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Curtain S A N F R A NCIS C O O PERA
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A P u b l i c at i o n E x c l u s i v e ly f o r Sa n F r a n c i s c o Ope r a C o n t r i b u t o r s
Preserving the Future D r. E d w a r d P a u l B r a b y C o m m i t s t o t h e W i l s e y C e n t e r
F introduce you to the Diane B. Wilsey Center for Opera. I look forward to your feedback and participation.” – David Gockley General Director
Letter from David Gockley on page two
P h o t o b y D r e w A lt i z e r
“I am excited to
typal story that rings people’s bells.” or Dr. Edward Paul Braby, preserving opera Dr. Braby feels fortunate to have found music at as an art form is fundamental. “Opera keeps us all. Growing up in a household without music, he in touch with what makes us human,” he says. was first exposed to classical music as a teenager. A San Francisco Opera patron for 41 years, Dr. His sister’s boyfriend brought Braby can stir even the casual lisover a homemade hi-fi system tener with rousing stories about and played an LP of Van Cliperformances at the War Memoburn performing Tchaikovsky’s rial Opera House. For him, opera first piano concerto. Dr. Braby is about more than just the glitwas transfixed. “This was the ter of the divas or the gowns on beginning of my odyssey.” opening night. When he was 30, a friend con “As an art form, opera is so vinced him to attend his first complete,” he says. “It has everyopera, a San Francisco Opera thing: it tells a story, makes you production of Salome. He has cry, and makes you curious about been a loyal patron ever since, the past.” and a dedicated Wagnerite. A Dr. Braby has decided to make retired physician, Dr. Braby ena major financial commitment joys traveling to Europe to see to the Diane B. Wilsey Center for operas at some of the world’s Opera, the building and renovaDr. Edward Paul Braby finest houses. Still he believes tion project recently announced that San Francisco Opera reby San Francisco Opera. With “There’s no place in mains “one of the most innovaconstruction scheduled to start tive companies in the world.” in 2014, in conjunction with the the world with a “San Francisco is a great place seismic retrofit of the Veterans more interesting to live, and one thing we have Building next door, the Wilsey is a great opera history. Starting Center will consolidate the Opera’s opera heritage.” with the Italian-American comoperations into a single campus. It munity, and a can-do gold rush spirit, there’s no will also help the Opera more broadly perform its place in the world with a more interesting opera mission by creating new public spaces, including a heritage,” he says. small theater, education studio and public archive. Dr. Braby is especially committed to engaging The idea of a public archive to capture the history young people, and feels the new public archive at of San Francisco Opera excited Dr. Braby. “History is the Wilsey Center will serve a vital role. “If you important to me. To do something that lasts a long like opera and want to see it continue like it is time is so valuable. We need to know what others now, it’s a losing proposition unless you expose have gone through to get where we are,” he says. more people to it,” he says. “Our lives can be filled with discontinuity and For information about contributing to the dislocation,” he says. “The great thing about opera Wilsey Center project, contact Andrew Morgan is that you can walk away from a beautiful perforat (415) 565-3266 or amorgan@sfopera.com. mance with real insight. There is always an arche-
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Behind the Curtain is a publication for contributors to San Francisco Opera.
