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177-671: Merola's road to prominence in the Bay Area began in 1906 when he first visited the city. In 1909, he returned as the conductor of the International Opera Company of Montreal, one of the many visiting troupes that frequented the bustling city. Continued visits over the next decade convinced him that an opera company in San Francisco was viable. Merola moved back into the city in 1921 while living with Mrs. Oliver Stine's support Oliver Stine. He drafted plans for

354-504: A benefit concert to help raise money for her tuition. The Chisholms also remained supportive of Price, and gifted the bulk of the money needed for Juilliard. Price entered the studio of Florence Page Kimball in the fall of 1948. While studying at Juilliard that year, she lived in the Harlem YWCA , which was safe and affordable accommodation open to black women. In her second year, she heard Ljuba Welitsch sing Salome from

531-730: A concert performance with the Philadelphia Orchestra at the May Festival in Ann Arbor, Michigan, her first public performance of what became her signature role. Her first performance at a major opera house was at the San Francisco Opera on September 20, 1957, as Madame Lidoine in the U.S. premiere of Dialogues of the Carmelites . A few weeks later, she appeared as Aida on stage, substituting at

708-541: A Juilliard production of Verdi's Falstaff . Virgil Thomson heard a performance and cast her in a revival of his all-black opera, Four Saints in Three Acts . After two weeks on Broadway , the production of Saints went to Paris , France. Meanwhile, Price had been signed to sing Bess in a new production of Gershwin's Porgy and Bess at the Ziegfeld Theatre , directed by Robert Breen. Fresh off

885-579: A concert career for Columbia Artists. In 1953, she sang a recital at the Library of Congress , with composer Samuel Barber at the piano. The program included the world premiere of Barber's Hermit Songs . In November 1954, Price made her formal recital debut at New York's Town Hall . The door to opera opened through the young medium of television and the NBC Opera Theatre , with music director Peter Herman Adler . In January 1955, Price sang

1062-513: A concert suite of Cleopatra's arias, which was premiered by Price in Washington, D.C. , in 1968, and recorded for RCA. Price later said the experience soured her feelings toward the Met. She began to appear there less often. In the late 1960s, Price cut back her operatic performances and devoted more of her schedule to recitals and concerts. She said she was tired, stressed by racial tensions in

1239-610: A decade, she renewed her partnership with Karajan in a performance of Brahms' Ein deutsches Requiem with the Berlin Philharmonic at Carnegie Hall. This was followed by a nostalgic revival of their famous 1962 Il trovatore production in Vienna and Salzburg, followed by a recording for EMI, all led by Karajan. That fall, Price sang her her first Strauss heroine: Ariadne in Ariadne auf Naxos The premiere in San Francisco

1416-575: A firm link established with the Kirov Opera . Also, there was Rossini 's Guillaume Tell and Verdi's I vespri siciliani which followed. One of Mansouri's triumphs was the overseeing of the reconstruction and renovation of the opera house following the October 1989 earthquake . After closing at the end of the 1995 Fall season for "a 21-month, US$ 88.5 million renovation, San Francisco's War Memorial Opera House reopened on 5 September 1997 with

1593-559: A first in the United States, and four years later a majority of voters in the Bay Area rejected California Proposition 8 , which sought to constitutionally restrict marriage to opposite-sex couples but ultimately passed statewide. The Bay Area was also the center of contentious protests concerning racial and economic inequality . In 2009, an African-American man named Oscar Grant was fatally shot by Bay Area Rapid Transit police officers , precipitating widespread protests across

1770-772: A full season of opera in the following year. Following this, the first unaffiliated performance given by the San Francisco Opera was La bohème , with Queena Mario and Giovanni Martinelli , on September 26, 1923, in the city's Civic Auditorium . In subsequent years, SFO would perform a wide array of Italian operas, rarely performing a given opera more than once. SFO seasons seldom lasted more than two months, and occasionally performed less than one month. The 1923-24 season included productions of Andrea Chénier and Mefistofele with Beniamino Gigli , Tosca with Giuseppe De Luca and Martinelli, and Verdi 's Rigoletto with Queena Mario, De Luca, and Gigli. During

1947-420: A gala concert celebrating this occasion, as well the 75th anniversary of the San Francisco Opera. Fittingly, the concert featured operatic greats of the past, present and future. The project included repairs of damage caused by the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, improvements for the audience and performers, seismic strengthening and a general cleanup that left the 65-year-old Opera House gleaming." Donald Runnicles

