San Francisco Opera Cancels Performances Through September 20 as Strike Continues

San Francisco Opera has canceled every remaining performance through September 20, including Sunday’s season premiere of Mary, Queen of Scots, as the strike by its orchestra musicians stretches into a second week. The company announced the cancellations this week and posted them to its updates page.

The Wednesday and Saturday performances of Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra are off, along with Sunday’s opening night of Mary, Queen of Scots. That makes five canceled dates since September 12, when orchestra musicians walked out under an hour before the curtain on the season opener. The free Opera in the Park concert in Golden Gate Park was called off the next day.

What Ticket Holders Can Do

The company is offering three options on canceled performances: a refund, a credit toward another performance this season, or donating the ticket value back to the company. Requests go through the box office, and the company is directing patrons to sfopera.com/updates for the current list of affected dates.

Performances after September 20 remain on the calendar as of this week. Nothing beyond that date has been canceled, but the company has been announcing cancellations a few days at a time, so a ticket for late September is not a guarantee. If you are holding one, check the updates page before you travel to Civic Center.

We covered the refund mechanics and the money dispute in more detail when the strike began, in our guide for ticket holders.

Where the Dispute Stands

The musicians’ previous contract expired July 31. The orchestra says management opened with a 26 percent pay cut, later reduced it to 20 percent, and that the offer on the table before the walkout was a five-year wage freeze, which the musicians argue is a cut once inflation is counted. They point to ticket sales, subscriptions and donations as evidence the company is on firmer ground than management says.

San Francisco Opera says those gains have not closed a structural gap it puts at roughly $15 million a year, with expenses outrunning revenue over time. General Director Matthew Shilvock said the two sides negotiated for two days after the walkout began and that he expects a deal.

“It is heartbreaking to have to cancel additional performances, but I remain very hopeful that we will get back to the stage soon,” Shilvock told CBS San Francisco.

This is the first strike in the orchestra’s history as a separate ensemble; it split from the San Francisco Symphony in 1980. The only comparable stoppage was a lockout by management in 1990.

If You Had the Opera on a September Itinerary

The War Memorial Opera House sits at 301 Van Ness Avenue, in Civic Center. If your evening there is off, the Asian Art Museum at 200 Larkin Street and the Main Library at 100 Larkin Street are both a few minutes’ walk across Civic Center Plaza, and Davies Symphony Hall is directly across Grove Street from the opera house. Civic Center station serves BART and Muni Metro, one block east on Market Street.

Our September guide has the rest of the month.

Sources: CBS San Francisco, September 16; The San Francisco Standard, September 16; San Francisco Opera.