Edito r s:
E l i z a b e t h H o u n s h el l Judith Frankel wr iter s:
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Mark Hernandez w w w. b l a z i n g s t a g e . c om de sign:
Janette Cavecche w w w. c a v e c c h e g r a p h i cs.c om David Gockley General Director Nicola Luisotti M u si c D i r e c t o r Behind the Curtain is published semiannually by the Development Department at San Francisco Opera. If you have any address changes or would prefer not to receive this publication please contact: San Francisco Opera Development Department 301 Van Ness Avenue San Francisco, CA 94102 c o nta c t u s :
San Francisco Opera is well into its 90th season right now, and it’s a good time to reflect on our legacy. Throughout our 90 years, the company has grown along with the demands of sophisticated San Francisco audiences. We have also evolved into one of the best-known opera companies in the world. International stars share the stage with thrilling emerging talent. Longtime patrons tell tales of performances that changed their lives. Newcomers enjoy breathtaking video projections and productions powered by the most advanced automated rigging system in opera today. It is at this important 90-year landmark that I am pleased to announce the Wilsey Center for Opera, our first major building project since the Campaign to Restore the Opera House after the 1989 earthquake. With construction starting in 2014, the Wilsey Center will consolidate our operations into a single campus, in the Opera House and on the fourth floor of the Veterans Building next door. For most of our history, we have been synonymous with the War Memorial Opera House, a
P h o t o b y T e r r e n c e M c Ca r t h y
Dear Friend of San Francisco Opera
building as breathtakingly beautiful now as it was when it was built. This facility is wonderful in so many ways, but has never had adequate space for the rehearsal studios, storage areas, costume and set shops required for a world-class opera company. The Wilsey Center will consolidate these service areas in a single location. It will also fulfill a promise I made when I arrived in 2006. Plans for the new facility include a smaller theater space for chamber operas, family productions, early works and other more intimate fare. Finally, the new facility will provide an Education Studio and a historic Public Archive, suitable for a company as treasured by the local community as we are. When the War Memorial Opera House opened in 1932, it was America’s first publicly owned opera house. It was then and continues to be “the people’s opera house.” In this issue, I am excited to introduce you to the new Wilsey Center for Opera. I look forward to your feedback and participation. Please join us as we step into a new era!
David Gockley G enera l D irec t or
General Member: (415) 565-6416 Medallion Society Information: (415) 565-6401 Donor Benefits Hotline: (415) 551-6308 membership@sfopera.com Visit us on the web at:
sfoper a.com C o m pa n y S p o n s o r s Ann and Gordon Getty Foundation John A. and Cynthia Fry Gunn Franklin and Catherine Johnson Mrs. Edmund W. Littlefield Bernard and Barbro Osher Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Shrem Se a s o n S p o n s o r
Corporate Partners
San Francisco Opera is supported, in part, by a grant from Grants for the Arts/San Francisco Hotel Tax Fund
H AV E Y O U C O N S I D E R E D A L E G A C Y G I F T ? Thank you to the following San Francisco Opera supporters who have joined the Bel Canto Legacy Society since August 1, 2011, and are helping to build the Company’s future through bequests and other legacy gifts: Randolph G. Baier*
Sanford* & Mary Grace Harris*
Heidi Munzinger
The Estate of Gloria S. Baxter
Winchell T. Hayward*
Dante Noto
Drs. Seymour & Sylvia Boorstein
Ms. Margaret C. Hutchins
John Merola Papa*
Christopher & Renee Bowen
Lawrence A. Kern
David & Gail Perin
Jack Calhoun
Christine Stevens Kradjian
William D. Rasdal
Betty J. Carmack
Dr. & Mrs. John Lavorgna
James & Connie Shapiro
Hella H. Cheitlin
Marcia Lowell Leonhardt
John Shott
Maureen Clarke
Michael McGinley
Robert Shultz
Jean Cleverly & Frank Warner
Ruth McManus Trust
Robert L. Speer & John Wong
Ynez Ghirardelli*
Burt and Deedee McMurtry
Maxine D. Wallace (1921-2011)*
Wanda Lee Graves & Stephen Duscha
Carol L. Meyer*
Anonymous (2)
Anne Patricia Gray
Cathy & Howard Moreland
Contact Mark Jones, Director of Endowment and Legacy Giving, at (415) 565-3206 if * deceased you’d like information about making your own legacy gift. PA G E 2
Photo by Cory Weaver
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Shifting into High Gear An Interview with Adler Fellow Brian Jagde
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Brian Jagde sings Cavaradossi in the Fall 2012 production of Tosca.
explains. “But I ended up doing all twelve performances.” The experience was invaluable. “Cavaradossi is strong and confident. Going in, I understood that intellectually. But I came to see that the singing needs the same kind of brash confidence.” Santa Fe offered a more unconventional boon as well. “The venue is seven thousand feet up,” Brian notes. “Let me tell you something: if you can sing Cavaradossi at that altitude, you can sing it anywhere.” At the tender age of 33, even as he takes on bigger roles, Brian remains remarkably composed. “Like anyone, I get nerves,” he admits. “But I’m confident in my technique, and I love what I do. I have the coolest job in the world!” Stay up to date with Brian at brianjagde.com.
