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Merola Opera Program Calendar
2019
2019 Summer Festival: tickets to the Schwabacher Summer Concert, world premiere of If I Were You by Jake Heggie and Gene Scheer, and Merola Grand Finale go on sale to the public on Wednesday, March 20, 2019.Schwabacher Recital Series
The Schwabacher Recital Series is at the Dianne and Tad Taube Atrium Theater at the Diane B. Wilsey Center for Opera in the War Memorial Veterans Building located at 401 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco. Purchase tickets at
sfopera.com/SRS.
Wednesday, April 3, 7:30 pm
Mary Evelyn Hangley (Merola 2016), Soprano
Christopher Oglesby (Merola 2018), Tenor
Mark Morash (Merola 1987), Piano
For tickets and information
CLICK HEREProgram:
Franz Schubert /
Auf dem Strom
Benjamin Britten / Canticle III “Still Falls the Rain”
Richard Strauss / Sechs Lieder, Op. 19
Antonín Dvořák /
Cigánské melodie
Charles Ives / Selected songs
Gabriel Fauré / Selected songs
Italian duets (various composers)
If I Were You - A World Premiere Gala
Saturday, April 13, 2019, 6:00 pm
The Ritz-Carlton, San Francisco
Celebrate with Merola as we prepare to make history with our first specially-commissioned opera! It’s an evening with something for everyone, from cocktails and hors d’oeuvres to our popular silent auction to an elegant formal dinner and exciting live auction, followed by a concert from the San Francisco Opera Adler Fellows and a special performance by composer Jake Heggie. If you don’t want the magic to end there, join us for a DJ after-party and dancing. Black-tie attire is preferred; a wonderful time is guaranteed.
For tickets and information
CLICK HERE or go to
merola.org/gala2019.
Schwabacher Recital Series
The Schwabacher Recital Series is at the Dianne and Tad Taube Atrium Theater at the Diane B. Wilsey Center for Opera in the War Memorial Veterans Building located at 401 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco. Purchase tickets at
sfopera.com/SRS.
Wednesday, April 24, 7:30 pm
Martin Katz, Piano featuring 2019 Adler Fellows
Mary Evelyn Hangley (Merola 2016), Soprano
Ashley Dixon (Merola 2015/2017), Mezzo-soprano
Zhengyi Bai (Merola 2018), Tenor
Christian Pursell (Merola 2017), Bass-baritone
For tickets and information
CLICK HEREProgram:
Hugo Wolf / Selections from
Mörike Lieder
Samuel Barber / Hermit Songs
Johannes Brahms / Selections from
Deutsche VolksliederCommonwealth Club Arts Forum - A New Faustian Opera: If I Were You
What goes into creating a new opera, from the initial spark to the first performance? Composer Jake Heggie, conductor Nicole Paiement, and dramaturg Dr. Clifford Cranna share insights into the creation of Heggie’s
If I Were You. This innovative new work is a Faustian story that begins with the hero, Fabian, nearly dying in a car crash. The devil, in the guise of a beautiful, seductive woman, offers him the power to breathe his soul into another person. He can live forever this way, if he chooses, moving from body to body. As the shy Fabian becomes a wealthy older man, a young handsome brute, and eventually a young woman, the opera will deal with issues of age, power, sexual politics, and gender identity that are at once timeless and very much part of the contemporary zeitgeist.
Wednesday, May 1, 6:00 pm
Rembe Rock Room, The Commonwealth Club (110 The Embarcadero, San Francisco, CA 94105)
For tickets and information
CLICK HERE.
Grace Cathedral Forum
Jake Heggie will sit down for a conversation about
If I Were You with the Forum’s host, Malcolm Clemens Young, the dean of Grace Cathedral. Curated by Grace Cathedral, the Forum is a series of stimulating conversations about faith, ethics and culture in relation to the important issues of our day. While guests range from artists, inventors and philosophers to pop culturists and elected officials, the point of The Forum is singular: civil, sophisticated discourse that engages minds and hearts to think in new ways about the world.
The Very Rev. Dr. Malcolm Clemens Young is the dean of Grace Cathedral. He is the author of
The Spiritual Journal of Henry David Thoreau and
The Invisible Hand in Wilderness: Economics, Ecology, and God, and is a regular contributor on religion to the Huffington Post and San Francisco Examiner.
