{"id":462445,"date":"2026-09-13T09:40:12","date_gmt":"2026-09-13T09:40:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/462445\/"},"modified":"2026-09-13T09:40:12","modified_gmt":"2026-09-13T09:40:12","slug":"san-francisco-operas-season-launch-derailed-as-orchestra-strike-forces-cancellations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/462445\/","title":{"rendered":"San Francisco Opera\u2019s season launch derailed as orchestra strike forces cancellations"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Opera<\/a>Opera in the Park \u2013 Montserrat Caball\u00e9 and Marilyn Horne in 1981. Photo by Carol Johnson<\/p>\n

San Francisco Opera<\/a>\u2018s 104th season got off to an abrupt and disappointing start on Friday evening when a strike by the San Francisco Opera Orchestra forced the cancellation of the opening-night performance of Verdi\u2019s Simon Boccanegra. The industrial action has also led to the cancellation of the company\u2019s annual Opera in the Park concert on 13 September, traditionally one of the organisation\u2019s most popular free public events.<\/p>\n

The decision came just minutes before curtain-up, with the company announcing at 7.25pm that the opening performance would not go ahead. No further cancellations have been announced, although negotiations between management and the orchestra remain ongoing.<\/p>\n

Patrons holding tickets for the cancelled Simon Boccanegra performance may retain the value of their tickets as credit towards another production in the 2026-27 season, donate the value back to the company, or request a full refund.<\/p>\n

In a statement, San Francisco Opera<\/a> General Director Matthew Shilvock expressed frustration at the timing of the strike.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am very disappointed that the Orchestra has chosen to strike the opening of our 104th season, cancelling the opening performance and the beloved Opera in the Park concert, rather than continuing to engage in dialogue at the negotiating table.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shilvock said that while the company values its musicians, it can no longer sustain a compensation model established decades ago without adapting it to present-day economic realities.<\/p>\n

\"Opera<\/a>Opera in the Park, San Francisco Opera<\/p>\n

The strike comes as mediated negotiations continue over a new collective bargaining agreement. The previous contract expired on 31 July 2026, and discussions have focused on proposed structural changes to musicians\u2019 employment arrangements and compensation.<\/p>\n

San Francisco Opera argues that it faces the same financial pressures affecting many performing arts organisations. Although the company reports encouraging growth in audiences and donor support, management says that rising costs have consistently outpaced revenues over many decades. According to the opera company, the result is an annual structural deficit of approximately $15 million and increasing pressure on its endowment reserves.<\/p>\n

Management maintains that the existing orchestra contract was designed for a level of activity that is no longer economically sustainable. The company says it has proposed a multi-year agreement that would gradually introduce structural changes while increasing wage rates, with the aim of avoiding a reduction in musicians\u2019 overall seasonal compensation during the life of the contract.<\/p>\n

For the moment, both sides remain at an impasse. As audiences and artists await further developments, the cancellation of both opening night and Opera in the Park has cast an unwelcome shadow over the beginning of what was intended to be a celebratory new season.<\/p>\n

\"Graham<\/a><\/p>\n

Graham Spicer, aka \u2018Gramilano\u2019, is a writer, director and photographer based in Milan. He was a regular columnist for Opera Now magazine and wrote for the BBC until transferring to Italy. His articles have appeared in various publications from Woman\u2019s Weekly to Gay Times, and he wrote the\u00a0Danza in Italia\u00a0column for Dancing Times magazine. Graham was the historical advisor on\u00a0Codice Carla, the 2023 documentary on Italian ballerina Carla Fracci.<\/p>\n

Graham also works as a dance photographer, and his photos have appeared in many books, theatre programmes, and magazines, including Dancing Times, Dance Spirit and Ballet2000, as well as all the major Italian newspapers.<\/p>\n

He is a member of the Dance Section of The Critics\u2019 Circle.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Opera in the Park \u2013 Montserrat Caball\u00e9 and Marilyn Horne in 1981. Photo by Carol Johnson San Francisco…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":462446,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[101,103,102,104,106,105],"class_list":["post-462445","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-francisco","tag-san-francisco","tag-san-francisco-headlines","tag-san-francisco-news","tag-sf","tag-sf-headlines","tag-sf-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/462445","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=462445"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/462445\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/462446"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=462445"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=462445"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=462445"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}