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Ao Li recently won the San Francisco District Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, placing him in a coveted spot in the Western Region Finals in November. Nadine Sierra recently gained critical acclaim when she sang the role of Gilda in Florida Grand Opera’s production of Rigoletto, in which she “dreamily spun out Verdi’s coloratura, never showing any effort as she moved about the stage...” (South Florida Classical Review) Brian Jagde won second place at Operalia this past summer. Participants in this prestigious competition are selected by audition through a submitted recording. Of the 800-1,000 submissions, a panel of judges selects the top 40 singers to compete. Past winners of Operalia include Joyce DiDonato, Eric Owens, Kate Aldrich, Nina Stemme and former Adler David Lomelí. To learn more about the Adler Fellows Program, including information on how to sponsor a young artist, please visit sfopera.com/Adler.
Adler Fellows Ryan Kuster and Nadine Sierra at the 2012 Stern Grove Festival. P A G E 3
Photo by Scott Wall
uccessful opera singers bring passion to the stage. But many don’t leave it there. Case in point: Brian Jagde. Spend a few minutes with him and you can’t help but get swept up in his enthusiasm. How fitting that he’s a lyric tenor. His verve is ideal for the kind of roles he’s bound to play—notably the ardent young lover. It almost didn’t happen. “I started out as a baritone. But everyone knows it’s the tenor who gets the girl,” Brian says with a laugh. It can take years to transition from baritone to tenor. For Brian it was a matter of weeks. “I was singing a baritone role at Opera New Jersey, but it didn’t feel right,” he remembers. “In becoming a “I found a new teacher, and he told me tenor, I finally what I already knew instinctively—that I’m a tenor. I worked up some new felt as if I owned arias and started auditioning.” Almost my voice.” immediately, he landed a coveted spot in the Merola Opera Program. He’s now in his third year as an Adler Fellow. “In becoming a tenor, I finally felt as if I owned my voice, that we were a team,” he asserts. Brian says he has the “quintessential young American artist experience.” After college, he was in a number of apprentice programs and worked with regional companies. But things shifted into high gear when he arrived in San Francisco. “I’ve found a safe environment here,” he observes. “I’ve done several small parts, and covered major roles like Pinkerton [in Madama Butterfly].” When asked about his most memorable San Francisco Opera moment, he smiles. “It’s coming up. Cavaradossi in [this fall’s] Tosca.” It’s a role with which he’s become especially familiar in recent months. “I was the cover at Santa Fe Opera this past summer,” he
The Atrium Theater will host chamber works and family productions.
Building for the Next Generation Announcing the Diane B. Wilsey Center for Opera
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s San Francisco Opera celebrates its 90th Season, we A H o m eco m ing R eunion pay homage to the past and provide for the future. The Today, the business of San Francisco Diane B. Wilsey Center for Opera will be another landOpera is scattered throughout the City. mark in the Opera’s illustrious history, and this genThis “unholy archipelago,” eration’s most important legacy. as Gockley has described it, “The time has The Wilsey Center is San Francisco Opera’s includes remote off-campus refirst major building campaign since the 1990s. hearsal spaces, administrative come for the It will consolidate the Opera’s operations onto a offices, a set shop and fullOpera to single campus, including the War Memorial Opera service professional costume House and the Veterans Building next door, with shop. While the Opera House consolidate” new public spaces designed to strengthen bonds itself remains one of the world’s Costume Shop will with the community. premiere venues for grand opera The move from 9th Street to “At last we will be reunited in a single home,” says General performances, it lacks sufficient service the Wilsey Center. Director David Gockley. “It’s like a dream come true.” areas for a major opera company. “The Symphony and San Francisco Ballet long ago consolidatA P lace Where H istory R uns D eep ed their administrative spaces,” says San Francisco Opera CFO The original War Memorial complex was proposed in 1918 as Michael Simpson. “The time has come for the Opera to consolidate. the City’s first major cultural center. The plan included a symThe current situation is financially unsustainable.” phony hall, opera house and art museum. In 1919, another campaign was launched to build a veterans hall and war memorial, and soon both efforts were combined to form a single War Memorial complex. The Education Studio will In 1932, at the height offer of the Depression, the family opera War Memorial Opera workshops. House opened with a historic performance of Tosca. Less than six months later, the VetFulton Street through the construction erans Building was preof the War Memorial Opera House and sented to the City. AVeterans Building. “At last we will be long with the Memorial reunited into Court between them—landscaped with soil from battlefields a single where Americans have fought—the War Memorial complex has home.” provided a home to San Francisco Opera, Ballet and, for nearly 50 years, the San Francisco Symphony. PA G E 4
