Sheri Greenawald News

On Friday, February 16, 2018, 16 of the best young American and Canadian opera singers will perform with pianist Craig Rutenberg before a panel of judges and an enthusiastic audience at The Morgan Library & Museum. At the event's conclusion, six of them will be named this year's winners of the George London Award, an honor that has been conferred upon hundreds of the best young singers since 1971. The award, currently a $10,000 prize, is named for the legendary Canadian-American bass-baritone, one of the greatest opera singers of 20th century.

San Francisco Opera Center Director Sheri Greenawald today announced the eleven recipients of the 2018 Adler Fellowship. Eight singers, two pianist/apprentice coaches and one director will take part in the program. The multi-year performance-oriented residency offers 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 artists who have participated in the Merola Opera Program. The prestigious fellowship has nurtured the development of more than 175 young artists since its inception.

San Francisco Opera presents six performances of Jules Massenet's Manon at the War Memorial Opera HouseNovember 4 22.

San Francisco Opera presents six performances of Jules Massenet's Manon at the War Memorial Opera House November 4 22. One of the composer's most enduring and sensuous works, Manon returns to the Company's repertory after a 19-year hiatus in a new production by French director Vincent Boussard, which is a co-production with Lithuanian National Opera and Ballet Theatre and the Israeli Opera.

San Francisco Opera today announced a cast change for Jules Massenet's Manon, opening November 4 and running for six performances through November 22, 2017.

The Merola Opera Program launches its 60th Anniversary season on Sunday, June 11 with a Benefit Gala at City Hall and a concert immediately following at Herbst Theatre in San Francisco, featuring some of the acclaimed Merola program's most illustrious participants. The 60th Anniversary concert will feature performances by Merola alumni from the 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, and current and recent participants, including: soprano Deborah Voigt (1985); mezzo-soprano Dolora Zajick (1983); Mark Morash, pianist and Merola Opera Program Music Director (1987); and soprano Tracy Dahl (1985); soprano Kristin Clayton (1993), mezzo-soprano Catherine Cook (1990), Bojan Knezevic, bass-baritone (1992, 1993, 1994), and John Churchwell, pianist (1996); baritone Quinn Kelsey (2002); 2013 Merola graduates mezzo-soprano Zanda Šv?de and tenors Pene Pati and Issachah Savage; soprano Julie Adams, and bass Anthony Reed,  all from 2014; Amina Edris and Toni Marie Palmertree, sopranos; and Brad Walker, bass-baritone, both from 2015; and 2016 artists Sarah Cambidge, soprano; Amitai Pati and Kyle van Schoonhoven, tenors; Andrew G. Manea, baritone; John Elam and Jennifer Szeto, pianists; and director Aria Umezawa.

In connection with its twenty-year commitment to address a long-standing gender imbalance at podiums throughout the opera world, The Dallas Opera is delighted to announce that this year's annual reunion of the Fellows of the Linda and Mitch Hart Institute for Women Conductors at The Dallas Opera will take place at the famed War Memorial in San Francisco, California, in partnership with the San Francisco Opera.

The 34th season of Schwabacher Debut Recitals continues on Sunday,April 9 at 5:30 p.m. in the Dianne and Tad Taube Atrium Theater with mezzo-soprano Renee Rapier, bass Anthony Reed and pianist and San Francisco Opera Head of Music Staff John Churchwell. They will present The Woods: A Rom-Com Recital, a series of songs by American composers compiled by Reed into a narrative with original dialogue. The performance will be directed by first-year San Francisco Opera Adler Fellow Aria Umezawa.

 The 34th season of Schwabacher Debut Recitals continues on Sunday, April 9 at 5:30 p.m. in the Dianne and Tad Taube Atrium Theater with mezzo-soprano Renée Rapier, bass Anthony Reed and pianist and San Francisco Opera Head of Music Staff John Churchwell. They will present The Woods: A Rom-Com Recital, a series of songs by American composers compiled by Reed into a narrative with original dialogue. The performance will be directed by first-year San Francisco Opera Adler Fellow Aria Umezawa.

San Francisco Opera Center and the Merola Opera Program present the 34th season of the Schwabacher Debut Recitals, opening on March 26 and continuing through April 30.

San Francisco Opera Center and the Merola Opera Program present the 34th season of the Schwabacher Debut Recitals, opening on March 26 and continuing through April 30. The four-recital series offers music lovers an opportunity to hear opera's next generation of stars in the intimate and state-of-the-art Taube Atrium Theater in San Francisco.

Florida Grand Opera (FGO) is pleased to announce the promotion and addition of new members to its music staff. Katherine Kozak, continuing in the position of Chorus Master at Florida Grand Opera and celebrating 20 years in the opera industry, will be promoted to also serve as Head Coach of the company's Young Artist Program. Howard Lubin will serve as Senior Coach, and Paul Schwartz and Paul Kovacovic will fill the roles of staff accompanists.

San Francisco Opera Center Director Sheri Greenawald today announced the thirteen recipients of the 2017 Adler Fellowship. Nine singers, three pianist/apprentice coaches and one director will take part in the program-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. The prestigious fellowship has nurtured the development of more than 175 young artists since its inception.

When South African soprano Elza van den Heever made her debut at the Met, as Elizabeth I in Donizetti's MARIA STUARDA, it was something that was totally memorable in every way--not only for her intelligent and gorgeous bel canto singing but for the lurching gait that helped show her character as unbalanced. What does she have in mind for her role debut as Leonore, in Beethoven's FIDELIO, at the Caramoor Festival?

The Merola Opera Program presents Conrad Susa's Transformations, led by conductor Neal Goren and director Roy Rallo, in two performances Today, July 21 at 7:30 pm and Saturday, July 23 at 2 pm at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music in San Francisco.

SAN FRANCISCO, July 13, 2016 – The Merola Opera Program's Summer Festival concludes with its 2016 artists performing in the Merola Grand Finale Saturday, August 20 at 7:30 pm at the War Memorial Opera House in San Francisco. Conductor Rory Macdonald will lead the orchestra and 2016 Merola Apprentice Stage Director Aria Umezawa will stage the program, featuring works by Bizet, Bernstein, Donizetti, Offenbach, Mozart, J. Strauss, Puccini, Berlioz, Britten, Humperdinck, Flotow, Glück, and Rossini. The performance is a culmination of the 12-week Merola Opera training program, and all 23 of the 2016 Merola singers will perform, under the coaching and direction of their fellow artists. A special artists' reception follows the Grand Finale (tickets sold separately).

SAN FRANCISCO - 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 tonight, July 7 at 7:30 pm and Saturday, July 9 at 2 pm at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.

On Thursday, June 16, the San Francisco Opera honored Company General Director David Gockley with a gala evening and concert titled Celebrating David! Many of the leading artists from the world of opera gathered to honor one of the great careers in the modern history of the art form. Gockley, who in 2014 announced that he would retire from his position as General Director at the completion of the 2015­­-16 Season on July 31, has led a storied career of more than 40 years as an opera impresario.

(San Francisco, June 9, 2016) The Merola Opera Program presents Conrad Susa's Transformations, led by conductor Neal Goren and director Roy Rallo, in two performances Thursday, July 21 at 7:30 pm and Saturday, July 23 at 2 pm at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music in San Francisco.

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.