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2124-409: A hotbed of progressive politics . Economically, the post-war Bay Area saw large growth in the financial and technology industries, creating an economy with a gross domestic product of over $ 700 billion. In 2018 it was home to the third-highest concentration of Fortune 500 companies in the United States. The Bay Area is home to approximately 7.52 million people. The larger federal classification,

2301-1101: A little more, at $ 3,000 a performance. Price remained active in Vienna, Milan, and Salzburg. She performed a famous Il trovatore in Salzburg un 1962, and Tosca, Donna Anna and Aida, in Vienna, most often with Karajan. She was also the soprano soloist in many of Karajan's performances of Verdi's Requiem . After the first Met season, Price added seven roles to her repertoire over the next five years: Elvira in Verdi's Ernani , Pamina, Fiordiligi in Mozart's Così fan tutte , Tatyana in Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin , Amelia in Un ballo in maschera , Cleopatra in Barber's Antony and Cleopatra , and Leonora in La forza del destino . The most significant and certainly most troubled milestone in her career

2478-635: A memorial concert at Carnegie Hall , in 2001 for victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks . Among her many honors and awards are the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1964, in addition to her 13 Grammy Awards . Mary Violet Leontyne Price was born in Laurel, Mississippi , on February 10, 1927. Her father, James Anthony, worked as a carpenter and her mother, Katherine Baker Price, was a midwife. A deeply religious family, both of her parents were children of Methodist ministers; her mother sang as

2655-528: A musical masterpiece, while recognizing its outdated stereotypes. Many East Berliners crossed to West Berlin to see the show, to the degree that the State Department ordered that East German currency be accepted at face value instead of the current exchange rate. When Porgy and Bess returned to the States in 1953, Warfield was unable to adjust a busy recital and concert schedule and was dropped from

2832-420: A musicians' strike threatened and Bing, frustrated with the negotiations, canceled the season. Under pressure from the government, Bing and the musicians agreed to allow Secretary of Labor Arthur Goldberg to mediate a settlement. For her first night, Price received enthusiastic reviews but during the second she confronted her first vocal crisis. In the middle of the second act, she slowly lost her voice and by

3009-688: A new, locally-owned opera company that would not rely on visiting troupes, a common practice for some opera companies since the Gold Rush . By the next year, Merola organized a trial season at Stanford University. The first performance occurred in the Stanford Cardinal's football stadium on June 3, 1922, with operatic tenor Giovanni Martinelli performing in Pagliacci , Carmen , and Faust . The five-day season's lacked any financial success; Merola instead successfully raised funds for

3186-586: A noted bass-baritone concert singer. The ceremony took place at the Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem , with many in the cast in attendance. Although many black newspapers criticized the export of Porgy and Bess as presenting a false and demeaning picture of black life, the Breen production showed off a new generation of highly trained black singers, and affirmed that Americans could revive

3363-422: A second, smaller performance venue went by the wayside. Company-wide cuts pared 14 percent from the company's $ 67 million budget in 2003." He continued: "Embattled by financial woes and trying labor negotiations, Rosenberg was routinely blamed for problems that were largely beyond her control. Her taste for new and unusual operas and a European-honed aesthetic that favored brash and even radical reinterpretations of

3540-555: A significant earthquake hazard. Among the more well-understood faults, as of 2014, scientists estimate a 72% probability of a magnitude 6.7 earthquake occurring along either the Hayward, Rogers Creek, or San Andreas fault, with an earthquake more likely to occur in the East Bay's Hayward Fault. Two of the largest earthquakes in recent history were the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake . The Bay Area

3717-416: A significant presence throughout the region. Most of the remaining two-fifths of the population is non-Hispanic White American . The most populous cities of the Bay Area are San Francisco, Oakland , and San Jose , the latter of which had a population of 969,655 in 2023, making San Jose the area's largest city and the 13th-most populous in the United States . Despite its urban character, San Francisco Bay

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3894-622: A single county, Alameda. Diverse assemblages adjoin in complex arrangements due to offsets along the many faults (both active and stable) in the area. As a consequence, many types of rock and soil are found in the region. The oldest rocks are metamorphic rocks that are associated with granite in the Salinian Block west of the San Andreas Fault . These were formed from sedimentary rocks of sandstone , limestone , and shale in uplifted seabeds. Volcanic deposits also exist in

4071-416: A soloist in the church choir and her father played a tuba in the church band. Her brother and only sibling, George, was born two years later. She showed a natural affinity for music at an early age and began piano lessons at the age of three and a half with the local pianist Hattie McInnis. Initially, she played on a toy piano, but by the time she was five, her parents traded in the family phonograph as

