San Francisco Opera Guild, Peninsula Chapter

This page -- San Francisco Opera Guild - Peninsula Chapter -- has been inactive for several years!

Unfortunately, I do not know how to delete the page. I would welcome any advice or assistance in doing so! Please email [email protected] if you can help.

For up-to-date information about SFOG's Peninsula Chapter and the San Francisco Opera Previews, please visit San Francisco Opera's website at sfopera.com.

Opera Previews | SFO San Francisco Opera Guild Opera previews of the music and history of selected operas

Please Note:
Since Karen is no longer Peninsula Chapter's Preview Chair this notice may be out of date. Please check with one of the other chapter officers -- Judy Kahn or Andrea Julian, for instance -- for up-to-date information about the ever-changing issue of appropriate masking.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Peninsula Chapter continues to require that its audience be masked. We should all support each other in the ongoing efforts, both to avoid contracting Covid ourselves, and to avoid giving it to others.
We will have a limited supply of masks to provide for at least some of those who forget to bring a mask of their own, but remind everyone that it's both safer and more convenient to bring your very own mask!

We're in great need of additional docents for the Opera Together (formerly Opera á la Carte) music-in-the-schools program for grades 4-12. This is a program that your chapter sponsors; part of your dues/donations support sponsorships for needy schools. Pre-pandemic, an average of 20 Peninsula schools signed up for this program each season.

Jennifer Bienaimé, a director of the SF Opera Guild, member of the SF Opera Guild Education Council, and a resident of Palo Alto, is our Peninsula Area Coordinator. She sent the urgent email below my signature to Guild directors. It includes instructions for signing up to be a docent. Since the scheduled training is one of two sessions in San Francisco on Monday, I connected with Jennifer and she said that they'd be happy to make alternate arrangements for training tailored to your availability and needs (including remote, from-home training). Also, although the program begins on October 3, our new docents could join the program later since it runs through December 2 and new schools are continuing to sign up.

For any other questions, you'll find Jennifer's email cc'd above.

If you can help out, please use the Link to Form provided below, fill out the form (in the Docent Preferences, check Opera Together), and use the comments line to indicate your training availability/needs.

I've also provided Jennifer's bio and a description of this year's Opera Together program below.

Much Thanks,
Judy
Judy Kahn
President
SF Opera Guild / Peninsula Chapter
Email: [email protected]

Here follows the text, lightly edited, of the email that Jennifer sent to Directors of the (parent) San Francisco Opera Guild earlier this week:

I am the Peninsula Area Coordinator for Opera Together docents (formerly Opera á la Carte). After Tuesday's Guild meeting, I learned that we only have four people from the Peninsula signed up for docent training. It would be great if our area could have a larger group of trained docents for the many La Bohème performances that our Peninsula schools will be doing this year. If you have the time and are interested in becoming a docent, please attend one of the two training sessions on Monday, September 19 in San Francisco. Kindly complete the form in the link below which will let Caroline Altman and John Morris know that you will attend the docent training. If you cannot attend on September 19, Caroline will work with you to set up training at a more convenient time.

Thank you for your consideration!

Sincerely,

Jennifer

LINK TO FORM: https://forms.gle/4GozFuDVSgCfht336
Docent Training in San Francisco

Monday, September 19 2pm to 3:30pm
Monday, September 19 7pm to 8:30pm
Bryan Education Studio, Veterans Building 4th Floor

401 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco 94102

_____________________________________________-

Jennifer Bienaimé (biography from Guild directory)

Active Director Since: 2019

Jennifer’s nonprofit and community organization involvement includes: Bravo! Club Board, 2003-2005 holding Secretary, B!C Gala Co-chair and Interim President roles; Community Service League in Hillsborough Publicity Chair from 2010-2015;
Annual Fund Champion – International School of the Peninsula from 2010-2015.

_______________________________________________

Opera Together (formerly Opera à la Carte) live for grades 4-12 -- Puccini's La Bohème!

In this signature program that serves over 100 schools each year, students perform alongside professional artists in a 45-minute adaptation of Giacomo Puccini's classic opera, La Bohème. Masterfully designed for young audiences, the English-language production features four professional singers, one pianist, 11 of the school's own students in speaking and acting roles, and an optional student chorus of any size. Students memorize lines in advance, are coached by artists in a dress rehearsal, and then with props, scenery, and costumes, perform for their school. When all grades learn the chorus and read the story, Opera Together becomes a community project— a chance for the entire school to get involved.

