The Bay Area’s opera scene offers entire worlds of music in unexpected places

Guadalupe Paz, playing Paula in Florencia en el Amazonas, rehearses at Opera San Jose in San Jose, Calif., on Friday, March 22, 2024. When it comes to bel canto in the Bay Area, San Francisco Opera is the giant redwood dominating the western landscape. But this mighty institution, one of the oldest opera companies in the nation, has nurtured a lush environment underneath its canopy where numerous species thrive.

Designed to bring new audiences up close to the art form “so that they’re participating rather than having them be static observers,” Paiement said, Hands-on-Opera isn’t just about creating new works. The productions often involve youth choirs and younger musicians performing alongside professionals, wearing costumes and getting swept up in “all the things that make opera magical,” she said.

On June 21-23, the company will present the West Coast premiere of “Fellow Travelers” at the Presidio Theatre, an opera based on Thomas Mallon’s McCarthy era novel adapted by composer Gregory Spears and librettist Greg Pierce.was founded by the late mezzo-soprano Irene Dalis, who guided the company for three decades as general director.

The pandemic has taken its toll on the opera scene, with several long-running companies, such as Saratoga’s Bay Shore Lyric Opera, yet to bounce back. Several other companies have already concluded the 2023-24 season and have yet to announce the new calendar. Keep an eye out for Palo Alto’s West Bay Opera, Concord’s Solo Opera, Walnut Creek’s Solo Opera and Festival Opera and Vallejo’s Verismo Opera.

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