4248-591: A successful Town Hall recital debut in November 1954, Price began touring the U.S. and Canada in recitals on the Columbia Artists roster, at first with the composer John La Montaine as her accompanist and then with David Garvey , who remained her pianistic partner until his death. In 1956, she and Garvey toured India and then, the next year, Australia, giving concerts and recitals for the U.S. State Department. On May 3, 1957, she performed Verdi's Aida in

4425-470: A total of about 700. More recent studies estimate the total death count to be over 3,000, with over 28,000 buildings destroyed. Rebuilding efforts began immediately. Amadeo Peter Giannini , owner of the Bank of Italy (now known as the Bank of America ), had managed to retrieve the money from his bank's vaults before fires broke out through the city and was the only bank with liquid funds readily available and

4602-480: A triumphant joint debut in Il trovatore . The performance ended with an ovation that was certainly one of the longest in Met history. A Met official said it lasted at least 35 minutes. Price said friends had timed it at 42 minutes, and that was the figure she used in her publicity. In his review, New York Times critic Harold C. Schonberg wrote that Price's "voice, warm and luscious, has enough volume to fill

4779-474: A true prima donna. Adler also warned against arriving in the racially stereotypical role of Aida, an Ethiopian slave. In his autobiography, Warfield quotes Adler as saying: "Leontyne is to be a great artist. When she makes her debut at the Met, she must do it as a lady, not a slave." Eventually, her first Met contract booked her for five roles in 1961, Leonora in Il trovatore , Aida, Donna Anna, Liu, and Butterfly. On January 27, 1961, Price and Franco Corelli made

4956-549: A young tenor with UCLA's Opera Workshop, and then with opera in general. As early as 1962, with Mansouri having found work as director in Los Angeles followed by his becoming resident stage director at the Zürich Opera , Adler came to see him at work, and he was offered six operas to direct in the 1963 season. By the time he became general director, he had directed 60 operas for SFO and many others elsewhere. By 1975 he

5133-787: Is accepted by most local governmental agencies including San Francisco Regional Water Quality Control Board , Bay Area Air Quality Management District , the San Francisco Bay Restoration Authority , the Metropolitan Transportation Commission , and the Association of Bay Area Governments , the latter two of which partner to deliver a Bay Area Census using the nine-county definition. Various U.S. Federal government agencies use definitions that differ from their local counterparts' nine-county definition. For example,

5310-867: Is home to a complex network of watersheds, marshes, rivers, creeks, reservoirs, and bays that predominantly drain into the San Francisco Bay and Pacific Ocean. The largest bodies of water in the Bay Area are the San Francisco , San Pablo , and Suisun estuaries. Major rivers of the North Bay include the Napa River , the Petaluma River , the Gualala River , and the Russian River ; the former two drain into San Pablo Bay ,

5487-468: Is largely influenced by the cold California Current , which penetrates the natural mountainous barrier along the coast by traveling through various gaps. In terms of precipitation , this means that the Bay Area has pronounced seasons. The winter season, which roughly runs between November and March, is the source of about 82% of annual precipitation in the area. In the South Bay and further inland, while

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5664-405: Is one of California's most ecologically sensitive habitats, providing important ecosystem services such as filtering the pollutants and sediments from rivers and supporting a number of endangered species . In addition, the Bay Area is known for its stands of coast redwoods , many of which are protected in state and county parks. The region is additionally known for the complexity of its landforms,

5841-498: The Allied Powers was signed in San Francisco, entering into force a year later. In the years immediately following the war, the Bay Area saw a huge wave of immigration as populations increased across the region. Between 1950 and 1960, San Francisco welcomed over 100,000 new residents, inland suburbs in the East Bay saw their populations double, Daly City 's population quadrupled, and Santa Clara 's population quintupled. By

6018-521: The Bay Bridge , which would connect San Francisco with Oakland and the East Bay. After the United States joined World War II in 1941, the Bay Area became a major domestic military and naval hub, with large shipyards constructed in Sausalito and across the East Bay to build ships for the war effort. The Army's San Francisco Port of Embarkation was the primary origin for Army forces shipping out to

6195-824: The Camp David Peace Accords . In 1978, Carter had invited her to sing a recital from the East Room of the White House that was nationally televised and won an Emmy. In 1982, she sang " Battle Hymn of the Republic " before a Joint Meeting of Congress on the 100th anniversary of the birth of President Franklin D. Roosevelt . On July 4, 1983, she sang with the National Philharmonic on the Capitol Mall, and in fall 1986, Price sang