When: October 3, 2022 through December 2, 2022.

Opera Together Docent Application Thank you for taking your time to fill out this form! Please share your information and preferences below. Docent participation for Opera Together runs October 3 until December 2, and Docent participation in our residency programs (Book to Bravo! and Voices for Social Justice) entails checking in th...

SAN FRANCISCO OPERA GROUP SUBSCRIPTION includes TRANSPORTATION

A special group subscription to the upcoming San Francisco Opera season could to help those uncomfortable either with making the drive or worried about public transportation.

The subscription includes four SFO operas on Sunday afternoons with round-trip bus transportation from the Oshman Family JCC in Palo Alto (near 101 and San Antonio).

The operas and dates are:

Sunday, October 9 Eugene Onegin

Sunday, November 20 Orpheus & Eurydice

Sunday June 4 Die Frau ohne Schatten

Sunday, June 18 Madama Butterfly

Michelle Rosengaus of the OFJCC has bought 20 group tickets to each of four operas. The seats are in Orchestra 3 (the third of four Orchestra seating areas), so they are either in the center sections towards the rear or in the side sections.

The OFJCC has a large parking garage with free parking. I would expect the bus to leave around 11:45 am to arrive in time for the 1 pm pre-performance lecture, and to leave the Opera House about 15 minutes after the final curtain.

I don't know whether this service is available to those who have already purchased tickets to the upcoming season but suspect it's well worth inquiring!

Contact Michelle Rosengaus either by phone (650-223-8616) or email ([email protected]).

Since I've recently had serious difficulty posting Events, I want to reassure everyone that Peninsula Chapter will indeed present Opera Previews this year and next, beginning soon!

Since a majority of you voted not to preview Mozart's Don Giovanni, our final preview of the 2021-22 San Francisco Opera season will be Dream of the Red Chamber, on June 7. As always, we'll begin at 7:30. PLEASE NOTE: Dream of the Red Chamber OPENS on June 14. Our preview therefore must be on June 7. My apologies for the error. See you in the Chapel on June 7!

San Francisco Opera's announcement of its 2022-23 opera season generated lots of excitement. So did my preview selection email. Here's Peninsula Chapter's line-up for 2022-23:

Tuesday, August 30, 2022: Adams, Antony and Cleopatra
Tuesday, November 8, 2022: Gluck, Orpheus and Eurydice
Tuesday, May 30, 2023: Richard Strauss, Die Frau ohne Schatten
Tuesday, June 6, 2023: Frank, El Ultimo Sueno de Frida y Diego.

Questions? Comments? I'm still at [email protected].

This is great fun. One comment on the San Francisco Opera page opined that the great Pearlfishers duet, "Au fond du temple saint," should surely be included. I heartily agree!

Obituary for our dear friend and fellow volunteer, Arnold Duncan
(Dec. 29, 1926-Oct. 20, 2021)
from the San Francisco Chronicle, November 21, 2021

Arnold Duane Duncan, beloved husband of Trudy, father of daughter Jodie and sons Scott and Mark, grandfather of granddaughter Jessica, and grandsons Taylor and David, walked gently into the arms of God on October 20, 2021.
Arnold was the second child of Phillip and Sarah Duncan, born in Omaha Nebraska. He graduated Class of 1944 from Omaha Technical High School, as class president. Arnold served in the US Navy Air Corp as an Aviation Radio Man (1945-46). After World War Two, Arnold attended Roosevelt University in Chicago, earning a BA in Marketing.
While living in Chicago, Arnold met the love of his life, Trudy Bender. Arnold and Trudy moved out to California where they married and raised their three children. In 1968, they moved to San Mateo where he has resided until his death. Together they shared their love of the outdoors with their children. Arnold was an avid hiker and backpacker, spending time every year in the Yosemite high country until well into his 80s. He climbed Mount Whitney twice, taking his sons the second time.
Arnold enjoyed his work in marketing and advertising. He started in 1951 at a small 2-man advertising agency, then joined Botsford Advertising. By 1973 he had become a partner at a new agency he founded of Moran, Lanig & Duncan, working there until he retired in 1988.
Arnold always found great joy in the arts and classical music. He and his wife Trudy were patrons of music and the arts, whether in San Francisco or on the Peninsula. He volunteered with SF Symphony Open Rehearsal program and served as its chairman in 1995-96. For 27 years Arnold served as docent and program coordinator for the Upper Peninsula League of SF Symphony Concert for Kids. Arnold served as area coordinator and docent for San Francisco Opera Guilds' Opera a la Carte, a signature program that exposes school children to opera. Arnold found great joy in bringing an unforgettable musical experience to so many young ears.
Arnold was active in the community. In the 80's, he participated in the Christmas in April program that rebuilt homes for underserved members of the community. He volunteered at both the de Young and the Legion of Honor museums in San Francisco. Arnold also served as an election inspector at his San Mateo precinct, and he was a lifetime member of the San Mateo Elks Lodge 1112. Arnold remained active with the Congregational Church of San Mateo, rarely missing a Sunday service, even when the pandemic forced the services to be held over Zoom. The moment in-person services resumed, Arnold, mask on, was there in person. When he saw a need, Arnold reached out with support for others throughout the church community and beyond.
A Memorial Service to celebrate Arnold's life of love and service will be held at 2pm on Saturday, November 20, 2021 at the Congregational Church of San Mateo, 225 Tilton Avenue, San Mateo, CA.

