adler Profile: Julie Adams

Julie Adams may be a first year Adler Fellow, but she is no stranger to San Francisco. Julie first came to SF for her undergraduate degree at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and never left, except to pursue further education at prestigious programs like Music Academy of the West and the International Vocal Arts Institute.

February 26, 2015

Adler Profile: Chong Wang

Chong Wang joins us as an Adler Fellow from Shijiazhuang, Hebei, China. Mr. Wang studied at the Conservatory of the People’s Liberation Party in China, and has performed numerous roles at Beijing’s National Centre for the Performing Arts...

February 25, 2015

5 Questions with Daniel Knapp

We're excited to welcome Daniel Knapp, our new Director of Production, to the San Francisco Opera family. We had the opportunity to sit down and ask him a few questions about his career in opera and his new home in San Francisco! Enjoy!

February 12, 2015 The Magic Flute

Jun Kaneko's Colorful World

The use of video projections to complement traditional scenery and backdrops is by now a familiar sight to most operagoers. Perhaps no production mounted at the War Memorial Opera House depends as heavily on this technology as Jun Kaneko’s whimsical interpretation of The Magic Flute, returning to our stage this fall.

June 17, 2014

Earl & Alexis Return to SFO: Somthin' That the Angels Done Plan

It was cold in New York in February, 2008 when I flew into LaGuardia airport, but not too cold...

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