Pride 2026 Begins (Again) at the Opera House

As was the case last year, this year’s 56th annual Pride Celebration got under way at the War Memorial Opera House with San Francisco Opera (SFO) hosting its seasonal Pride Concert. The program was curated by Gregory Henkel; and, as was the case last year, the SFO Orchestra was conducted by Robert Mollicone with Kay Stern as Concertmaster. This being an opera house, most of the music was vocal with leading soloists Melody Moore (soprano), Nikola Printz (mezzo), and Reginald Smith, Jr. (baritone). When the selections required, they were joined by soprano Alexa Franklin, mezzo Sadie Cheslak, and tenor Thomas Kinch. Sapphira Cristál, best known as Miss Congeniality for Season 16 of RuPaul’s Drag Race served once again as emcee.

Ironically, the program began with the same music the opened last week’s memorial program for Michael Tilson Thomas (MTT) performed by the San Francisco Symphony (SFS). This was his “Agnegram,” and I have to confess that my second encounter with this music was no more satisfying than my first! Indeed, I am afraid that the paragraph about this music in last night’s program book was more memorable than the music itself. Fortunately, once the vocalists took charge, things picked up for both the classical and pop offerings.

Where the former genre is concerned, the most memorable offering involved one of the most familiar works in the standard repertoire. This was “Belle nuit, ô nuit d'amour” (beautiful night, oh night of love), best known as the barcarolle from Jacques Offenbach’s opera The Tales of Hoffmann. Moore and Printz brought just the right chemistry to the music, which I found refreshing no matter how many times I have heard it in the past. Printz was just as compelling on the pop side with her command of Stevie Wonder’s “I Can Only Be Me,” in an orchestral arrangement by Christopher Willis.

Last night’s “after party” at the Opera House

In many ways the evening was a party that no one wanted to end, which is why the “all hands” medley for the finale was followed by a sumptuous reception in the Opera House lobby!