6372-475: The Central Valley counties of San Joaquin , Merced , and Stanislaus . The Bay Area is known for its natural beauty, prominent universities, technology companies, and affluence. The Bay Area contains many cities, towns, airports, and associated regional, state, and national parks, connected by a complex multimodal transportation network. The earliest archaeological evidence of human settlements in

6549-624: The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) which regulates broadcast, cable, and satellite transmissions, includes nearby Colusa , Lake and Mendocino counties in their " San Francisco - Oakland - San Jose " media market , but excludes eastern Solano County. On the other hand, the United States Office of Management and Budget , which designates metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) and combined statistical areas (CSA) for populated regions across

6726-711: The Hayward Fault Zone , Concord-Green Valley Fault , Calaveras Fault , Clayton-Marsh Creek-Greenville Fault , Rodgers Creek Fault , and the San Gregorio Fault . Significant blind thrust faults (faults with near vertical motion and no surface ruptures) are associated with portions of the Santa Cruz Mountains and the northern reaches of the Diablo Range and Mount Diablo . These "hidden" faults, which are not as well known, pose

6903-662: The Hayward fault , and the Diablo Range , which includes Mount Diablo and Mount Hamilton and runs along the Calaveras fault . In total, the Bay Area is traversed by seven major fault systems with hundreds of related faults, all of which are stressed by the relative motion between the Pacific Plate and the North American Plate or by compressive stresses between these plates. The fault systems include

7080-473: The Merola Opera Program (named after the first general director). It began during the 1954/55 Season and was given its current name in 1957. The program now annually offers approximately 23 gifted singers, four apprentice coaches, and one apprentice stage director the rare opportunity of studying, coaching, and participating in master classes with established professionals for eleven weeks during

7257-679: The North Pacific High through the Golden Gate, which creates the city's characteristic cool winds and fog . The microclimate phenomenon is most pronounced during this time, when fog penetration is at its maximum in areas near the Golden Gate strait, while the South Bay and areas further inland are sunny and dry. Along the San Francisco peninsula, gaps in the Santa Cruz Mountains , one south of San Bruno Mountain and another in Crystal Springs, allow oceanic weather into

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7434-556: The Pacific Ocean on the west and the bay on the east and are characterized by their mountainous and woody terrain. Sonoma and Napa counties are known internationally for their grape vineyards and wineries , and Solano County to the east, centered around Vallejo , is the fastest growing region in the Bay Area. The " Peninsula " subregion includes the cities and towns on the San Francisco Peninsula, excluding

7611-777: The Pacific Theater of Operations . That command consisted of fourteen installations including Fort Mason, the Oakland Army Base , Camp Stoneman and Fort McDowell in San Francisco Bay and the sub port of Los Angeles. After World War II, the United Nations was chartered in San Francisco, and in September 1951, the Treaty of San Francisco to re-establish peaceful relations between Japan and

7788-499: The Ritz Theater on Broadway. Price was thus the first African American to sing with and for the Met, if not at the Met as a member of the company. That distinction went to Marian Anderson , who sang Ulrica in Verdi's Un ballo in maschera on January 7, 1955. Price and Warfield were in the audience. While awaiting a chance to sing in opera, Price sang duo concerts with Warfield, and, after leaving Porgy and Bess , began

7965-602: The Royal Opera House in London and a lowly paid job with Decca Records in that city. Moving up the ranks in the 1950s, he landed in New York in 1959 and for the next 20 years made London Records, Decca's classical arm, the most significant classical label in the United States. After being approached by Adler regarding the San Francisco opera job, he moved to the city in 1980 and involved himself totally in learning

8142-701: The Salzburg Festival in Beethoven's Missa solemnis , conducted by Karajan; recorded a second full opera, Il trovatore , for RCA in Rome; then returned to Verona to sing Il trovatore with tenor Franco Corelli . Rudolf Bing was at one of the performances, and went backstage to invite Price and Corelli to make their Met debuts in the 1960–61 season. That fall, Price made her Chicago Lyric Opera debut as Liu in Puccini's Turandot with Birgit Nilsson in

8319-495: The San Francisco Chronicle noted: "He's never been interested in the succès d'estime , the daring intellectual or theatrical coup that dazzles culture mavens but leaves the general public alienated or bewildered. For Mansouri, a success that doesn't put fannies in the seats is no success at all." Towards the end of the 2001 season, Mansouri announced his retirement after fourteen seasons with SFO and 50 years in opera. Pamela Rosenberg  [ de ] 's first connection with

