Curtain S A N F R A NCIS C O O PERA
SUMMER 2016
B E H I N D
T H E
A Man with a Vision Te n S t r o n g Ye a r s a t S a n F r a n c i s c o O p e r a
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when San Francisco Opera’s founder and first hen David Gockley announced his director Gaetano Merola passed away, but when he departure as San Francisco Opera’s joined the Company in 1979, Kurt Adler, Merola’s General Director at the end of the successor, was still in charge. Having worked for— 2015–16 Season, it couldn’t have come as a and with—every General Director since, Cranna surprise to anyone who knows him—least of all provides a uniquely nuanced Kip Cranna, the Company’s perspective on Gockley’s years dramaturg who has worked “The job requires a rare with San Francisco Opera. alongside Gockley for the individual: someone who past decade. “I have known really knows the artistic Taking the Helm David to be very decisive, Gockley joined the Company determined and able to side of opera.” — Kip Cranna in 2006, but that was not the make decisions that he can first time he and Cranna met. “David was very well follow through on. And he always said he was known for running Houston Grand Opera, where only going to stay for ten years,” says Cranna. he started in his twenties and did many great Gockley’s tenure at San Francisco Opera things. The first time I actually met him was in and long career in opera will be honored with 1992; we were asked to co-commission the opera a star-studded Gala Concert on June 16 at the Harvey Milk, so I went to Houston to confer about War Memorial Opera House. Across the green that. The opera premiered in Houston in 1995 and from the War Memorial, we caught up with was produced in San Francisco one year later. It Cranna in the brand-new Diane B. Wilsey didn’t occur to me that David was going to be my Center for Opera, on the fourth floor of the boss at some point, but he was the logical choice Veterans Building. when the time came.” Cranna has served the Company for 37 years Continued on page 6 (and counting). He was still in grade school
PHOTO BY MICHAEL WINOKUR
A P U B L I C AT I O N F O R S A N F R A N C I S C O OPERA SUPPORTERS AND SUBSCRIBERS
SUMMER 2016
Behind the Curtain is a semi-annual publication for San Francisco Opera supporters and subscribers.
EDI T O R S:
Roya Clune J e n n i f e r J o rd a n
WR I T ER :
Niels Swinkels D ESI GN:
Janette Cavecche David Gockley General Director M a t t h e w Sh i l v o c k Gene r a l D i r e c t o r D e sign ate Nicola Luisotti M u si c D i r e c t o r
San Francisco Opera 301 Van Ness Avenue San Francisco, CA 94102 C O N TA C T U S :
Membership (415) 565-6416 Medallion Society (415) 565-6401 Visit us on the web at:
sfoper a.com
s foper a.com/bl og C O M PA N Y S P O N S O R S The Dolby Family Ann and Gordon Getty Foundation John A. and Cynthia Fry Gunn Franklin and Catherine Johnson Edmund W. and Jeannik Méquet Littlefield Fund Steven M. Menzies Bernard and Barbro Osher Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Shrem Dianne and Tad Taube Phyllis C. Wattis Endowment Funds Diane B. Wilsey SEASON SPONSOR
CORPORATE PARTNERS
San Francisco Opera is sponsored, in part, by a grant from Grants for the Arts/San Francisco Hotel Tax Fund
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As we approach the final performances of the 2015–16 Season and I prepare to step down as General Director, I couldn’t be more proud of how San Francisco Opera has grown over the last ten years or more excited for what lies ahead. With General Director Designate Matthew Shilvock ready to step into this crucial role later this summer, the Company is uniquely positioned to grow in new directions and define the art form for the 21st century under his innovative leadership. As I look back at the highlights of my time with San Francisco Opera, I am flooded with memories of the passionate staff, artists and supporters like you who make up our opera family. It has been a privilege to serve this remarkable Company alongside so many talented colleagues and loyal patrons. Throughout my career I have greatly enjoyed collaborating with consummate professionals and lifelong opera aficionados such as San Francisco Opera’s Dramaturg Kip Cranna, whose reflections on our years working together are featured in this issue’s cover story. Knowing the Company is in the hands of dedicated and capable staff like Kip and so many others, I am confident the best is yet to come.
