Merola Opera Program Announces 2023 Season

One of the most prestigious opera training programs in the world, San Francisco's acclaimed Merola Opera Program has announced its 2023 season. This year's talented cohort of participants, announced last month, is made up of 29 young artists, selected from more than 1300 applicants, who hail from the United Kingdom, Taiwan, Cuba, France, South Korea, Wales, Costa Rica, China, and across the United States and Canada.

"The 2023 Merola Opera Program will bring some of the world's brightest young operatic talent to the Bay Area," said Carrie-Ann Matheson, San Francisco Opera Center Artistic Director, and Markus Beam (Merola '02), San Francisco Opera Center General Manager.

"As a premiere training program, we choose our artistic projects by first asking what will most serve the development of our participants. We are excited to offer a summer of varied musical and theatrical performances encompassing themes of tragedy, love, rebirth, and renewal, and are eagerly anticipating this journey of discovery with each of our 29 Merolini, and with our world class faculty."

The 2023 Merola Summer Festival kicks off on June 29 with Metamorphosis: Recovery, Renewal, and Rebirth, an illuminating voice and piano recital at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music Concert Hall that celebrates the beautiful and sophisticated aspects of transformation, followed by a fully staged production of Benjamin Britten's The Rape of Lucretia, performed on July 13 and 15 at the Herbst Theatre.

Memorable works from the classic opera repertoire will be highlighted in the Schwabacher Summer Concert, a semi-staged concert of extended scenes performed with full orchestra on August 3 and 5 at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music Concert Hall. The season comes to a sensational end on August 19 with the Merola Grand Finale, an electrifying concert featuring all the 2023 Merola participants, presented at the War Memorial Opera House, with a reception following in The Green Room.