I'm sure many of you have seen this post on the San Francisco Opera Guild page, but wanted to be sure those of you who may have missed it had the opportunity to enjoy it as thoroughly as I!

Update on Peninsula Chapter's Cosi fan tutte Preview:

Because of ongoing concerns regarding the safety of a live, in-person preview in the small, enclosed chapel of Palo Alto's First Presbyterian Church, Peninsula Chapter has canceled the live Cosi fan tutte originally scheduled for November 6.

As with the Don Giovanni preview earlier this year, San Francisco Opera will offer a live Cosi fan tutte preview, on November 16. The preview will be available for viewing on San Francisco Opera Guild's website for throughout the Opera's Cosi performances. Both East Bay Chapter and the San Jose Opera Guild will offer live previews.

Visit the link below for further details about previews on this third of the great Mozart-da Ponte operas:

https://sfopera.com/discover-opera/education/community-programs/operapreviews/cosifantutteoperapreviews/

SFOpera - Così fan tutte Opera Previews Rebecca Plack, University of California, Davis Music Professor and singer, will help individuals grasp the complexities and contradictions of both the music and story of this opera. Audience members will learn new and insightful ways of thinking about this opera's mixture of betrayal and belief, and...

Merola Opera celebrates the conclusion of another great season at that popular venue, the Golden Gate Park Bandshell! Don't miss this opportunity to cap Merola's pandemic season with crowds of fans -- great opera, and great opera lovers!

The 2021 Merola Summer Festival concludes (in two weeks!) with the Merola Grand Finale, a live concert featuring all of this year's young artists. They will perform in a dazzling array of duets, quartets, and ensemble selections from a panoply of operas. Directed by 2021 Merola Stage Director Audrey Chait, this performance showcases the hard work and extraordinary talent of the Merola artists.

The live performance on Saturday, July 31 at 2:00pm, at the Golden Gate Park Bandshell, San Francisco, is FREE and open to the public. There will be limited reserved seating on a first come first served basis available to Merola Gold Circle Level members and above.

For full details visit: https://merola.org/merola-grand-finale

Kip Cranna's discussion of Rossini's immortal opera The Barber of Seville was both delightful and popular.

You can still enjoy -- and learn from -- Kip's preview, free of charge. Here's the Zoom webinar link: https://youtu.be/RB8zL3HK7eo

Enjoy!

San Francisco Opera Guild presents The Barber of Seville Opera Preview with Kip Cranna San Francisco Opera Guild presented The Barber of Seville Opera Preview with Kip Cranna, Dramaturg Emeritus of San Francisco Opera, on April 14, 2021.

If you've not visited San Francisco Opera's website recently, you have a treat in store. There will soon be lots of live opera -- not live opera as we used to know it, exactly, but, still, LIVE OPERA -- coming our way. And, yes, the Golden Gate Bridge is appropriate too, as some of that opera will be in Marin!

Check out this link and start planning your spring events:

https://sfopera.com/on-stage/

SFOpera - On Stage Fasten your seatbelts: Live opera is back like you’ve never seen it before. Be there as we turn a masterpiece on its head, and feel the rush of emotion as the next generation of opera stars takes the stage for the first time together in a series of immersive experiences expertly crafted for the dr...

This is exciting! One of the reasons I've never attended one of these sales is timing. Now we can all choose our own time -- whether we browse, buy, or both!