PHOTO BY KRISTEN LOKEN
DEAR FRIEND OF SAN FRANCISCO OPERA
San Francisco Opera is known the world over for nurturing future talent. Working with many of opera’s most promising young artists has been one of the most enjoyable experiences of my tenure with the Company. And this year, thanks to generous donors Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Shrem, we are thrilled to offer our first-ever Emerging Star of the Year Competition and Award. You can find out more about the young artists included in the competition—and how you can vote for your favorite!—on page 3. Finally, one of my favorite parts of the job has been getting to know you, our generous family of supporters. I am full of pride as I consider the many achievements we have realized together over the last ten seasons, from countless unforgettable productions in the War Memorial Opera House to the establishment of our wonderful education programs and the opening of the Diane B. Wilsey Center for Opera. I am deeply grateful for your commitment to the Company and for making these last ten years so very memorable. Thanks to you, the future has never been brighter for San Francisco Opera. With gratitude,
David Gockley, General Director
Voting ope ns June 15 at sfopera.co m/Emergin gStars!
Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Shrem, San Francisco Opera donors and founders of the Emerging Stars Fund.
Cast Your Vote for the Emerging Star of the Year
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ach 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. Established through a renewed multi-year, multimillion dollar gift from the Shrems, the Emerging Stars Fund is supporting the appearance of eleven exciting young voices on our stage throughout the 2015–16 Season. You’ve seen and heard
many of them already: Leah Crocetto and Michael Fabiano in Luisa Miller; Brian Mulligan and Heidi Stober in Sweeney Todd; Nadine Sierra in The Magic Flute; Alek Shrader and Sasha Cooke in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg; and Daniela Mack and Lucas Meachem in The Barber of Seville. This summer, Brian Jagde appears as Don José in Carmen, Malin Byström takes on the title role in Jenufa and Michael Fabiano returns in the title role of Don Carlo. You have a role this season too! Help us
choose the 2016 Emerging Star of the Year. Voting opens on June 15 and runs through July 3. Visit sfopera.com/EmergingStars to see performance clips of each artist and cast your vote for your favorite. Soon after the voting ends, the people’s choice will be announced. In addition to recognition as the 2016 Emerging Star of the Year, the winning artist will be awarded a cash prize by the Shrems. Every one of these talents is a rising star. Prepare to choose your favorite when the voting begins on June 15!
Help us choose the 2016 Emerging Star of the Year
Malin Byström Jenufa
Daniela Mack The Barber of Seville
Lucas Meachem The Barber of Seville
Sasha Cooke Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg
Leah Crocetto Luisa Miller
Brian Mulligan Alek Shrader Sweeney Todd Die Meistersinger Lucia di Lammermoor von Nürnberg Usher House double bill
Michael Fabiano
Luisa Miller Don Carlo
Nadine Sierra Lucia di Lammermoor The Magic Flute
Brian Jagde Carmen
Heidi Stober Sweeney Todd PA G E 3
PHOTO BY ED ANDERSON
BRAVO, DAVID!
2016 SUMMER SEASON T O U R D AT E S A N D T I M E S
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Opera at the Ballpark Enjoy the thrill and drama of Bizet’s Carmen on the field or from the stands of AT&T Park on July 2, 2016 at 7:30pm. Opera at the Ballpark is one of San Francisco Opera’s signature events, and it’s free! Bring the whole family for a night of unforgettable music. For best seating, register early at sfopera.com/simulcast. PA G E 4
F R I D AY, JU N E 10 TIMES: 12:00pm, 12:30pm and 1pm SATU R D AY, JU NE 18 TIMES: 12:00pm, 12:30pm and 1pm TH U R SD AY, JU NE 23 TIMES: 12:00pm, 12:30pm and 1pm W E D N E SD AY, JUNE 29 TIMES: 12:00pm, 12:30pm and 1pm P H O T O B Y C O R Y W E AV E R
hanks to David Gockley’s visionary leadership, San Francisco Opera is positioned to boldly define the art form for the 21st century while reaching more people than ever with community events such as Opera at the Ballpark, an expanded range of educational programs, DVD releases, radio and TV broadcasts and other media initiatives. To honor David in his final season, a group of lead donors is offering a $2.5 million fundraising challenge to the entire San Francisco Opera family. You can join the Gockley Ovation Challenge by making a new or increased gift to support the exciting programs and initiatives of David’s final season. All new and increased gifts received by July 31, 2016 will be matched dollar for dollar. Take the challenge today and double the impact of your gift with a dollar-for-dollar match! Visit sfopera.com/donate to make your new or increased gift.