In 2013, the Veterans Building will close for a long-awaited seismic retrofit. San Francisco Opera and the City are seizing this opportunity to unite all the Opera functions that now occupy expensive and inconvenient spaces throughout the City. Construction will begin in 2014 and finish by fall of 2015. O pening D oors to the C o m m unity
Consolidating operations makes sense for an organization that closely manages its costs. However, the Wilsey Center also helps the Opera engage more fully with the community at large. Project highlights include three unique public spaces: n Atrium Theater: a 5,000 square-foot, 300-seat event and perfor mance space appropriate for chamber works and family productions n Education Studio: a 3,200 square-foot space for student learn ing and community outreach n Public Archive: space for historic documents previously un available to the public, including artifacts, photographs and audiovisual materials “San Francisco Opera is known throughout the world as one of the leading opera companies,” Gockley says, “but it is also part of the cultural fabric of this City.” “When the Italian-American community joined forces with the City of San Francisco to found this Company, they wanted to create a ‘people’s opera,’ a place where ordinary citizens could gather together to laugh, to cry, to be moved by timeless stories set to unforgettable music.” The Wilsey Center will help San Francisco Opera continue this mission long into the future. It is projected to save the Company over $1 million in current annual operating costs. It will also help us prepare for a new generation of opera-goers. “By opening our doors to more kids, to scholars and to more intimate-scale performances and productions,” Gockley says, “the Wilsey Center will help assure that we remain a treasured part of the community for a long time to come.”
h e l p u s m a k e h i s to ry
P h o t o b y Te r r y M c C a r t h y
Contribute to the Wilsey Center The Diane B. Wilsey Center for Opera is San Francisco Opera’s first major building project since the opera house was restored after the 1989 earthquake. With your support for this project, the Opera can at last consolidate its operations into a single campus, for significant annual cost savings. Plans for the Wilsey Center include public spaces, specially designed to help San Francisco Opera expand efforts at community engagement. Naming opportunities are available for historic spaces, including a theater, education studio and public archive. Builders Circle contributions start at $250,000. For more information, contact Andrew Morgan at (415) 565-3266 or amorgan@sfopera.com
The War Memorial Veterans Building, site of the new Wilsey Center.
Wilsey Center Q&A Q: Where will the Wilsey Center be located? A: On the 4th floor of the Veterans Building, 401 Van Ness Avenue, in space previously occupied by SFMOMA. Additional space in the basement will also be used for storage. Q: How large will the Wilsey Center expansion be? A: Over 33,000 total square feet, including 11,000 square feet for offices, workstations and meeting rooms; a 5,000 square-foot flexible theater; a 5,000 square-foot Costume Shop; a 3,200 square-foot Education Studio; and additional space for a public archive, conference rooms and galleries. Q: What will happen to Herbst Theatre? A: Herbst Theatre will be renovated by the City. It will continue to be used by a variety of organizations. Q: Why not build a new building? Won’t it be more challenging to renovate an historic structure? A: Renovating space in the Veterans Building while it is undergoing seismic upgrades is a cost-effective opportunity to bring operations closer together. Total estimated cost is just under $19 million, in contrast to a new building project, which could cost $60-$500 million or more. Q: Who will pay for the Wilsey Center? A: Private donors. A $5 million gift has been received by local philanthropist Diane B. Wilsey, and another $1.3 million has been committed. SFO will raise money for the project in 2012-2014 from current benefactors and civic philanthropists. Q: Who will design the Wilsey Center? A: San Francisco-based Mark Cavagnero Associates, whose recent work includes the Oakland Museum of California and the new SFJAZZ performance venue. PA G E 5
Christopher Verdosci shows Lacroix’s work to Capuleti Costume Sponsor Jennifer MacCready.
