San Francisco Opera’s Orchestra Says It Will Not Play Opening Night Without a Contract

The musicians of the San Francisco Opera Orchestra told audiences on Thursday, August 27 that they will not perform on opening night of the company’s 104th season unless management reaches a new contract with them first. Opening night is Saturday, September 12, with Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra at the War Memorial Opera House.

The orchestra published the warning as a letter to patrons, saying it wanted people to know weeks ahead rather than at the door. The musicians are represented by American Federation of Musicians Local 6. Their previous contract expired on July 31, and the two sides have been negotiating since May.

What the two sides say

In its statement, reported in full by OperaWire, the orchestra says management opened with a 26 percent pay cut, which the musicians say would return them to 2015 wages, and later moved to a 20 percent cut, which they say would put them at 2018 pay. The musicians write that they “cannot begin a season under proposals like these.”

San Francisco Opera has said its proposal would maintain musicians’ current annual earnings, according to the San Francisco Chronicle, which first reported the dispute. The company and the union have not published a joint account of the numbers, and the two descriptions of the same offer are difficult to reconcile from the outside.

The orchestra also argues the company is not in financial trouble. In its letter it says six productions have sold out in the past three years, that subscriptions and ticket sales are rising, and that donations are up $8 million on last year, $2.2 million above the company’s own goal. Those figures come from the musicians, not from the company.

The shrinking season

The other half of the musicians’ argument is about size. The 2026-27 season has six mainstage productions: Simon Boccanegra, Manon, Mary, Queen of Scots, The Marriage of Figaro, Tosca and Das Rheingold. The orchestra says the company staged twelve in 2008, and that each round of programming cuts has been presented as a fix for the deficit while fewer performances mean less ticket revenue and fewer production sponsorships against fixed costs. The musicians say they want a contract plus a plan to add performances and extend runs of productions that sell out.

Orchestra rehearsals for the new season began on Wednesday, August 26, and negotiations resumed that evening.

What it means if you hold tickets

Nothing has been cancelled. The musicians’ letter is a warning tied to a date, not a strike notice, and a settlement before September 12 would leave the calendar unchanged. If you hold tickets for opening night, watch sfopera.com and your email from the box office, which is at 415-864-3330.

Two other opening-weekend events sit alongside the performance. Opera Ball, the company’s fundraiser with San Francisco Opera Guild, runs at City Hall the same evening. The free Opera in the Park concert follows at Robin Williams Meadow in Golden Gate Park on Sunday, September 13, at 1:30pm, with the San Francisco Opera Orchestra playing under Music Director Eun Sun Kim. Neither the company nor the orchestra has said anything publicly about how the dispute affects the park concert.

The details, as they stand

What: San Francisco Opera’s 104th season opening, Simon Boccanegra. When: Saturday, September 12, curtain at 8pm. Where: War Memorial Opera House, 301 Van Ness Avenue, across from City Hall. Tickets: from $30.

Getting there: Civic Center station, served by BART and Muni Metro, is about three blocks east at Market and Hyde. The Van Ness Muni Metro station is on Market at Van Ness.

Our earlier piece on opening weekend and Opera in the Park has the full casting and park-concert logistics, and our September guide tracks the rest of the month.

Photo: Andreas Praefcke, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.