S AV E T H E D AT E
BENEFITS
SPOTLIGHT
Backstage Tours
We need only 58 more legacy gifts to reach our goal of 750 by July!
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o behind the scenes at the War Memorial Opera House this summer with a backstage tour and discover the remarkable process of how an opera comes together. Led by our wonderful Guild volunteer docents, these fun and informative tours take you through the theater, the backstage dressing rooms, the prompter’s box and wig and makeup areas. Members and subscribers are eligible for up to four discounted tickets. Members at the $750 Supporting Patron level and above are eligible for two complimentary tickets. Tour dates and capacity are limited. Make sure to reserve your spot today by contacting us at (415) 551-6353 or tour.reserve@gmail.com.
PHOTO BY KRISTEN LOKEN
750
Why I Give
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ric Dew is a San Francisco Opera supernumerary (or “extra”) and a member of the Company’s Bel Canto Legacy Society. Eric’s legacy gift is helping the Opera meet its goal of reaching 750 legacy gifts by July 2016.
PHOTO BY SCOTT WALL
Why is opera important to you? Opera is one of the few art forms that presses all my emotional buttons. With its stirring musical passages—and through its stories filled with power and anger, passion, pathos and fear, love and eroticism—no other art form can bring me to tears and joy as opera can. What are your first opera memories? I was curious about opera in college and fell in love with it during graduate school. When I drove back to the Bay Area from Philadelphia after graduation, I went through the whole Ring cycle three times while driving across the plains of Nebraska. I had my trusty boom box beside me on the passenger seat of my rental truck. Against a backdrop of looming storm clouds, booming drums signaled approaching giants while I made my way home. It was unforgettable. While my early experiences with opera came through recordings, nothing matches the added visual dimension of live opera.
Is there an aspect of opera that most resonates with you? I am a fan of alternative and “progressive” staging of standard operas, like our recent production of The Magic Flute. When it comes to directors’ choices, I appreciate the small details, such as whether a primary character’s greeting another in a friendly or confrontational manner will impact the story arc. Why did you make a legacy gift to the Opera? I want future audiences to be transfixed and excited by opera and feel satisfied knowing that my legacy gift will help make that possible. Opera continues to be financially viable because of patrons’ support—it cannot survive solely through a free-market system. While I am hardly a member of a wealthy group of donors, I’m glad my legacy gift can make a difference. To learn more about legacy giving, contact legacy@sfopera.com or (415) 565-6413.
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David Gockley works on Dolores Claiborne with composer Tobias Picker and soprano Patricia Racette, who performed the title role.
P H O T O B Y C O R Y W E AV E R
shaping the future of the art form itself. “We have an obligation to keep revitalizing the art form by trying new work. Commissioning is an important part of David’s legacy. In my career I have worked on well over twenty new commissions, and almost half of those were with David. We did Appomattox, The Bonesetter’s Daughter, Heart of a Soldier, Mary Magdalene and Dolores Claiborne, to name a few.” Gockley also expanded the repertoire by bringing productions from American musical theater to the opera stage, including Porgy and Bess, Show Boat and Sweeney Todd. Continued from page 1
Leaving a Lasting Impact Unlike their European counterparts, American opera companies tend to combine the administrative and artistic directorships in one person. Cranna explains, “The job requires a rare individual: someone who really knows the artistic side of opera, and who is also fiscally sound and knows how to raise money. David had a background as a singer, but he was also trained in business finance. Building up an endowment was an important aspect of his survival strategy.” Another of Gockley’s noteworthy achievements was his plan to bring San Francisco Opera before new audiences via DVD releases, television broadcasts and simulcasts in movie theaters and large public venues like AT&T Park. These efforts have attracted an enormous amount of first-time opera visitors. But as far as Cranna is concerned, Gockley will PA G E 6
“David has a strong commitment to the history of this Company and the nature of its audience.” — Kip Cranna
be best remembered for bringing stability and reinvigoration to the Company. “Survival is no longer a question. And that is saying something.” Commissioning New Work According to Cranna, Gockley has not only been instrumental in reinventing opera as an experience—“from buying a ticket to finding your seat and getting a drink at intermission”—but also in PHOTO BY SCOTT WALL
Navigating Stormy Waters When Gockley arrived at San Francisco Opera, the Company was facing some financial hurdles, Cranna explains. “In 2003, our Company had gone through what David later called ‘a near death experience.’ We had huge deficits and almost a third of the staff was laid off. It was very demoralizing. The board knew that we needed someone to stabilize the company and build a firm foundation. That was one of David’s priorities: to guarantee survival. And he was very determined to honor the past and the traditions of the Company while moving forward.”
