San Francisco Opera's 2026–27 Season Opens September 12
Opening weekend festivities include Opera Ball and free Opera in the Park
Music Director Eun Sun Kim opens the season with Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra and conducts Massenet’s Manon, Wagner’s Das Rheingold in Francesca Zambello’s production and an all-Richard Strauss concert featuring the San Francisco Opera Orchestra
Summer 2027 performances of Das Rheingold mark first step toward complete cycles of Wagner’s The Ring of the Nibelung in Summer 2028
104th season includes the mainstage premiere of Thea Musgrave’s Mary, Queen of Scots, a celebratory Pride Concert and repertory favorites Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro and Puccini’s Tosca
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SAN FRANCISCO, CA (July 20, 2026) — San Francisco Opera’s 2026–27 Season kicks off Saturday, September 12 with the annual Opera Ball, co-presented with San Francisco Opera Guild, and Caroline H. Hume Music Director Eun Sun Kim leading Giuseppe Verdi’s SIMON BOCCANEGRA. The opening weekend celebrations continue the following day, September 13, when Kim and the San Francisco Opera Orchestra take the stage at Golden Gate Park with stars from the fall season for the annual free concert, OPERA IN THE PARK, at Robin Williams Meadow.
Eun Sun Kim’s exploration of works by Giuseppe Verdi and Richard Wagner each season brings masterworks by Verdi in Fall 2026 and Wagner in Summer 2027. Verdi’s SIMON BOCCANEGRA (September 12–27) opens the season with a cast headed by acclaimed baritone Amartuvshin Enkhbat in the title role, soprano Eleonora Buratto and tenor Joshua Guerrero making Company debuts as Amelia and Gabriele, respectively, and bass-baritone Christian Van Horn as Jacopo Fiesco. DAS RHEINGOLD (May 29–June 22, 2027), the first part of Wagner’s massive, four-opera cycle, The Ring of the Nibelung, marks the start of a journey toward complete Ring cycles in Francesca Zambello’s acclaimed production in Summer 2028.
Kim also conducts Jules Massenet’s tragic romance MANON (October 15–November 1) starring soprano Amina Edris and tenor Pene Pati, and on November 6 an all-Richard Strauss concert featuring soprano soloist Adela Zaharia on the stage of the War Memorial Opera House.
Scottish-born composer Thea Musgrave’s 1977 English-language opera, MARY, QUEEN OF SCOTS (September 20–October 4), first presented by Company affiliate Spring Opera Theater in 1979 at the Curran Theatre with the composer conducting, returns for its mainstage premiere. Director and designer Stewart Laing’s staging, a co-production with English National Opera, will be conducted by Italian maestro Clelia Cafiero in her house debut. Soprano Heidi Stober stars in the title role.
San Francisco Opera’s 2026–27 Season features revivals of repertory favorites by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Giacomo Puccini. Michael Cavanagh’s production of Mozart’s THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO (LE NOZZE DI FIGARO) (October 31–November 29) is directed by Shawna Lucey with Sebastian Weigle making his Company debut on the podium. Puccini’s TOSCA (June 4–July 2, 2027), historically one of San Francisco Opera’s artistic cornerstones, returns with soprano Rachel Willis-Sørensen singing the title role for the first time. On Friday, June 25, 2027 the Company celebrates LGBTQIA+ community and artistry with its third annual PRIDE CONCERT.
Chorus Director John Keene prepares the artists of the San Francisco Opera Chorus for the 2026–27 Season operas and leads them in concert at the Dianne and Tad Taube Atrium Theater on November 22. San Francisco Opera’s resident artists, the Adler Fellows, perform in their annual showcase with the San Francisco Opera Orchestra, conducted by Sebastian Weigle, on November 20 at Herbst Theatre.
*For the complete press release, including full cast and calendar, open the PDF version above.