8496-414: The San Joaquin River Delta , causing a cooling effect in Stockton and Sacramento , so that these cities are also cooler than their Central Valley counterparts in the south. The Bay Area is home to a diverse array of wildlife and, along with the connected San Joaquin River Delta represents one of California's most important ecological habitats. California's Dungeness crab , Pacific halibut , and

8673-435: The Summer of Love . In the proceeding decades, the Bay Area would cement itself as a hotbed of New Left activism, student activism , opposition to the Vietnam War and other anti-war movements , the black power movement , and the gay rights movement . At the same time, parts of San Mateo and Santa Clara counties began to rapidly develop from an agrarian economy into a hotbed of the high-tech industry . Fred Terman ,

8850-497: The Tamien of the South Bay. The Miwok had two major groups in the Bay Area: the Bay Miwok of Contra Costa and the Coast Miwok of Marin and Sonoma . In 1542, Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo explored the Pacific coast near the Bay Area though the expedition did not see the Golden Gate or the estuaries, likely due to fog. Sir Francis Drake became the first European to land in the area and claim it in June 1579, when he landed at Drakes Bay near Point Reyes. Even though he claimed

9027-559: The University of California, Berkeley Richard Walker claimed that "no other U.S. city-region is as definitionally challenged [as the Bay Area]." When the region began to rapidly develop during and immediately after World War II , local planners settled on a nine-county definition for the Bay Area, consisting of the counties that directly border the San Francisco , San Pablo , and Suisun estuaries : Alameda , Contra Costa , Marin , Napa , San Francisco , San Mateo , Santa Clara , Solano , and Sonoma counties. Today, this definition

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9204-415: The combined statistical area of the region which includes 13 counties, is the second-largest in California—after the Greater Los Angeles area—and the fifth-largest in the United States, with over 9 million people. The Bay Area's population is ethnically diverse: roughly three-fifths of the region's residents are Hispanic/Latino , Asian , African/Black , Indian , or Pacific Islander , all of whom have

9381-401: The osprey . In 1927, zoologist Joseph Grinnell wrote that osprey were only rare visitors to the San Francisco Bay Area, although he noted records of one or two used nests in the broken tops of redwood trees along the Russian River . In 1989, the southern breeding range of the osprey in the Bay Area was Kent Lake , although osprey were noted to be extending their range further south in

9558-502: The seconda role of Elvira in Rossini's L'italiana in Algeri .) In Salzburg that summer, Price sang her first Donna Anna in Don Giovanni , again with Karajan. She then returned to Vienna to appear first as Cio-Cio-San in Puccini's Madama Butterfly . Bing had made overtures to Price before, and in 1958 had invited her to sing two Aidas. She turned him down on the advice of Adler and others, who argued that she should wait until she had more repertoire under her belt and could arrive as

9735-446: The west coast of the United States , including populations residing in tributaries to San Francisco Bay. California Coast Chinook salmon were historically native to the Guadalupe River in San Francisco Bay, and Chinook salmon runs persist today in the Guadalupe River, Coyote Creek , Napa River , and Walnut Creek . Industrial, mining, and other uses of mercury have resulted in a widespread distribution of that poisonous metal in

9912-478: The "middle period" operas of Verdi remain her greatest triumph; Aida , the Leonoras of Il trovatore and La forza del destino , as well as Amelia in Un ballo in maschera . Her performances in these works, as well as Mozart and Puccini's operas, survive in her many recordings . After her retirement from opera, Price continued to appear in recitals and orchestral concerts until 1997. After that, she would come out of retirement to sing at special events, including

10089-421: The 1980s an effort to re-introduce the species to the area began with the Santa Cruz Predatory Bird Research Group and the San Francisco Zoo importing birds and eggs from Vancouver Island and northeastern California, and there are now nineteen nesting couples in eight of the Bay Area's nine counties. Other once absent species that have returned to the Bay Area include Swainson's hawk , white tailed kite , and

10266-477: The Bay Area as including the nine counties that border the estuaries of San Francisco Bay, San Pablo Bay , and Suisun Bay : Alameda , Contra Costa , Marin , Napa , San Mateo , Santa Clara , Solano , Sonoma , and San Francisco . Other definitions may be either smaller or larger, and may include neighboring counties which are not officially part of the San Francisco Bay Area, such as the Central Coast counties of Santa Cruz , San Benito , and Monterey , or

