San Francisco Opera Cancels Summer Season

This afternoon San Francisco Opera (SFO) Tad and Dianne Taube General Director Matthew Shilvock announced that the 2020 Summer Season, scheduled to take place between June 7 and July 3, has been cancelled. Most readers of this article probably receive electronic mail on a regular basis. Those who are SFO subscribers are likely to have seen this announcement already: Anyone with both an SFO Patron ID and an electronic mail address will likely have received it by now.

As Shilvock put it:

The safety and health of our audiences, artists and employees must come first, and it is imperative that we continue to do our part in the critical effort to contain COVID-19.

This is not simply a matter of whether or not social distancing will still be required and the current closing of all War Memorial facilities will still be in place in June. There would also likely be critical issues involving how those currently holding tickets will be seated. In addition, rehearsal is only one of the many matters of preparation before the curtain goes up at the beginning of a new season. Particularly important is how many of those involved with the summer productions will have to travel to San Francisco and how likely it will be that such travel will be possible. On the local front, however, SFO will continue to pay full compensation and benefits for employees through the current May 3 shelter-in-place period.

Some readers may also know that, earlier today, Governor Gavin Newsom presented a set of six criteria that will define what he has called his “roadmap to recovery.” One of those criteria is: “The development of guidelines for businesses and schools to allow physical distancing even as they reopen.” All performing arts organizations will need to bear this criterion in mind, accounting for its impact on both performers and audiences.

Both subscribers and those holding single tickets to Summer performances will have options similar to those with other tickets for events taking place in War Memorial facilities:

1. The value of the tickets may be treated as a tax-deductible contribution to the SFO Annual Fund.
2. For those with a Patron ID, the value of the tickets may be kept on account and applied to future ticket purchases, including subscriptions, for any War Memorial Opera House performances in the SFO 2020–21 season. Those funds can also be used to upgrade a current subscription for that season. Finally, the funds may be held until 2021 and applied to the purchase of a subscription to the 2021–22 season.
3. The Box Office can refund the tickets or exchange them for those in the 2020–21 season.

A Web page has been created, which patrons can use to inform SFO of which of these options they have selected. Alternatively, the Box Office can be reached by telephoning 415-864-3330. Box Office hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Monday and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Tuesday through Saturday.