Tuesday, November 29, 2022

SFO to Conclude Fall Season with Two Concerts

As the San Francisco Opera (SFO) concludes its fall season, next month will begin with the final performances of the two most recent productions to be presented. The first of these will be Orpheus and Eurydice, which will begin at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, December 1, followed, again at 7:30 p.m., on Saturday, December 3, by the final performance of La Traviata. However, these offerings will be interleaved with two concerts, one of which involves a long-standing tradition, while the other shows signs of emerging as a new tradition.

The first of these is the annual end-of-year performance by the current Adler Fellows. As in the past, the title of this concert will be The Future is Now, since it was conceived to introduce the next generation of opera stars. The vocalists will be sopranos Anne-Marie MacIntosh, Mikayla Sager, Elisa Sunshine, and Esther Tonea, mezzo Gabrielle Beteag, tenors Victor Cardamone and Edward Graves, baritone Timothy Murray, and bass Stefan Egerstrom. They will perform with the SFO Orchestra conducted by Music Director Eun Sun Kim, who will provide the program with a suitable overture, the one composed by Johann Strauss II for his operetta Die Fledermaus.

The performance will begin at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, December 2. The venue will be Herbst Theatre, whose entrance is on the ground floor of the Veterans Building at 401 Van Ness Avenue, located on the southwest corner of McAllister Street. Ticket prices will be $69 for premium Orchestra seating, $59 for Orchestra Rear and Side Boxes, $49 for the Dress Circle, and $34 for the Balcony. Tickets may be purchased in advance online through an SFO event page or by calling the SFO Box Office at 415-864-3330.

Last year’s SFO Chorus concert led by Director Ian Robertson (photograph by Matthew Washburn, courtesy of SFO)

This past December the SFO Chorus celebrated the retirement of its Director Ian Robertson with a program entitled, simply enough, San Francisco Opera Chorus In Concert: Celebrating Ian Robertson. Next month Chorus Director John Keene will conduct a similar event, this time entitled simply San Francisco Opera Chorus in Concert. This will be a program of both a cappella and accompanied works with Associate Chorus Master Fabrizio Corona at the keyboard for the latter offerings. The selections will include both opera excerpts and selections of both sacred and secular choral compositions.

This performance will begin at 2 p.m. on Sunday, December 4. The venue will again be in the Veterans Building, but it will be up on the fourth floor in the Dianne and Tad Taube Atrium Theater. Seating will be general admission, and all tickets are being sold for $42. Tickets may again be purchased in advance online through an SFO event page or by calling the SFO Box Office at 415-864-3330. Those interested in bringing a group of ten or more are advised to send electronic mail to groupsales@sfopera.com or to call 415-621-4403.

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