10443-409: The Bay Area dates back to 8000–10,000 BC. The oral tradition of the Ohlone and Miwok people suggests they have been living in the Bay Area for several hundreds if not thousands of years. The Spanish empire claimed the area beginning in the early period of Spanish colonization of the Americas . The earliest Spanish exploration of the Bay Area took place in 1769. The Mexican government controlled

10620-410: The Bay Area during this period. In 1806, a Spanish expedition led by Gabriel Moraga began at the Presidio, traveled south of the bay, and then east to explore the San Joaquin Valley . In 1821, Mexico gained its independence from Spain and the Bay Area became part of the Mexican province of Alta California , a period characterized by ranch life and visiting American trappers. Mexico's control of

10797-449: The Bay Area played a major role in America's war effort in the Asiatic-Pacific Theater , with the San Francisco Port of Embarkation , of which Fort Mason was one of 14 installations and location of the headquarters, acting as a primary embarkation point for American forces. Since then, the Bay Area has experienced numerous political, cultural, and artistic movements, developing unique local genres in music and art and establishing itself as

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10974-509: The Bay Area their home, making the region a popular destination for birdwatching . Many birds are listed as endangered species despite once being common in the region. Western burrowing owls were originally listed as a species of special concern by the California Department of Fish and Game in 1979. California's population declined 60% from the 1980s to the early 1990s, and continues to decline at roughly 8% per year. A 1992–93 survey reported little to no breeding burrowing owls in most of

11151-434: The Bay Area, all naturally spawned anadromous steelhead populations below natural and manmade impassable barriers in California streams from the Russian River to Aptos Creek , and the drainages of San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bays are listed as threatened under the Federal Endangered Species Act . The Central California Coast coho salmon population is the most endangered of the many troubled salmon populations on

11328-421: The Bay Area, in the Lost Coast . The expedition followed the coast southward and on November 7 the San Agustin anchored in Drakes Bay, and claimed the region as Puerto y Bahía de San Francisco . In late November, a storm sank the San Agustin and killed between 7 and 12 people. On December 8, 80 remaining crew members set sail on the San Buenaventura , a launch which was partially constructed en route from

11505-420: The Bay Area, left behind by the movement of the San Andreas Fault, whose movement sliced a subduction plate and allowed magma to briefly flow to the surface. The region has considerable vertical relief in its landscapes that are not in the alluvial plains leading to the bay or in the inland valleys. The topography, and geologic history, of the Bay Area can largely be attributed to the compressive forces between

11682-458: The Bay. The wild turkey population was introduced in the 1960s by state game officials, and by 2015 have become a common sight in East Bay communities. The Bay Area is well known for the complexity of its landforms that are the result of the forces of plate tectonics acting over of millions of years, since the region is located in the middle of a meeting point between two plates. Nine out of eleven distinct assemblages have been identified in

11859-424: The California scorpionfish are all significant components of the bay's fisheries . The bay's salt marshes now represent most of California's remaining salt marsh and support a number of endangered species and provide key ecosystem services such as filtering pollutants and sediments from the rivers. Most famously, the bay is a key link in the Pacific Flyway and with millions of shorebirds annually visiting

12036-554: The Central Valley and the Sierra Nevada. In 2014, a Bay Area-wide survey found osprey had extended their breeding range southward with nesting sites as far south as Hunters Point in San Francisco on the west side and Hayward on the east side, while further studies have found nesting sites as far south as the Los Gatos Creek watershed, indicating that the nesting range now includes the entire length of San Francisco Bay. Most nests were built on man-made structures close to areas of human disturbance, likely due to lack of mature trees near

12213-408: The East Bay receives oceanic weather that travels through the Golden Gate strait, and further diffuses that air through the Berkeley Hills , Niles Canyon and the Hayward Pass into the Livermore Valley and Altamont Pass . Here, the resulting breeze is so strong that it is home to one of the world's largest array of wind turbines . Further north, the Carquinez Strait funnels the ocean weather into

12390-425: The Gold Rush subsided, wealth generated from the endeavor led to the establishment of Wells Fargo Bank and the Bank of California , and immigrant laborers attracted by the promise of wealth transformed the demographic makeup of the region. Construction of the First transcontinental railroad from the Oakland Long Wharf attracted so many laborers from China that by 1870, eight percent of San Francisco's population

