While headlines and concern now are focused on the labor conflict between SF Opera and the SF Opera Orchestra, there is a flurry of other opera-related activities in the Bay Area.
On top is an unprecedented celebration of the genre by 13 Bay Area opera companies. They will unite for Opera Day in the Bay, a free concert on Sept. 20, beginning at 1 p.m., in Redwood Park at the base of the Transamerica Pyramid Center, 545 Sansome St., San Francisco.
The event is dedicated to the memory of soprano Erie Mills. Composer Carla Lucero will serve as emcee, and excerpts from Lucero’s new operas, Hello, Star and Muriel & Anita will be performed.
Celine Ricci, event producer and founder of Ars Minerva, told SF Classical Voice:
“Opera Day in the Bay will bring together, for the first time, the majority of the opera companies in the San Francisco Bay Area. I find it fascinating that there is such a concentration here, and such diversity of repertoire.
“We are sitting on a diamond, and I am thrilled that we are going to share it with the audience — and hopefully grow the project from there and make it annual.”
Ars Minerva presents forgotten repertoire from the 17th and 18th centuries. At Opera Day in the Bay, the company will offer an excerpt from Marc'Antonio Ziani’s 1714 Andromeda — the full work will be performed at the Creativity Theater in November.
Other participating companies are Festival Opera, GK Works LLC, Lamplighters Music Theatre, Livermore Valley Opera, Mercury Theater, Opera Parallèle, Opera San José, Pocket Opera, Sacramento Philharmonic & Opera, San Francisco Opera Guild, Upspark Productions, and West Bay Opera.
Opera Parallèle founder and artistic director Nicole Paiement said OP is thrilled to participate in Opera Day in the Bay, “a collaborative concert demonstrating the diversity and vibrancy of opera in the greater Bay Area. It is unusual for a region as small as our own to have so much variety in one art form.
“The fact that OP will join forces with 12 other opera organizations is a testament to both the strength of our industry and the collaborative spirit at its core. There is clearly a strong appetite for opera in the greater Bay Area, as evidenced by our abundance of opera organizations and our remarkable diversity of genres and styles.
“Opera is not a zero-sum game. By its very nature, opera has always been a collaborative art form which combines text, story-telling, music, and theater into a single, unified whole. For these reasons, we believe that all of our organizations can benefit by working together, pooling our resources, and cross-pollinating our audiences.”
Opera San José General Director Shawna Lucey added that 13 opera companies sharing one stage “isn’t just a nice gesture of collegiality — it’s proof that the Bay Area supports one of the most robust and varied opera ecosystems in the country.
“From San Francisco and Silicon Valley to the North Bay, East Bay, and South Bay, we are home to companies of every scale and mission, and together we employ hundreds of singers, musicians, designers, technicians, and arts administrators. We are major employers of arts workers, and this concert is a chance to say so, loudly and joyfully.”
For Opera San José, Lucey said, “participating means standing shoulder to shoulder with our sister companies to show that opera in this region isn’t scarce or rarefied — it's thriving, and it’s for everyone. We hope audiences who’ve never set foot in an opera house will discover that this art form belongs to them too, free of charge, in a public park, alongside neighbors from across the Bay.”
Among excerpts to be presented during the concert is one from Madame Theremin by George Kopp and Kennedy Verrett. The work tells the story of an African American ballet dancer in 1930s Harlem, married to the Russian inventor Leon Theremin.
“It is a work of great beauty,” said producer Cheryl Blalock, “referencing spirituals, jazz, voodoo, politics, and the difficulties of race relationships. Workshopped at the SF Conservatory of Music in July, we are now looking for a production company to collaborate with to fully launch this work.”
Among other “operatic activities" in the Bay this season:
– Opera San José, Don Giovanni, Sept. 13-27; Fiddler on the Roof, Nov. 15-29
– Festival Opera, Salon Series, Sept. 27, Oct. 25, Nov. 22
– Livermore Valley Opera, Suor Angelica, Oct. 3-11, with a tribute to Erie Mills on Nov. 11
– West Bay Opera, Abduction from the Seraglio, Oct. 9-18
– Magic Theater, Petaluma, Black Rider: The Casting of the Magic Bullets, Oct. 30-Nov. 15
– Ars Minerva, Andromeda, Nov. 6-8
– Cal Performances, William Kentridge’s The Head and the Load, Nov. 12-15
– Opera Parallèle, Salt and Spirit, Nov. 14-21
– SF Conservatory of Music Opera Program, Suor Angelica, Nov. 19-20; Voice Dept. recital, Dec. 6; Into the Woods (Music Theater Dept.), Dec. 11-12