Sunday, May 19, 9:30 am
Grace Cathedral, 1100 California Street, San Francisco, CA 94108
Jake Heggie, Composer
The Very Rev. Dr. Malcom Clemens Young, Dean of Grace Cathedral
For more information
CLICK HERE.
Merola Opera Program 2019 Summer Festival
Tickets to the Schwabacher Summer Concert, world premiere of
If I Were You by Jake Heggie and Gene Scheer, and Merola Grand Finale are on sale through the SF Opera Box Office located at 301 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco, by phone at (415) 864-3330 or at
sfopera.com/buy-tickets.
Star-crossed lovers, brothers separated at birth, a deal with the devil, a comic marriage, and a jaded courtesan longing for true love. Some of the most exciting moments in opera come to life as Merola’s young artists perform staged scenes from
Lucia di Lammermoor, Il trovatore, Faust, Die schweigsame Frau, and
La rondine. Performances in French, German, and Italian (with supertitles).
Thursday, July 11, 7:30 pmSaturday, July 13, 2:00 pm
San Francisco Conservatory of Music - 50 Oak Street, San Francisco
Craig Kier, Conductor
Jose Maria Condemi, Director
Buy tickets here: $55/$35If I Were You - Preview Lecture: San Francisco
A 90-minute exploration of the music and development of
If I Were You, led by lively opera experts.
Tuesday, July 16, 7:30 pm
USF Fromm Institute for Lifelong Learning, 660 Parker Ave, San Francisco, CA 94117
Gene Scheer, Librettist
Kip Cranna, Dramaturg
If I Were You - Preview Lecture: Palo Alto
A 90-minute exploration of the music and development of
If I Were You, led by lively opera experts.
Monday, July 22, 2:00 pm
Palo Alto Library, Rinconada Branch, 1213 Newell Rd, Palo Alto, CA 94303
Embarcadero Room
Gene Scheer, Librettist
Kip Cranna, Dramaturg
If I Were You - Preview Lecture: Los Gatos
A 90-minute exploration of the music and development of
If I Were You, led by lively opera experts.
Monday, July 22, 7:30 pm
Addison-Penzak JCC, 14855 Oka Rd, Los Gatos, CA 95032
Gene Scheer, Librettist
Kip Cranna, Dramaturg
For more information
CLICK HERE.
If I Were You - Opera on the Couch
Opera on the Couch provides a forum where psychoanalytic insights deepen the meaning and experience of opera. Our discussion of
If I Were You will occur immediately after the show on Sunday, August 4, when the immediate visceral experience of music, drama and spectacle will enliven a fuller and deeper understanding of the emotional and psychological aspects of the work
Sunday, August 4, 5:00 pm
Books Inc., 601 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94102
Dr. David Stein
An opera in two acts by composer Jake Heggie and librettist Gene Scheer
Loosely based on the novel
Si j’étais vous by the French-American writer Julien Green,
If I Were You is a contemporary story of identity with echoes of classical literature, from
Faust to
Jekyll and Hyde. The lead character is Fabian Hart, an aspiring writer who yearns for adventure and a way out of his stifling existence. Brittomara, a shape-shifting devil, appears to him in many guises, finally offering Fabian a supernatural power that will allow the writer to transfer his soul into other people’s bodies, living their lives as their own souls languish in a shadowy netherworld. Thus begins the journey of
If I Were You as Fabian moves his increasingly lost soul from person to person in search of a better identity, leaving a trail of human wreckage and hollow shells. Performances in English (with supertitles).
Thursday, August 1, 7:30 pmSaturday, August 3, 2:00 pmSunday, August 4, 2:00 pmTuesday, August 6, 7:30 pm
Herbst Theatre - 401 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco
Nicole Paiement, Conductor
Keturah Stickann, Director
Buy tickets here: $80/$55/$35
29 young artists of the 2019 Merola Opera Program, who will showcase a dazzling array of opera’s most exciting arias and ensembles. Conducted by Maestro George Manahan, and directed by 2019 Merola Apprentice Stage Director Greg Eldridge, this evening showcases the hard work and extraordinary talent of the Merolini.
Saturday, August 17, 7:30 pm
War Memorial Opera House - 301 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco
George Manahan, Conductor
Greg Eldridge, Director
Buy tickets here: $50/$40/$25*Reception tickets are an additional $75 each and can be purchased here.Become a Merola Opera Program member and receive access to exclusive, behind-the-scenes programs to see the future of opera!
For information, click here.
