Tuesday, August 13, 2019

SFO Cancels Domingo’s Anniversary Concert

This past March, this site reported that tenor Plácido Domingo would return to the War Memorial Opera House on October 6 to present a concert celebrating the 50th anniversary of his San Francisco Opera (SFO) debut. This site did not post any follow-up articles due to the rapidity with which all available tickets were sold. This afternoon SFO announced that this October 6 concert will be cancelled.

This decision was made in the wake of this morning’s news reports involving multiple allegations of sexual harassment dating from the late Eighties. Though none of these alleged incidents involved SFO, the Company is unable to present a performance by Domingo on the War Memorial Opera House stage. SFO has a strong anti-sexual harassment policy. It is firmly committed to that policy and requires all Company members to adhere to the highest standards of professional conduct. SFO places a great priority on creating a safe and secure environment where everyone can focus on their work and art and in which colleagues are treated with respect, dignity, and collegiality.

Because tickets for this event have not yet been mailed to purchasers, all ticket-holders will be contacted by the SFO Box Office. Those who wish will be refunded for their tickets. However, patrons may also exchange their tickets for tickets to another SFO performance prior to the close of the season, or they may apply the price of the tickets as a tax-deductible donation to SFO.

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