12567-574: The Human Condition". Incorporated within the production programming of "Animating Opera" was the America staged premiere of Messiaen 's Saint-François d'Assise , Virgil Thomson 's The Mother of Us All , as well as a commission for a new work by John Adams and Peter Sellars entitled Doctor Atomic , which premiered on 1 October 2005. Other operas new to the SFO's repertoire during her directorship include Busoni's Doktor Faust , Ligeti's Le Grand Macabre and Janáček's The Cunning Little Vixen . After much controversy surrounding her management of

12744-433: The Met and the San Francisco Opera, her favorite house, for short runs of three to five performances, sometimes a year or more apart. In October 1973, she returned to the Met to sing a triumphant Madama Butterfly for the first time in a decade. In 1976, she was at the heart of a long-promised new production of Aida at the Met, with James McCracken as Radames and Marilyn Horne as Amneris, directed by John Dexter . At

12921-523: The Met: baritone Robert McFerrin (1955), soprano Gloria Davy (1956), and soprano Mattiwilda Dobbs (1958). However, none of them lasted as long or achieved such eminence. Price was a box-office hit (her performances in her first two seasons were almost all sold out), and the first to be asked to sing a season opening night, a true sign of prima donna status. The opening in September 1961, in Puccini's La fanciulla del West , almost didn't happen. That summer,

13098-621: The Metropolitan Opera's season began). This was to capitalize on the availability of singers by presenting up to fourteen operas with two or three performances each. Eventually, as seen in the 1961 SFO season, eleven operas were given five or six performances each on average while the season ran to late November. Another aim was to present new talent, and, for this, he was tireless in seeking out up-and-coming new singers, whether American or European, by attending performances in both major and minor opera houses. He heard Leontyne Price on

13275-995: The North Bay, northern East Bay, and Central Valley. Ohlone villages were spread across the Peninsula, East Bay, South Bay, as well as further south into the Monterey Bay area. There were eight major divisions of Ohlone people, four of which were based in the Bay Area: the Karkin of the Carquinez Strait , the Chochenyo of the East Bay , the Ramaytush of the San Francisco Peninsula , and

13452-810: The Pacific Plate and the North American plate. The three major ridge structures in the Bay Area, part of the Pacific Coast Range , are all roughly parallel to the major faults . The Santa Cruz Mountains along the San Francisco Peninsula and the Marin Hills in Marin County follow the San Andreas fault , The Berkeley Hills , San Leandro Hills and their southern ridgeline extension through Mission Peak roughly follow

13629-650: The Philippines . Seeking the fastest route south, the expedition sailed past the Golden Gate, arriving at Puerto de Chacala, Mexico on January 17, 1596. The Bay Area estuaries remained unknown to Europeans until members of the Portolá expedition , while trekking along the California coast, encountered them in 1769 when the Golden Gate blocked their continued journey north. Several missions were founded in

13806-507: The SFO an internationally respected company that ran at a high level of professionalism and offered them interesting things to do in a warm and supportive atmosphere." Among those who were offered new and exciting challenges were Geraint Evans, the Welsh baritone, Leontyne Price, and Luciano Pavarotti. He took on more and more administrative details as Merola's health and energy diminished, but Adler

13983-425: The SFO's General Director on 1 January 2006. As part of an announcement of the 2006/2007 season and the future of the company on 11 January, Gockley noted that "this season we debut a new visual identity and logo in keeping with a new artistic philosophy. I believe that it speaks of glamour, sophistication, tradition and innovation all things that infuse our plans for the future of San Francisco Opera." In May 2011, it

14160-570: The SFO, which included deficits created after the "dot-com" collapse in 2000 and the effects of September 11 on arts attendance, she announced in 2004 that she would not renew her contract with the company when it ended in late 2005. As noted by Steven Winn in the San Francisco Chronicle in December 2005, "Productions were scuttled or postponed in the face of a $ 7.7 million deficit. Ambitious programming initiatives and plans for

14337-488: The San Francisco Bay Area are not officially delineated, and the unique development patterns influenced by the region's topography , as well as unusual commute patterns caused by the presence of three central cities and employment centers located in various suburban locales, has led to considerable disagreement between local and federal definitions of the area. Because of this, professor of geography at

14514-408: The San Francisco Opera as Poulenc 's Dialogues des Carmélites and Aida , brought her to international attention. She went on to sing at many of the world's major opera houses with Aida , before her successful debut at the Metropolitan Opera (Met) in 1961, as Leonora in Verdi's Il trovatore . Continuing her career there, she starred in a multitude of operas for 20 years, securing her place among