Get your Burning Man gear: S.F. Opera costume shop sale moves online The pandemic is pushing the popular sale online, but the glamour remains. It runs from Nov. 13-15.

As many of you know, there's plenty of opera streaming available these days. What's NOT in plentiful supply is local opera, and local opera by the great local composer Jake Heggie,
starring the sensational Susan Graham!

Coming Soon: Jake Heggie's Three Decembers Don't miss this riveting modern masterpiece! World-renowned mezzo-soprano Susan Graham stars in Jake Heggie's THREE DECEMBERSStreaming Begins December 3rd With a brilliant, witty libretto by Gene Scheer and a soaring musical score by Jake Heggie, THREE DECEMBERS is a 90-minute fullhearted American o...

It is with great sadness that I share the news
that our dear friend and board member
emeritus Bob Greene passed away last week.





A man of diverse interests, Bob enjoyed
a wide range of travel and other new
experiences. An avid and knowledgeable
lover of opera and other music, Bob
was a familiar presence at San Francisco
Opera and Merola Opera Program events
and at many other opera-related programs.

All of us knew and loved Bob for his warm,
engaging personality, unfailing sense of humor,
and for the many years he devoted to San
Francisco Opera Guild's Opera a la Carte
music-in-the-schools program. His support
of our fundraising events and get-togethers
was as genuine and warm-hearted as it was
unvarying.

Memorial donations may be made to the
Merola Opera Program.

Are you longing for more opera? San Francisco Opera's "Opera Aficionado" program has a real winner coming up at 1 pm today -- that's Sunday, August 16, 2020. Robert Hartwell, popular pre-curtain speaker, discusses "Social Justice in Beethoven's FIDELIO." It's a topic which, today, feels more relevant than ever. Opera Aficionado talks cost $20 and are well worth the money.

Attendance is limited so I can't guarantee that there's still room available, but there's no harm in trying! Here's the link:

https://sfopera.com/discover-opera/education/community-programs/aficionado/

Opera Aficionado

Although there's still no news about any previews we might offer in the near future, I am convinced that -- if you've not yet seen it, and even if you have -- that you'll enjoy Kip Cranna's delightful survey of some delightfully comic (and tuneful) moments in opera:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EV37oRAxXto&t=3s&authuser=0

Enjoy -- and, while you're at it, don't forget to that SFO's glorious staging of Janacek's Makropulos Case will be streaming on July 25, just a few days from now. Save the date!

Who's Afraid of Opera: Part Two- Opera for Laughs: Great Moments from the World of Opera It's grand. It's glorious. It's over the top. It's Opera! As a comic once remarked, "Opera is where a guy gets stabbed, and instead of bleeding... he sings!"...

KIP CRANNA and the SAN FRANCISCO OPERA GUILD
during COVID-19


Although San Francisco Opera Guild has cancelled the Fall 2020 talks designed to complement the San Francisco Opera’s Fall 2020 season, it is working with San Francisco Opera to develop a series of alternative talks on Zoom featuring one of the Guild’s most popular speakers, San Francisco Opera’s Kip Cranna.

When Dr. Clifford Cranna, popularly known as Kip, recently retired as San Francisco Opera’s dramaturg he had served on the Opera staff and had been its Director of Music Administration for over 30 years. In 2008 he received the San Francisco Opera Medal, the company’s highest honor. Four years later he was awarded the Bernard Osher Cultural Award for distinguished efforts in bringing excellence to a cultural institution. A long-time program editor and lecturer for the Carmel Bach Festival, Dr. Cranna now lectures for San Francisco Opera Guild and other organizations. He continues to write about music and teaches at both the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and at USF’s Fromm Institute.

Shari Deghi forwarded this thrilling -- good word, Shari! --information about her upcoming Opera Class. Enjoy!
-- operanut Karen Burtness Prak

We are thrilled to have composer Jake Heggie with us on Monday as our guest speaker. If you don’t know his work yet, you’re in for a treat! Even though written in a contemporary style, I think you’ll find his music to be thrilling and easy to listen to, and his subject matter to be very relevant. If you are familiar with Jake, you’ll relish these clips and then try your hand at the quiz! To thank you for hanging with us during this transition to online classes, you may invite friends to this class by forwarding this email. See you Monday!
Shari

Shari Deghi is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
Topic: Opera Class June 29
Time: Jun 29, 2020 02:30 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada)
Use this same invitation for the next class (July 13 at 2:30 PM)

