norman lebrecht
September 14, 2026
From San Francisco Classical Voice:
SF Opera announced the season opener was canceled at 7:25 p.m. (Saturday) night. The strike announcement from the union came 23 minutes before the curtain was supposed to rise at 8 p.m. At the time, thousands awaited word from the negotiations — War Memorial has a seating capacity of 3,000, plus hundreds of performers in the cast, chorus, and orchestra among stagehands, ushers, and security…
Musicians of the SF Opera Orchestra released the following statement: ‘It is with heavy hearts that we announce that the musicians of the San Francisco Opera Orchestra are on strike and we will not be performing at tonight’s Opening Night. A strike is not something we take lightly, and we are deeply sorry to everyone who planned to spend this evening at the opera. We have been clear throughout these negotiations that management’s offers were insufficient, and that without a fair contract we would have no choice but to stop work. Management’s insistence on cuts has left us no other option…’
Full report here.