B E H I N D
T H E
CURTAIN WINTER 2018
Adler Fellow Aria Umezawa emcees SF Opera Lab’s Battle of the Divas pop-up event
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 O P E R A S U P P O R T E R S A N D S U B S C R I B E R S
BUILDING A
Behind the Curtain is a semi-annual publication for San Francisco Opera supporters and subscribers.
FUTURE DE AR FRIEN D OF S AN F RAN CISCO OP ERA,
E D I TO R S :
W R I TE R S:
Adam Flowers DE S I G N :
Janette Cavecche Matthew Shilvock General Director
CO NTAC T U S :
Membership (415) 565-6416 Medallion Society (415) 565-6401 V I S I T US O N T H E WE B AT:
sfopera.com
COMPANY SPONSORS
The Dolby Family Bertie Bialek Elliott Keith and Priscilla Geeslin Ann and Gordon Getty John A. and Cynthia Fry Gunn Burgess and Elizabeth Jamieson 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 Barbara A. Wolf
I
hope you’ve been enjoying this incredible fall season as much as I have. We’ve experienced performances together that have expressed the extraordinary possibilities of this artform—from Roberto Devereux, starring Sondra Radvanovsky, to a brand-new production of our Company’s signature opera, Tosca to the shimmering world of Arabella with music to envelop the soul. On top of all of that, we hosted a stunning, sold-out concert with operatic legend Plácido Domingo. His long relationship with San Francisco Opera spans almost five decades, and it was an honor to welcome him back to our stage. Beautiful, engaging repertory productions like this season’s Tosca are a central part of what makes us one of the finest opera companies in the world. In creating new productions of the core repertory, we are beginning the process of building the next generation of the Company’s legacy. In this issue we discuss two new exciting
P H O T O B Y S I M O N PA U LY
Roya Clune Elizabeth Kuntze Andrew Morgan
giving programs, The Builders Circle and the Producers Circle. Each is designed to bring members of the SFO family closer than ever to the unique elements of this art form and feel even more connected to these powerful expressions of humanity on our stage. It was so joyous to recently open Jake Heggie’s latest opera, It’s a Wonderful Life. As we connect the stories on our stage to the stories in our community we are proud to partner with two amazing local organizations, Compass Family Services and Community Housing Partnership by launching the “Earn Your Wings” program. Both organizations are committed to transitioning families and individuals out of homelessness and we are honored to be championing their vital work as we explore this work of uplifting hope in our theater. Thank you for being such an important part of the San Francisco Opera family, and for making such a difference in our world this holiday season. With warm wishes,
Matthew Shilvock GENERAL DIRECTOR
P H O T O B Y C O R Y W E AV E R
WINTER 2018
SEASON SPONSOR
CORPORATE PARTNERS
San Francisco Opera is sponsored, in part, by a grant from Grants for the Arts/San Francisco Hotel Tax Fund
Cover Image: Photo by Kristen Loken PA G E 2
A new Tosca for the core repertory.
OPERA MEDAL
P H O T O B Y D R E W A LT I Z E R
DAVID GOCKLEY AWARDED THE
FORMER GENERAL DIRECTOR AND OPERA INDUSTRY PIONEER
F
ollowing the final performance of Richard Wagner’s Götterdämmerung on July 1, General Director Emeritus David Gockley was awarded the San Francisco Opera Medal by General Director Matthew Shilvock. Gockley, the former general director and an operatic industry pioneer, was presented the Company’s highest honor onstage in front of a sold-out house and the entire performing and production staff of the summer season’s wildly successful The Ring. Shilvock honored Gockley, his predecessor as general director and personal mentor. “Legions of singers, composers, conductors, directors and designers have been given ground-breaking opportunities by you, David. You have championed successive generations of artists. You believe so fundamentally in the power of opera that you have, time and time again, made the seemingly
impossible a reality. You have pioneered new ways of engaging with the artform. You have made it accessible, compelling and vital in our lives. And you have given us a legacy of artistic experiences—like this Ring—that will remain in our souls for all time.”