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83754113404pwd=L3ZpdnZJalR1MUZUcUY4dkR4Z1A4dz09

Meeting ID: 837 5411 3404
Password: 472139

Bio on Jake:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jake_Heggie
Violins of Hope:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4JSS56dSrg
Prelude to Moby-Dickhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTMkOYAMFPM&list=RDZTMkOYAMFPM&start_radio=1
San Francisco Opera’s Sneak Preview of Moby-Dickhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhnUmkcjWqU&list=RDZTMkOYAMFPM&index=4
Three Decembers - Daybreakhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fewCUe4IJiY

Join our Cloud HD Video Meeting Zoom is the leader in modern enterprise video communications, with an easy, reliable cloud platform for video and audio conferencing, chat, and webinars across mobile, desktop, and room systems. Zoom Rooms is the original software-based conference room solution used around the world in board, confer...

I sorry to have to inform everyone that San Francisco Opera has cancelled not only the Summer 2020 opera season but, as of today (June 17), its entire Fall 2020 opera season as well.

Unfortunately, the San Francisco Opera Guild must also cancel the individual previews which accompany, and complement, the majority of the season's operas.

I hope you are coping well during this terrible time. I look forward to sharing further great learning experiences -- perhaps for Summer 2021's previews of Zemlinsky's Der Zwerg and Rossini's The Barber of Seville, or even sooner -- with all of you!

In the meantime, I encourage you to explore San Francisco Opera's website for a wide range of operatic discoveries.

You probably know there’s a lot of opera streaming, both from within the U.S. and internationally, available. San Francisco Opera continues to offering new streams as well as the chance to revisit streams (and perhaps productions!) you may have missed:

• Visit sfopera.com/opera-is-on/streaming/ to watch Salome, Susannah and Manon – and more!

• The Department of Diversity, Equity and Community offers talks on LGBTQ characters in opera as well as exploration of the great creative couple Benjamin Britten and Peter Pears.

• Cheer yourself with the Odes to Joy section, or with Matthew Shilvock’s own Opera Hour.

Enjoy!

Resourceful creativity for the public benefit in the finest possible sense!

SF Opera Production Switches From Verdi to Personal Protective Equipment SFO donates critical safety gear while the skilled artists of the costume shop turn out thousands of masks with fabric from opera productions.

I read the news that Merola Opera Program had cancelled its 2020 program with great sadness, a sadness I know is shared by all the many fans of this exemplary and much-loved program. We're all looking forward to their triumphant return in 2021, and to Many More Merola Years!
https://merola.org/sites/default/files/Merola-Season-Cancellation-Release-vFINAL.pdf

merola.org

San Francisco Opera's Summer 2020 season has been cancelled, but there's still hope for both the Fall 2020 season and the Fall 2020 Opera Previews!

For now, we can savor plenty of streamed opera! I suspect that many of you have indulged in the Metropolitan Opera's rebroadcastings at met.opera-org. Aida was a glorious "blast from the past" as was the amazingly-organized rebroadcast of its At-Home Gala.

However, there are plenty of other sites to explore! Here are just a few:

* SAN FRANCISCO OPERA (sfopera.com) begins streaming its productions every Saturday at 10 am, beginning May 9 with its much-loved staging of Boito's Mefistofele starring Ildar Abdrazakov. The other offerings are also exciting.

Here's the list:

I Capuleti e I Montecchi (Capulets and Montagues), by Vincenzo Bellini
with Joyce Di Donato and Nicole Cabell (from March 27, 2010)

Moby-Dick, by Jake Heggie and Gene Scheer

Lucrezia Borgia, by Gaetano Donizetti, with Renee Fleming and Michael Fabiano

*LYRIC THEATRE OF SAN JOSE (lyrictheatre.org) offers Gilbert and Sullivan's The Sorcerer;

*SAN FRANCISCO CONSERVATORY OF MUSIC streams a variety of programs at sfcm.edu/performances-calendar which I encourage you to explore;

and

*SAN FRANCISCO LAMPLIGHTERS, while not (at least not yet) streaming operetta, offers a tantalizing taste of interviews and song clips at Lamplighters.org

Feel free to share any of your own discoveries!

SFOpera - 404 Error We’re here to help! Our incredible Box Office staff is taking calls and can be reached at (415) 864-3330, Mon 10am–5pm and Tue–Sat 10am–6pm.