Merola Opera Program Announces 2024 Season

"Banner" of graphic icons for the four events in the Merola Season (from the home page for the season)

With San Francisco Opera beginning its spring season tomorrow evening, can the performances presented by the Merola Opera Program be far behind? Now 67 years old, the program for this summer will feature, for the first time in the organization’s history, three stage directors who are women. There will be four performances open to the public, each of which will be discussed in greater detail in a forthcoming article. However, for those that believe in “saving the date” sooner, rather than later, here is the list of dates, times, and places:

1. June 27, 7:30 p.m., Dianne and Tad Taube Atrium Theater, The Song as Drama: Artistic Director Carrie-Ann Matheson and tenor Nicholas Phan will co-curate a vocal chamber recital that explores the narrative arc of song.
2. July 11, 7:30 p.m., and July 13, 2 p.m., Caroline H. Hume Concert Hall, San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Schwabacher Summer Concert: Omer Ben Seadia (Merola ’14) and Anna Theodosakis (this year’s Merola Stage Director) will present extended scenes from the opera repertoire with Louis Lohraseb conducting a full orchestra.
3. August 1, 7:30 p.m., and August 3, 2 p.m., Caroline H. Hume Concert Hall, Don Giovanni: Soprano Patricia Racette (Merola ’88) will direct a fully-staged production of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s opera with Stefano Sazani conducting.
4. August 17, 7:30 p.m., War Memorial Opera House, Merola Grand Finale: As BBC announcers like to say in introducing the last night of the summer Proms concerts, this is when “the circus leaves town!” All of the participating young artists will gather for staged performances of well-known operatic scenes and lesser-known musical gems. Staging will again be by Theodosakis, and the conductor will be Steven White.

A single Web page has been created for purchasing tickets. This year Merola will be offering tickets to those 25 and under for only $10. In addition, there will also be a $10 rate for those seeing their first Merola production, with specific directions for this offer on the aforementioned Web page. All other ticket prices will range between $35 and $65 (with a $25 option in the War Memorial Opera House).