9 for the “Centennial Celebration Concert” and Antony and Cleopatra. These tickets will be available on a first-come basis at one month before the first performance of each opera, starting on Aug. We hope the ‘Opera for the Bay’ ticket initiative is the catalyst that encourages the newcomer, entices the opera curious, and welcomes back those who have not been in a while.” With the company now entering its second century, we want to invite people of all ages and backgrounds around the Bay Area to experience the art produced by this dynamic institution - their opera company.

”ĭagmar Dolby said: “100 years ago, San Francisco Opera was born through the confluence of bold ideas, great artistry, and passionate support. The Dolby Family is generously offering 100 ‘Opera for the Bay’ seats for every mainstage performance. Throughout the centennial season, $10 tickets in prime seating sections will be available to anyone with a Bay Area mailing address zip code (beginning with 940–954) who has not attended San Francisco Opera in the past three years. “As the company celebrates 100 years of producing opera in the Bay Area, the Dolby Family is providing a new benefit to residents.

If all seats were $10, how many would need to be sold to make up the company’s approximately $80 million operating budget for the season? (Apparently 8 million, which would require 2,667 performances in the 3,000-newly refurbished-seat Opera House.)Īnd now, to the headline item: $10 in 2022? “Some seats” in September at the world premiere of John Adams’s Antony and Cleopatra may cost many hundreds of dollars and be available only with donations. The War Memorial opened in 1932, but SF Opera was founded in 1923, performing in the Civic Auditorium, justifying 2022–2023’s centennial designation.

Dagmar Dolby with the late Ray Dolby - the Dolby Family donation underwrites $10 tickets for hundreds during the centennial season | Courtesy of the Alzheimer’s Association

Sf opera rush