San Francisco Opera Presents CELEBRATING THE VOICES OF SAN FRANCISCO OPERA

The artists and artistry of San Francisco Opera will be on full display in Celebrating the Voices of San Francisco Opera, a virtual event that will be unveiled at sfopera.com, YouTube and Facebook on Friday, December 4 at 7:30 pm Pacific.

The 90-minute program features newly recorded performances by some of opera's greatest singers and instrumentalists along with conversations about pivotal works slated for future San Francisco Opera seasons. The free event will stream from December 4 through 11:59 pm on Sunday, December 6.

San Francisco Opera Tad and Dianne Taube General Director Matthew Shilvock and Caroline H. Hume Music Director Designate Eun Sun Kim co-host Celebrating the Voices of San Francisco Opera and highlight the Company's creative forces and the resilience and energy of its artists.

Shilvock said: "Since the pandemic began, San Francisco Opera has been working hard to keep our incredible Opera family together and keep opera alive in our community in ways that are safe and creative. This concert is a celebration of the amazingly talented people whose artistry defines us. Our concert is a reminder of how moving it is when artists make music together in the same venue - the intimate intensity of song. We will explore the behind-the-scenes work underway to prepare sets and costumes that will shape our return to live performance. I am so grateful to all those whose talents are coming together to bring opera alive in this program and to our passionately supportive community whose belief in us is ensuring a thrilling future for San Francisco Opera under the baton of Eun Sun Kim."

Celebrating the Voices of San Francisco Opera showcases the Company's artists performing in a variety of musical spaces and configurations. Soprano Sondra Radvanovsky, tenor Michael Fabiano and baritone Artur Ruciński, with former San Francisco Opera music director Nicola Luisotti at the piano, perform Italian repertory favorites from the stage of Madrid's Teatro Real, recorded exclusively for San Francisco Opera. Additional arias were captured for the event at the Berlin State Opera and in Auckland, Chicago, New York and in San Francisco Opera's digital hub in the Dianne and Tad Taube Atrium Theater in the Diane B. Wilsey Center for Opera. Performing artists include sopranos Janai Brugger and Amina Edris, mezzo-soprano Ashley Dixon, tenor Pene Pati, bass-baritone Alfred Walker, instrumentalists from the San Francisco Opera Orchestra and others. Performances captured in the Wilsey Center for Opera include lighting designed by Justin A. Partier and projections by Bay Area artist Alexander V. Nichols who also designed the rotating-cube set for San Francisco Opera's new production of Beethoven's Fidelio.

Fidelio is the subject of a conversation between Eun Sun Kim and director Matthew Ozawa. Though their collaboration on the opera was postponed by the pandemic, their discussion will explore the creative process, the production's setting in a modern-day detention facility and the ongoing relevance of Beethoven's only opera. Fidelio costume designer Jessica Jahn and former Secretary of Homeland Security and newly elected member of San Francisco Opera's board of directors Janet Napolitano continue the in-depth look at Fidelio. Scenic designer Chloe Lamford will talk about Poul Ruders' The Handmaid's Tale, a shattering twentieth-century work that was to have its Company premiere this fall, and director Michael Cavanagh will discuss the continuation of the Mozart-Da Ponte trilogy that began with the acclaimed production of The Marriage of Figaro in 2019.

Celebrating the Voices of San Francisco Opera is streamed free as part of Opera is ON, the Company's digital initiative to share great artistry worldwide. Archival access to Celebrating the Voices of San Francisco Opera and previously streamed opera titles is available for donors of $75 and up and to all San Francisco Opera subscribers and members. For more information and program updates for this event, visit sfopera.com/celebration. Follow San Francisco Opera on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Spotify.

Following a sold-out presentation of Lucia di Lammermoor in October, San Francisco Opera returns to Fort Mason Flix Drive-In with screenings of two popular operas by Giacomo Puccini: La Bohème at 5 pm and 8:30 pm on Friday, November 20 and Sunday, November 22; and Tosca at 5 pm and 8:30 pm on Friday, December 11 and 6 pm and 9:30 pm on Saturday, December 12. La Bohème features Piotr Beczala as Rodolfo and Angela Gheorghiu as Mimì conducted by Nicola Luisotti. Tosca stars Adrianne Pieczonka in the title role with Carlo Ventre as Cavaradossi and Lado Ataneli as Scarpia under the baton of Bruno Campanella. Each opera will be projected on the 40' X 20' LED screen at the picturesque Marina District drive-in with views across the Bay and onsite concessions and Off the Grid food trucks.

San Francisco Opera and Fort Mason are committed to a safe moviegoing experience for all drive-in attendees and staff. Beginning one hour prior to each screening, a maximum of 98 cars with pre-purchased tickets will be admitted and spaced at 6 feet between vehicles with an 18-foot drive lane every two rows. Guests must remain in their cars during the opera and wear a mask when leaving to visit concessions or the restrooms inside the Fort Mason buildings.

Tickets are $49 per car (plus a $5 handling fee) and are available online at sfopera.com/fortmason or by calling the San Francisco Opera Box Office at (415) 864-3330. Note: Attendees must purchase tickets ahead of time; tickets will not be sold at the drive-in.

Masks are required of all attendees over the age of 2 when outside of their vehicles (masks with exhalation valves are not allowed). Indoor restroom facilities are available and will be cleaned and sanitized regularly throughout the events. Socially distant spacing will be enforced for those waiting for concessions. Congregating outside of vehicles is not permitted.

The Fort Mason Center for the Arts & Culture is located at 2 Marina Boulevard, San Francisco, CA 94123. Vehicles will be admitted to the drive-in area beginning one hour prior to the screening. In order to ensure all patrons have an enjoyable experience, please arrive early. Any late arrivals, 20 minutes after the show has begun, will not be permitted into the event. Tickets are non-refundable or exchangeable. La Bohème and Tosca are each performed in Italian with English subtitles and last approximately 2 hours without intermission.

San Francisco Opera continues to offer free streamed performances from its archives each weekend in November as part of its Opera is ON initiative. Upcoming streams include Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov (November 14-15), Verdi's Rigoletto (November 21-22) and Donizetti's The Elixir of Love (L'Elisir d'Amore) (November 28-29). For more information, visit sfopera.com, and follow San Francisco Opera on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Spotify. Opera is ON is made possible by an OPERA America Innovation Grant, supported by the Ann and Gordon Getty Foundation.

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