“Legions of singers, composers, conductors, directors and designers have been given ground-breaking opportunities by you, David.” — Matthew Shilvock David Gockley’s tenure with San Francisco Opera was the culmination of a 45-year-long career as one of opera’s most innovative and bold impresarios that began with Houston Grand Opera, where he was general director for more than three decades. Gockley served as general director of
San Francisco Opera from January 2006 until his retirement in July 2016. Under his leadership, San Francisco Opera commissioned or co-commissioned 11 new works, presented 9 world premieres and co-produced a new production of Wagner’s The Ring which premiered in 2011 and was revived this past season. He also oversaw the search for Music Director Nicola Luisotti in 2009 and championed initiatives in community engagement such as the Civic Center simulcasts, the wildly successful Opera in the Ballpark at AT&T Park and the Diane B. Wilsey Center for Opera, which opened in February 2016. He also oversaw the formal establishment of San Francisco Opera’s Education Department and the Taube/Koret Media Suite. Upon receiving the award, Gockley told all in attendance, “I dedicate this medal to the people who are on stage with me today, who have given their lives to create beauty and drama in a way that is really indescribable.” AG G EE 33 PPA
MAKE AN
HONORARY OR MEMORIAL
GIFT
This holiday season honor the opera lover in your life with a gift to San Francisco Opera. Honorary gifts are a wonderful way to celebrate your loved one’s enthusiasm for this beautiful art form while supporting the programs that keep this company alive and vibrant. It can also be a meaningful way to remember someone who loved San Francisco Opera. Your contribution is tax-deductible and will be recognized in our program books all season long.
MAKE YOUR GIFT AT SFOPERA.COM/DONATE OR CALL (415) 565-3212
WHY I GIVE H
eidi Munzinger and John Shott became San Francisco Opera subscribers in 1995 and have slowly but steadily deepened their love of the art form and commitment to the Company over the past two decades. Already proud members of the Bel Canto Legacy and Medallion Societies, they happily joined the Builders Circle this season. How did you first discover opera? Heidi: My mother was a school teacher who took me along with her classes to children’s performances of San Diego Opera every year, but when I went away to college I became more interested in other forms of performing arts. John: Until I met Heidi, my only experience with opera had been one performance of Carmen in Vienna when I was a college student studying overseas; in the days before supertitles, seeing an opera about a Spanish gypsy sung in French and performed for a German-speaking audience made for a very odd evening! After we met we wanted to experience things that were relatively new to both of us and decided to attend an opera based on the suggestion of a good friend and lifelong San Francisco Opera subscriber. Why is opera important to you today? We live in an increasingly frantic and divisive world. To carve out time and sit amid a community of like-minded people—brought together to share great works of art that speak to the common human experience—soothes our, soothes our minds, bodies and souls.
What inspired you to increase your support as members of the Builders Circle? We know producing opera is an increasingly expensive endeavor, and to merely maintain our level of support will not sustain the art-form. Also, we have great confidence in the leadership of this Company and know they do not make frequent or frivolous requests not justified by the programs they support; so we are always glad to step up whenever we can. Because membership in the Builders Circle is based on your prior year’s gift, it allows donors at all levels to participate and invest in the continued success of San Francisco Opera!
P H O T O B Y D R E W A LT I Z E R
Do you have a favorite opera? Heidi: Impossible to pick just one! Both of us are big fans of Verdi and Wagner, especially masterworks like Don Carlos, Die Meistersinger and of course the Ring cycle; we also were blown away by Les Troyens and saw multiple performances when San Francisco Opera presented it three years ago. I am now enjoying more of the French repertoire (Les Contes d’Hoffmann, Manon) while John prefers modern American works (Susannah, Moby-Dick). Why I Give is an ongoing series of interviews with members of San Francisco Opera’s family of generous supporters.
PA G E 5
BUILDERS AND PRODUCERS
CIRCLES Builders Circle donors join Matthew Shilvock and the Tosca production team on stage for an exclusive, behind-the-scenes look at the opera.
