With picket signs and instruments, members of the San Francisco Opera Orchestra gathered Sunday morning in the grassy field at Robin Williams Meadow in Golden Gate Park.
But rather than preparing for Opera in the Park, a popular free annual community event, the musicians mingled over coffee and doughnuts while work crews dismantled the stage where they would have played, removed stacks of folding chairs and broke down other performance equipment.
The opera’s opening night and its free Sunday afternoon park performance were canceled shortly before the Saturday night show was to start after the orchestra went on strike and said it would not perform without a fair contract. Earlier, the Opera Ball fundraiser was postponed from Friday to Nov. 12 to allow more time for contract negotiations.
“The orchestra is really devastated. We wanted nothing more than to play opening night and play Opera in the Park,” said Joy Fellows, a viola player in the orchestra who stood with her colleagues in the park Sunday morning. “We’re really shattered that it’s not happening.”
Visitors and workers walk through Robin Williams Meadow in Golden Gate Park, where Opera in the Park was to be presented Sunday before the musicians strike canceled plans. (Santiago Mejia/S.F. Chronicle)
Three French hornists stood playing together on the grass behind a sign that read, “SF Opera Orchestra Needs Fair Contract.” Other musicians talked with members of the public about the strike. People walking dogs, pushing strollers and riding bikes cruised past the meadow, some disappointed or surprised to hear about the cancellation.
Irving Wiltshire said he came from Oakland to volunteer at Opera in the Park because he did not see an email reporting that it was canceled. Instead, he sat on the bench enjoying the morning sunshine.
“It’s unfortunate that there’s this union and management discrepancy,” Wiltshire said. “If any event’s going to happen, all sides have got to come together.”
Tensions had been escalating for weeks between the opera company and the orchestra, which warned in August it would not perform opening weekend without a new agreement with management. The old contract expired July 31.
Members of the San Francisco Opera Orchestra mingle with fans Sunday at Robin Williams Meadow in Golden Gate Park, where Opera in the Park was to be presented until a musicians strike scuttled plans. (Santiago Mejia/S.F. Chronicle)
The orchestra said the latest proposal from the company ahead of the planned opening night performance Saturday was a five-year wage freeze, which, “factoring in inflation, is equivalent to roughly a 20% cut over the life of the contract.”
Opera leadership, meanwhile, said the five-year compensation plan would keep musicians’ annual earnings at current levels while changing how they are paid over time. Leadership also cited a structural deficit of $15 million a year.
At the park Sunday morning, bassoon player Dan MacNeill said it was not a light decision for the orchestra to go on strike, but they did so to demand a living wage in a city with skyrocketing rent and other costs.
“They left us no choice,” MacNeill said. “We know this is going to hurt a lot of people. This is the last thing we wanted to have happen.”
MacNeill said he and other members of the orchestra love what they do and want to play more than anything. Opera in the Park, in particular, is a unique opportunity to reach a broader audience and make opera more accessible to the public, he said.
“It’s the people’s opening night. We get to sit up there and play for the people, the community of San Francisco. It feels like being a rock star up there,” MacNeill said. “It doesn’t get better than that.”
Members of the San Francisco Opera Orchestra perform for passersby in Golden Gate Park’s Robin Williams Meadow on Sunday, a day after the strike by the musicians forced the cancellation of the planned Opera in the Park. (Anna Bauman/S.F. Chronicle)
Michael Cox, a trombone player in the orchestra, said the opera company should be evolving with the industry and finding ways to give musicians more opportunities to work.
“We have a world-class orchestra and we want to play as much as possible, we want to get into the community as much as possible,” Cox said. “We’ve made these suggestions, and they’ve been shot down every step of the way.”
San Francisco resident Marta Rodriguez stood in the grass Sunday morning recording a pair of orchestra violinists playing music together. She had been looking forward to Opera in the Park for months and couldn’t wait to enjoy the performance with a picnic on the grass.
“I enjoy it very much – for many years I’ve been coming,” Rodriguez said, turning to watch crews dismantle the stage. “I can’t believe it.”
While she was heartbroken over the event’s cancellation, Rodriguez said she wished the orchestra “the best of luck.”
“I’m with them – I’m with the musicians,” she said. “They deserve the best.”
Crews stacked folding chairs and disassembled the stage Sunday after a musicians strike forced the cancellation of the free Opera in the Park at Robin Williams Meadow in Golden Gate Park. (Anna Bauman/S.F. Chronicle)
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This article originally published at After strike cancels S.F.’s Opera in the Park, musicians entertain fans who show up.