Gaetano Merola News

SAN FRANCISCO, May 5, 2016 – The acclaimed Merola Opera Program, one of the most prestigious and selective opera training programs in the United States, opens its 2016 Summer Festival with the popular Schwabacher Summer Concerts Thursday, July 7 at 7:30 pm and Saturday, July 9 at 2 pm at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. Conducted by Eric Weimer and directed by Omer Ben Seadia, the Schwabacher Summer Concert features this year's Merola Opera artists performing extended scenes from operas including Handel's Serse, Stravinsky's The Rake's Progress, R. Strauss's Arabella, Wagner's Lohengrin, Poulenc's Dialogues des Carmélites, and Rossini's Le Comte Ory. Tickets for the concerts at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music range from $25 to $40, with a limited number of $15 student tickets. 

San Francisco Opera today announced plans to return to KQED 9 for the sixth season of spectacular opera and musical theater works featuring a roster of internationally renowned singers, conductors, directors and designers, all recorded live in high-definition from the War Memorial Opera House.

San Francisco Opera today announced plans to return to KQED 9 for the sixth season of spectacular opera and musical theater works featuring a roster of internationally renowned singers, conductors, directors and designers, all recorded live in high-definition from the War Memorial Opera House.

The 33rd season of the Schwabacher Debut Recitals continues on Sunday, March 6 at the new Dianne and Tad Taube Atrium Theater with bass-baritone Daniel Okulitch and pianist John Churchwell.

SAN FRANCISCO (October 12, 2015) –– San Francisco Opera Center Director Sheri Greenawald announced today the twelve recipients of the 2016 Adler Fellowship, a multi-year performance-oriented residency offering advanced young artists intensive individual training, coaching and professional seminars, as well as a wide range of performance opportunities. Adler Fellows are selected from the young artists who have participated in the Merola Opera Program. This prestigious training program has nurtured the development of more than 150 young artists since its inception.

Following the final curtain call for Friday's Opening Night performance of Verdi's Luisa Miller, San Francisco Opera General Director David Gockley will award stage director Francesca Zambello with the San Francisco Opera Medal-the highest honor bestowed by the Company to an artistic professional.

The Merola Opera Program presents Donizetti's Don Pasquale, led by conductor Warren Jones and director Nic Muni, in two performances tonight, August 6 at 7:30pm and Saturday, August 8 at 2pm at the Cowell Theater in San Francisco.

The Merola Opera Program presents Donizetti's Don Pasquale, led by conductor Warren Jones and director Nic Muni, in two performances Thursday, August 6 at 7:30pm and Saturday, August 8 at 2pm at the Cowell Theater in San Francisco.

SAN FRANCISCO, July 1, 2015 – The Merola Opera Program presents Donizetti's Don Pasquale, led by conductor Warren Jones and director Nic Muni, in two performances Thursday, August 6 at 7:30pm and Saturday, August 8 at 2pm at the Cowell Theater in San Francisco. 

?The 32nd season of the Schwabacher Debut Recitals continues on Sunday, March 29 at Temple Emanu-El's Martin Meyer Sanctuary with soprano Julie Adams and pianist John Churchwell. Adams and Churchwell will present a program of works by Alfred Bachelet, Erich Wolfgang Korngold, Edvard Grieg, Sergei Rachmaninov and Lee Hoiby.

SAN FRANCISCO, February 4, 2015 – Twenty-three singers, five apprentice coaches, and one apprentice stage director, representing seven countries, will participate in the 58th season of the Merola Opera Program from June 8 to August 22, San Francisco Opera Center Director Sheri Greenawald announced today. More than 800 artists vied this year for the 29 coveted spots in the highly selective summer opera training program. Nearly one third of this season's artists come from countries outside the United States, including artists from Australia, China, Italy, New Zealand, Russia and South Korea, and the US artists hail from 15 states, including California, New York, Illinois, Michigan, Florida, Texas, Georgia, Pennsylvania, and Idaho.

San Francisco Opera Center and the Merola Opera Program present the 33rd season of the Schwabacher Debut Recitals, beginning February 8, 2015 with soprano Erin Johnson and pianist Sun Ha Yoon at Temple Emanu-El's Martin Meyer Sanctuary in San Francisco.

San Francisco Opera General Director David Gockley announced today the appointment of Daniel Knapp as director of production, effective February 11, 2015. Knapp currently serves as artistic production director and head of company management of the world-acclaimed Bregenz Festival in Austria. He succeeds Greg Weber, who has joined the staff of Tulsa Opera as managing director.

George and Ira Gershwin's masterpiece opera Porgy and Bess, based on the play by Dubose and Dorothy Heyward, premieres on PBS this fall with the critically acclaimed production from San Francisco Opera. THE GERSHWINS'® PORGY AND BESS airs tonight, October 17, 2014, at 9:00 p.m. ET on PBS (check local listings) as part of the PBS Arts Fall Festival, which highlights artists and performances from around the country and invites every American to have a front-row seat and a backstage pass for the country's best arts performances.

San Francisco Opera General Director David Gockley and San Francisco Opera Association President Keith Geeslin today announced that Gockley will retire in July 2016, concluding a ten-year, seven-month tenure with the Company and capping an internationally acclaimed and award-winning career spanning 44 years as one of America's most prominent opera impresarios. Gockley, who will be 73 at the end of the 2015–16 season, became the Company's sixth general director when he joined San Francisco Opera in January 2006. Today's announcement was made at a War Memorial Opera House press conference.

George and Ira Gershwin's masterpiece opera Porgy and Bess, based on the play by Dubose and Dorothy Heyward, premieres on PBS this fall with the critically acclaimed production from San Francisco Opera. THE GERSHWINS'® PORGY AND BESS airs Friday, October 17, 2014, at 9:00 p.m. ET on PBS (check local listings) as part of thePBS Arts Fall Festival, which highlights artists and performances from around the country and invites every American to have a front-row seat and a backstage pass for the country's best arts performances.

Licia Albanese was an Italian-born American operatic soprano. She passed away at the age of 105.

San Francisco Opera and KQED 9 partner once again bring the glory of grand opera to the living rooms of the Bay Area. Recorded in impressive high-definition and in 5.1 surround sound at the War Memorial Opera House, the television specials showcase the imaginative stagings and all-star casts from San Francisco Opera's recent productions of I Capuleti e i Montecchi, the tragic tale of Romeo and Juliet accompanied by some of Bellini's most beautiful melodies; Verdi's Attila, a complex look at a legendary warrior tormented by fierce internal doubts; Mefistofele,Boito's resplendent retelling of Goethe's Faust; and Verdi's Rigoletto about a vengeful court jester desperately trying to protect his daughter from disaster.

The San Francisco Opera celebrates its 90th year since it was founded by Gaetano Merola in 1923. Currently the second largest opera company in North America, the San Francisco Opera has grown from one production presented for two weeks to 75 performances of ten different operas running from September to July.