By The Epoch Times | Created at 2026-09-18 00:23:29 | Updated at 2026-09-18 01:15:13
1 hour ago
SAN FRANCISCO—San Francisco Opera (SFO) has canceled its performances through Sept. 20 as a strike by the company’s orchestra workers continues, according to a Sept. 15 announcement.
Verdi’s “Simon Boccanegra” on Sept. 16 and Sept. 19, and Thea Musgrave’s “Mary, Queen of Scots” were on the new cancellation list.
Musicians of the San Francisco Opera Orchestra went on strike on Sept. 12, leading to the cancellation of that night’s season-opening performance of “Simon Boccanegra,” and the annual free Opera in the Park concert the next day.
The SFO said the strike has impacted both performance and rehearsal schedules.
Matthew Shilvock, general director of San Francisco Opera, said the company and its orchestra have spent two days negotiating.
“It is heartbreaking to have to cancel additional performances, but I remain very hopeful that we will get back to the stage soon,” Shilvock wrote in the announcement.
The musicians have not reached an agreement with the opera to replace the old contract, which expired on July 31, after months of negotiations.
“We have been clear throughout these negotiations that management’s offers were insufficient, and that without a fair contract we would have no choice but to stop work,” the orchestra musicians wrote in a statement on Sept. 12.
The five-year contract offered by the opera before the strike was a multi-year wage increase with a reduction of both work hours and weeks so the musicians’ compensation could be kept at the same level.
The wage freeze was equivalent to roughly a 20 percent cut, considering the inflation in the past five years, according to the musicians.
“We’re just asking for a cost of living increase so that people who move here to specifically do this job can afford to live in this city,” Joy Fellows, associate principal viola in the opera’s orchestra, told The Epoch Times.
“Everybody’s dealing with the cost of gas, the cost of groceries, the cost of rents have exploded in San Francisco and the Bay Area,” Fellows added.
San Francisco Opera now has an annual deficit of about $15 million, despite strong revenue trends, including well-sold tickets, a 13 percent increase in subscriptions this season, almost $50 million in fundraising, and a more than $300 million endowment.
The company has gradually reduced its season’s performances from 16 operas in 1981 to six operas now, to cope with the reality of costs increasing faster than revenues, according to San Francisco Opera.
“As with many organizations, we must adjust to the changing realities of the arts, and we cannot sustain a compensation structure that originated 45 years ago without bringing it into alignment with current reality,” the SFO wrote in the Sept. 12 statement.
The company’s management wanted to cut the guaranteed 24-week workload to 22 weeks for tenured musicians.
“Our vision for San Francisco Opera is one of growth—not contraction,” musicians wrote on their website.
“We want to see more people in the seats, more performances, more ambitious productions, more opportunities for artists, with less expensive types of productions.”
San Francisco Opera said earlier that the current negotiation is a reflection of “long-term economic realities being faced by companies all across the country.”
Ticket sales only represent 15 percent of revenues.
“Everything we do creates net loss, and requires additional donor subsidy,” according to San Francisco Opera’s economics report.
“This is true from the grandest of grand operas on the mainstage to small musical experiences with the orchestra out of the house,” the report said.
Trombone player Michael Cox told The Epoch Times the strike will last “until we get a fair contract.”
“Could be today, could be wherever we get a fair contract, that’s how long it’ll last!” Cox said.
“I’m here to support my colleagues in the San Francisco Opera Orchestra to get a fair contract, living wages for the hard work of the productions they put in,” Laura Griffiths, principal oboe of the San Francisco Ballet Orchestra, told The Epoch Times.
“Just like all the three orchestras here, they deserve a contract that they can go with the price of living in San Francisco and not have them taking cuts,” Griffiths said.
