San Francisco Opera Will Host Free 'Opera In The Park' Concert in September
Eleonora Buratto and Heidi Stober headline a lineup drawn from SIMON BOCCANEGRA and MARY, QUEEN OF SCOTS.
The opening weekend of San Francisco Opera’s 104th season will conclude on Sunday, September 13 with the Company’s presentation of Opera in the Park. This popular and free event presented by the San Francisco Chronicle features Caroline H. Hume Music Director Eun Sun Kim conducting the San Francisco Opera Orchestra and stars of the Company’s fall season at Robin Williams Meadow in Golden Gate Park.
This year marks Diane B. Wilsey’s 20th as the Opera’s Opening Weekend Grand Sponsor, making possible the season-opening Opera Ball benefit and opening night performance of Simon Boccanegra on September 12 along with Opera in the Park on September 13.
Classical California is the radio sponsor for the 51st Opera in the Park, and on-air hosts Dianne Nicolini, Maggie Clennon Reberg and Jennifer Miller Hammel will welcome the audience. San Francisco Opera’s Tad and Dianne Taube General Director Matthew Shilvock will emcee the event. From the casts of the first two operas of the 2026–27 Season—Giuseppe Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra and Thea Musgrave’s Mary, Queen of Scots—Opera in the Park soloists scheduled to appear include sopranos Eleonora Buratto, Sofia Gotch, Mary Hoskins, Toni Marie Palmertree and Heidi Stober; tenors Joshua Guerrero and Christopher Sokolowski; baritones Amartuvshin Enkhbat, Thomas Mole and Gabriel Natal-Báez; and bass-baritone Christian Van Horn. The program of arias and ensembles highlights works by Leoncavallo, Donizetti, Puccini, Richard Strauss, Verdi, Glinka and Weber, among others, as well as a movie musical favorite.
Back by popular demand after the inaugural picnic contest last year, the competition for best picnic spread returns at Opera in the Park. Arrive early to claim your patch of grass and decorate it with the most impressive picnic you can imagine. During the first half of the afternoon concert, judges will be scouting the grounds for the ultimate picnic to win the grand prize!
Bearitone the Opera Bear welcomes opera’s littlest fans to Opera in the Park for coloring, crafts and lawn games, such as giant Jenga, cornhole, ring toss and Connect 4. Located near the concessions area, the Opera Bear’s Club House offers a fun space for children and families to play, create and connect during the concert.
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