David Gockley and Francesca Zambello on the set of Two Women.
Making Room for Innovation Cranna recalls, “One of the first things I remember from right after David arrived is being dragged around to all the small theaters in town. David was very interested in seeing what other venues would be suitable for opera; not many, as it turned out. With the Wilsey Center, we now have a small venue that is ours to use. Among the many major Gockley accomplishments, this will be an enduring one.” Paving the Way Forward “David has a strong commitment to the history of this company and the nature of its audience: the fiercely loyal, highly knowledgeable, very demanding audience that we have created for ourselves,” says Cranna. He is confident that the transition to San Francisco Opera’s seventh General Director, Matthew Shilvock, will be a smooth one. “To some extent, Matthew was a protégé of David; they worked together in Houston and he has been David’s right-hand man in San Francisco as well. He is obviously a very different person and will go his own direction, but it is not going to be a wrenching change for the staff, the audience and the Company. The grand tradition will go forward.” Join us for a special gala concert at the War Memorial Opera House on Thursday, June 16 at 7pm to celebrate David Gockley’s remarkable career and ten-year tenure as San Francisco Opera’s General Director. Learn more at sfopera.com/ GockleyGala.
Company Happenings
P H O T O B Y S T E FA N C O H E N
P H O T O B Y S T E FA N C O H E N
Members of the San Francisco Opera Orchestra curated and performed an eclectic night of song and chamber music at the inaugural performance at the Dianne and Tad Taube Atrium Theater.
David Gockley and Diane Wilsey cut the ribbon at the opening of the brand-new Diane B. Wilsey Center for Opera. PHOTO BY KRISTEN LOKEN
Adler Fellows Amina Edris, Edward Nelson and Brad Walker take the stage with Steven Blier at their Schwabacher Debut Recitals Series performance in February.
PHOTO BY SCOTT WALL
Adler Fellow Pene Pati charms the audience at SF Opera Lab’s very first Pop-Up event at Public Works.
Teaching artist Rozz Nash leads students from First Act in a dance from The Magic Flute.
PHOTO BY KRISTEN LOKEN
Benoît Charest and Le Terrible Orchestre de Belleville perform Charest’s original score for Sylvain Chomet’s The Triplets of Belleville. SF Opera Lab presented a sold-out run of cine-concerts featuring the beloved animated film.
PHOTO BY SCOTT WALL
PHOTO BY SCOTT WALL
Students from the Performing Arts Connection circle to thank their teachers at their final Community Showcase.
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SEPT 1, 6:30PM
SEPT 9, 5PM
Dream of the Red Chamber Insight Panel at Herbst Theatre
Opera Ball 2016 at the War Memorial Opera House
AUGUST 26, 6:30PM
Opera in the Park at Golden Gate Park
AUGUST 29, 6:30PM
P H O T O B Y C O R Y W E AV E R
P H O T O B Y B E AT R I Z S C H I L L E R
Andrea Chénier Insight Panel at Herbst Theatre
Aida Insight Panel at Herbst Theatre
SEPT 11, 8PM
Celebrating David Gala — War Memorial Opera House PHOTO BY BILL COOPER
The Fall of the House of Usher on KDFC
JUNE 16, 7PM
SEPT 29, 6:30PM
Don Pasquale Insight Panel at Herbst Theatre
PHOTO BY KEN HOWARD
Carmen — Opera at the Ballpark at AT&T Park
PHOTO BY STEPHEN CUMMISKEY
JULY 2, 8PM
PHOTO BY PETER SHIN
JULY 2, 7:30PM
Jenufa Insight Panel at Herbst Theatre
P H O T O B Y D R E W A LT I Z E R
PHOTO BY SCOTT WALL
EVENTS CALENDAR
PHOTO BY KEN HOWARD
JUNE 7, 6PM
P H O T O B Y S T E FA N C O H E N
SUMMER