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Dressing Capuleti C h r i s t o p h e r Ve rd o s c i We l c o m e s L a c ro i x f ro m R u n w a y t o S t a g e
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I n D e m and for O pera very season transforms San The famed French fashion icon is enFrancisco Opera’s Costume Shop joying a second career in opera. “Lacroix into a fine atelier. But the 2012-13 is the first to say that he never thought Season brought a real connection to one about fashion or dresses,” of the fashion world’s “What he thinks Christopher says. “What living legends. Parisian he thinks about is history designer Christian Lacroix about is history and and costumes, even for created dazzling costumes for our 2012 production costumes, even for his his commercial couture. And now he’s got opera of Vincenzo Bellini’s rarecommercial couture.” houses lining up for his ly performed I Capuleti e i designs.” Lacroix has creatMontecchi. ed costumes for more than fifteen opera No one could have been more excited productions, including Così fan tutte, Aida about this than Assistant Costume Direcand Madama Butterfly. tor Christopher Verdosci. Co-produced by San Francisco Opera “To us at the Costume Shop, every proand the Bavarian State Opera in Munich, duction is special,” remarks Christopher, this fall’s Capuleti production featured “but Capuleti was something else.” costumes that drew on period motifs, but “Everyone in the fashion world knows used non-traditional materials, including Christian Lacroix,” he explains. “And shows synthetics, to achieve a stylized twist. like Absolutely Fabulous made him a “For example, we had frock coats made household name. Half the fun of watching out of net or neoprene. If we had used that show was the characters’ obsession tailored wool, it would have draped beawith Lacroix.” Laughing, he mimics a utifully, but these unique materials commoment from the show: “‘Darling, what municate something caricatured,” Christare you wearing?’ ‘Lacroix, of course, opher says. “The production was rooted Lacroix!’ ‘Well then, it’s fabulous!’” PA G E 6
S taging U nforgetta b le Wo m en
Then there was the wedding gown. “I was expecting a fabulous Lacroix creation,” Christopher says, “and instead we had this drab and confused dress. But that’s exactly right for the story: she’s a teenaged girl, and she is confused. And as for the drabness, her future is bleak. That dress represents her total emotional state. The costumes tell the story as much as the score.” Perhaps most startling were the costumes worn by the twenty-eight supernumerary women. “The Bavarian State Opera invited Lacroix to go through its antique stock. He took decades-old costumes and cut them up. You saw the skirt on one woman, the bodice on another, and the sleeves on another. It could easily have looked like a mess. But instead there was an unexpected harmony.” Photo by Cor y Weaver
Photo by Judith Frankel
in history but didn’t attempt to recreate it. Instead, it evoked a mood.” “The principal artists’ costumes stood out for their unusual cuts and materials,” he continues. “Romeo often intentionally blended into what is a hypermasculine world. Juliet had two potent costume metaphors. That pouf skirt of hers was a Lacroix signature — think ‘blossoming rose’.”
Joyce DiDonato as Romeo surrounded by colorful supernumeraries.
U nusual Materials
The unusual materials presented challenges. “It was tricky working with some of the synthetics,” Christopher reveals. “And we had to repair the antique pieces often. But everyone absolutely adored the
Become a Producer Sp o n s o r s h i p B r i n g s You Closer
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ponsor a production at San Francisco Opera and invest in a Bay Area tradition. By designating your gift to a particular opera, you can enjoy unprecedented access to the production and artistic process. You will enrich your love for the art form, and take pride in making a necessary financial impact. Affiliate production sponsorships start at $25,000 and can be directed toward costumes, orchestra, lighting or any aspect of a production. For more information, contact Judith Frankel at (415) 551-6226 or jfrankel@sfopera.com.
P hoto by D rew A ltizer
Capuleti costumes. For me, there were things in that show I’d never seen before. Even with all of my years of experience, I discovered a new visual vocabulary.” Now in his fourteenth season with the Company, Christopher juggles countless administrative duties. “But there’s always the core responsibility of the job,” he emphasizes, “which is to make the singers look and feel the absolute best that they can. When performers are comfortable— when they love the costumes and understand the drama that’s been designed into them—they can give their all.” Meet Christopher Verdosci for a video tour of San Francisco Opera’s Costume Shop by visiting sfopera.com/costumeshoptour.