“Opera speaks to our very souls. Its works are spectacular, creating breathtaking impact by synthesizing all the arts into moments in which time seems to stand still. Opera is an experiential art-form: great operas invite us to participate emotionally in their stories, allowing us to find resonance and meaning in the most intense situations of humanity. Opera brings us together in communal catharsis at the most profound level. We openly cry or rejoice sitting next to total strangers, and we come out of performances understanding our world a little better.” — Matthew Shilvock
W
hen an opera works, it does so because visionary risktakers at every level of the production focus their hard-won talent and considerable artistic and material resources on achieving that most thrilling of experiences: transcendent, collaborative expression. This expression speaks to the intangible mysteries of human experience and connects us to the rest of humankind. From epic works like the Ring cycle or Les Troyens, to the nuanced and contained Partenope or Susannah, it is in these creative adventures that San Francisco Opera finds its artistic wings and takes flight. In assembling a new repertory of core PA G E 6
productions, the Company is creating the next chapter of its legacy, ensuring that both current and future audiences can engage with moving, powerful and resonant productions. As General Director Matthew Shilvock explains, “Our forebears left such legacies which have helped the Company soar, and it is now time to begin the next chapter of creation and investment in a thriving artistic future for San Francisco Opera.” Under Shilvock’s direction, two new giving programs have been created to bring patrons closer to the art form than ever before. The Builders Circle is a new program designed to foster ongoing investment in the creation of these
new repertory productions. Tailor-made for the Company’s most dedicated supporters, this program promises special opportunities—on top of regular membership benefits—that will allow patrons to engage with the work made possible by their support. For example, inaugural members of the Builders Circle were invited to the final dress rehearsal of Tosca followed by an onstage reception and Q&A with Matthew Shilvock and members of the creative team including director Shawna Lucey. The Builders Circle is open to all members who make an increased gift of 10% or more over the prior year (with a minimum increase of $500), or a new gift of $500 or more. Stay tuned for exciting new Builders Circle benefits in the spring. The Producers Circle is a new group of six-figure-level philanthropists. It will recognize donors as creative partners, connecting them to the thrill and insider energy of season planning, design and execution. Members of the Producers Circle will join the creative process at San
PHOTO BY KRISTEN LOKEN
TWO NEW GIVING PROGRAMS FOR OUR OPERA PATRONS
Francisco Opera at an unparalleled level, gaining access and engagement to our artistic and production work in ways that truly make them creative partners. It is a unique opportunity to see every element of the artistic process unfold, creating profound conceptions of what transformative philanthropy can make possible on our stage. Producers are
“It is now time to begin the next chapter of creation and investment in a thriving artistic future.” — Matthew Shilvock invited to an intimate annual dinner in a unique operatic venue and get a sneak-peek into future season plans. They will also enjoy exclusive access to
private behind-the-scenes experiences that bring the creative process to life, learning how production designs are taken from initial sketches into physical sets and costumes. Producers will be the first to see new production designs and meet design teams as well as have access to a designated Producers Circle area reserved near the tech tables at final dress rehearsals throughout the season. As so many of San Francisco Opera’s beloved legacy productions (such as Tosca, La Bohéme, and Le Nozze di Figaro) reach the end of their artistic shelf life, members of the Producers Circle will be actively responsible for creating the future legacy for these core operas and give them a new and vibrant spark that will drive the San Francisco Opera into an exciting creative future.
CUT YOUR TAXABLE INCOME FOR 2018 AN IRA CHARITABLE ROLLOVER GIFT IS A GREAT OPTION You may make tax-free charitable gifts to San Francisco Opera with a distribution from your Individual Retirement Account (IRA). Americans over age 70½ can distribute up to $100,000 per calendar year from an IRA, tax-free. For those required to take a required minimum distribution (RMD), a gift to the Opera or other qualified organization counts toward your RMD, but is not included in your gross income for income tax purposes. QUESTIONS?
For more information on the Builders Circle, contact Membership at (415) 565-6416
Contact your IRA provider or reach
or membership@sfopera.com. For more information about the Producers Circle
out to Mandala Pham at (415) 565-6413
contact Deborah Banks at (415) 551-6345 or dbanks@sfopera.com.
or mpham@sfopera.com. PA G E 7
P R O MO T IN G CIVIC EN GA GEMENT
S
an Francisco Opera is proud to launch “Earn Your
and similar programs in the future, San Francisco Opera
Wings” (#EarnYourWings), an initiative designed to
renews its commitment to form responsive, long-term
promote civic engagement that recognizes Compass
reciprocal relationships with community partners.
Family Services and Community Housing Partnership – two
#EarnYourWings is inspired by themes in composer
heroic organizations making an impact in the city of San Francisco by providing life-changing services to families and individuals at risk of or experiencing homelessness.
Jake Heggie and librettist Gene
Raising awareness, celebrating others and learning about the issues of homelessness facing our city.