Jake Heggie with Bernice and John Lindstrom
All in the Family John and Bernice Lindstrom Honored to Sponsor Moby-Dick
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ernice fell in love with opera during they have become such close friends that her junior year at the University of John officiated and sang at Jake’s wedding Vienna at a performance of Parsifal. ceremony with his partner Curt Branom. John discovered opera much earlier. When “Jake is just the most amazing person,” he was nine, his parents took him to see Bernice says. “He’s such a talented and The Barber of Seville at the Hollywood Bowl. beautiful human being.” In grammar school, after Bernice has subscribed being told he couldn’t sing, to San Francisco Opera for “We are happy to John played trumpet, violin over 40 years, and made do anything that and piano. But when a friend a provision for the Opera encouraged him to audition and for the Merola Opera will further the for the college choir, “it Program in her estate plan. turned my life around,” he artistry of opera.” Since their marriage 33 says. He has subsequently years ago, John has also sung with many choruses, performed in been a subscriber and they now have two Gilbert and Sullivan productions and has full subscriptions to San Francisco Opera. sung several roles with the Berkeley Opera. John is also a longtime board member of John and Bernice’s love for each other the Merola Opera Program. and the art form eventually became a So when they were asked to become strong family tradition. John’s daughter is affiliate sponsors for Moby-Dick, the Lindsoprano Lise Lindstrom, who performs at stroms felt it was an honor to do somemajor opera companies around the world. thing to support Jake and to support this It was their mutual passion for opera, company, which means so much to them. and their love of Jake Heggie’s music, The benefits of sponsorship were an that inspired the Lindstroms to become added plus. Bernice says, “I told Jake that affiliate sponsors of San Francisco Opera’s I was so excited to go to early rehearsals, premiere of Moby-Dick. Co-produced with and he asked ‘Why would you want to do four other opera companies in the U.S., that?’” She smiles. “But to us this was really Canada and Australia, Moby-Dick has very special. We almost didn’t book a cruise garnered rave reviews and sell-out perin September because it meant missing formances since opening in 2010. two weeks of Moby-Dick rehearsals.” The couple met Jake over a decade Would they consider affiliate sponsorago and became further acquainted at the ship again? “Yes,” John says. San Francisco Opera premiere of Dead “We are happy to do anything that will Man Walking. They were impressed by his further the artistry of opera in everyone’s amazing talent and warm personality. lives. It can have such a positive effect. Since then, they’ve become almost like The more we understand opera, and the family. The Lindstroms have attended all more we participate in it, the more meanbut one of Jake’s premieres. Over time, ingful it becomes.” PA G E 7
Recent Event Highlights
upcoming events November
O p e r a B a ll
Photo by Drew Altizer
Maria Manetti Shrem, Francesco Demuro and Aleksandra Kurzak at Opera Ball 2012
Magic F lute
November 30, 2012 The Future Is Now: Adler Fellows Gala Concert 7:30pm – Herbst Theatre Veterans Building
Photo by Drew Altizer
Priscilla and Ned Geeslin enjoy The Magic Flute cast party
January
O pera at the Ballpar k Donor Sylvia Boorstein and friends from Spirit Rock Meditation Center enjoy Rigoletto at the Ballpark
J a n u a ry 2 3 , 2 0 1 3
Photo by Cor y Weaver
Meet the Adlers 6:00pm – Herbst Theatre
A dler Master C lasses Adler Sponsors and other donors join young artists in training with masters like Joyce DiDonato and Eric Owens
Veterans Building
February Feb r u a ry 1 2 , 2 0 1 3 Medallion Society Luncheon 11:30am – The Ritz Carlton San Francisco
Photos by Bonita Hagbom
March
Joyce DiDonato and Renée Rapier
M a r c h 1 , 2 , 3 , 9 and 1 0 , 2 0 1 3 The Secr et Garden World premiere opera for families Zellerbach Hall, Berkeley March 21, 2013 Annual Meeting 4:00-6:00pm Location TBD, invitations will be sent Membership events are subject to change. Visit sfopera.com/calendar for updates.
Ryan Kuster and Joyce DiDonato
Eric Owens and Joo Won Kang