The initiative is born from the
Scheer’s It’s a Wonderful Life, a San Francisco Opera cocommission and co-production with Houston Grand Opera and the Indiana University
development of civic practices as part of a new strategic
Jacobs School of Music. In the opera, angel-in-training
framework guiding the Company into the centennial 2022-
Clara seeks to earn her wings by helping George Bailey
23 Season and beyond. With the launch of #EarnYourWings
recognize the profound impact he has had on the lives of people around him by giving back to his neighbors, colleagues and friends. In this spirit, we encourage our audiences to join San Francisco Opera in learning about and supporting Compass Family Services’ and Community Housing Partnership’s critical work to end homelessness in San Francisco and invite you to recognize individuals and
PHOTO BY KAREN ALMOND
organizations in your own lives and communities through
PA G E 8
#EarnYourWings. San Francisco Opera will be sharing the stories of our neighbors who are making a difference in our community with the goals of raising awareness, celebrating others and learning about the issues of homelessness facing our city. #Earn Your Wings and San Francisco Opera’s activities
C O U R T E S Y O F C O M M U N I T Y H O U S I N G PA R T N E R S H I P C O U R T E S Y O F C O M PA S S FA M I LY S E R V I C E S
LEARN MORE: Get to know more about Compass Family Services and Community Housing Partnership online or by
PHOTO BY KAREN ALMOND
following them on social media.
with Community Housing Partnership and Compass Family Services are created through a creative partnership
CONNECT AND SHARE: Share our posts on FB, Twitter and Instagram! Also, join us in recognizing and thanking individuals who work to make San Francisco a better place by posting in our Earn Your Wings Facebook group and tagging that person. We will be featuring these stories on our website daily at sfopera.com/EarnYourWings.
with the Chicago-based Fifth House Ensemble, a national leader in collaborative, arts-integrated program design
CELEBRATE OTHERS:
for educational and social impact. #EarnYourWings is
Invite your friends and family on social media
made possible by an Opera America Innovation Grant, supported by the Ann and Gordon Getty Foundation. The story of It’s a Wonderful Life reminds us how precious life really is. Learn more about this initiative
to share stories of their work with charitable organizations in San Francisco. In addition to being featured as part of #EarnYourWings, these stories
and how you can make a difference at sfopera.com/
help us all learn more about organizations in our
EarnYourWings.
community that are doing great work.
PA G E 9
P H O T O B Y C O R Y W E AV E R
left: The legendary Plรกcido Domingo performs a sold-out concert at the War Memorial Opera House.
PHOTO BY DREW ALITZER
below: Opera patrons enjoy sunshine, snacks, and song at San Francisco Chronicle Presents Opera in the Park.
C O M P A N Y
PHOTO BY DREW ALITZER
HAPPENINGS
A tango ensemble plays in the the War Memorial Opera House lobby on opening night.
Travel program attendees pose at the Spoleto Festival in Charleston, South Carolina.
perform at San Francisco Opera Lab’s
PHOTO BY DREW ALITZER
Battle of the Divas pop-up event.
Cast members have fun backstage after the last performance of Götterdämmerung.
Kindergarteners from Jefferson Elementary perform at the ARIA Festival.
PHOTO BY KRISTEN LOKEN
PHOTO BY BOB HEMSTOCK
Pene Pati and Toni Marie Palmertree
B E H I N D
NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION U.S. POSTAGE
T H E
CURTAIN
PAID
SAN FRANCISCO OPERA
War Memorial Opera House 301 Van Ness Avenue San Francisco, CA 94102
IN THIS ISSUE
New Giving Circles David Gockley awarded Opera Medal Why I Give with Heidi Munzinger and John Shott Company Happenings And More!
UPCOMING
Herbst Theatre
PHOTO BY CJ RU
JANUARY 19 AND MARCH 16, 2019, 2PM Free Family Movie Screening
FEBRUARY 27, 2019, 11:30AM Medallion Society Luncheon
Half Moon Bay Library
The Ritz-Carlton
APRIL 18, 2019, 2:00PM Bel Canto Afternoon Tea
PHOTO BY KRISTEN LOKEN
Members-only event for Founder level donors and above.
The Ritz-Carlton
MARCH 25-29, 2019, 10AM TO 4PM Performing Arts Connection: Spring Break for Middle Schoolers
Members-only event for Opera donors with a legacy gift.
Wilsey Center for Opera
MAY 4, 2019, ALL DAY ARIA Festival: Youth Voices for Change Wilsey Center for Opera
PHOTO BY REBECCA SCOTT
DECEMBER 8, 2018, 7:30PM The Future is Now: Adler Fellows Concert
PHOTO BY CHESHIRE ISAACS
EVENTS