14691-814: The San Francisco Opera was as a standee while attending the University of California, Berkeley. She returned to SFO with a background of operatic productions in Germany and, specifically, as head of the Stuttgart Opera. In January 2001, Rosenberg announced her first artistic initiative for San Francisco Opera, "Animating Opera", a multi-year plan of interwoven themes and series. These included "Seminal Works of Modern Times", "The Faust Project", "Composer Portrait: Janáček/Berlioz", "Women Outside of Society: Laws Unto Themselves", "Metamorphosis: From Fairy Tales to Nightmares", and "Outsiders or Pioneers?: The Nature of

14868-648: The South, because of her race. In March 1955, Price was taken by her agent to audition at Carnegie Hall for the Austrian conductor Herbert von Karajan , who was touring with the Berlin Philharmonic . Impressed with her singing of "Pace, pace, mio Dio" from Verdi's La forza del destino , Karajan reportedly leapt to the stage to accompany Price himself. Declaring her "an artist of the future", he asked to direct her future European operatic career. After

15045-623: The South, singing Fanciulla in Dallas . Two years later, she sang Donna Anna in Atlanta , a first in the Deep South. Both performances occurred without incident. Price was soon earning the Met's top fee. By 1964, she was paid was $ 2,750 per performance, on a par with Joan Sutherland , Maria Callas , and Renata Tebaldi , according to the Met archives. Birgit Nilsson , who was older and unique in singing both Italian and Wagnerian roles, earned

15222-506: The Swedish tenor Jussi Björling . Then, returning to Vienna, she sang Aida and her first onstage Pamina. She gave a BBC television recital of American songs with Gerald Moore , and a concert of operatic scenes by Richard Strauss for BBC Radio , conducted by Adler. In Vienna, she made her first full opera recording for RCA, singing Donna Elvira in Mozart's Don Giovanni , conducted by Erich Leinsdorf . That summer, Price made her debut at

15399-432: The U.S., and frustrated with the number and quality of the new productions she'd been given at the Met. Her recitals and concerts (generally programs of arias with orchestra) were highly successful, and, for the next two decades, she was a mainstay in the major orchestral and concert series in the major American cities and universities. She realized she needed to maintain some visibility in opera as well, and she returned to

15576-674: The United States in 1938 after early experience and training in many aspects of music and theatre in Austria, Germany, and Italy. For five years, he worked to build the chorus of the Chicago Opera Company. Merola heard of him and, over the telephone, invited him to San Francisco opera in 1943 as chorus director. Adler was often regarded as a difficult, sometimes tyrannical person to work for. However, as Chatfield-Taylor notes, "singers, conductors, directors, and designers came back season after season. They came back because Adler made

15753-488: The Whale , a humpback whale who entered San Francisco Bay twice on errant migrations in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Bottlenose dolphins and harbor porpoises have recently returned to the bay, having been absent for many decades. Historically, this was the northern extent of their warm-water species range. In addition to the many species of marine birds that can be seen in the Bay Area, many other species of birds make

15930-466: The advice of the university president and after frequent singing in a glee club she changed her major to voice in her third year. She also participated in master classes, including one in 1948 with the renowned bass Paul Robeson at Antioch College . Robeson was impressed by Price's voice, and—knowing she was aiming to enroll at Juilliard —worked with the Central State administrators to host

16107-509: The area from 1821 until the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo . Also in 1848, James W. Marshall discovered gold in nearby mountains , resulting in explosive immigration to the area and the precipitous decline of the Native population . The California Gold Rush brought rapid growth to San Francisco . California was admitted as the 31st state in 1850. A major earthquake and fire leveled much of San Francisco in 1906. During World War II ,

16284-529: The arts. It is also host to numerous higher education institutions, including research universities such as the University of California, Berkeley , and Stanford University , the latter known for helping to create the high tech center called Silicon Valley . Home to 101 municipalities and 9 counties, governance in the Bay Area involves numerous local and regional jurisdictions, often with broad and overlapping responsibilities. The Coyote Hills Shell Mound,

16461-590: The bay has been significantly altered heavily re-engineered to accommodate the needs of water delivery, shipping, agriculture, and urban development, with side effects including the loss of wetlands and the introduction of contaminants and invasive species . Approximately 85% of those marshes have been lost or destroyed, but about 50 marshes and marsh fragments remain. Huge tracts of the marshes were originally destroyed by farmers for agricultural purposes, then repurposed to serve as salt evaporation ponds to produce salt for food and other purposes. Today, regulations limit

16638-436: The bay into north and south regions. In 1989, the federal Environmental Protection Agency defined the South Bay as the northern part of Santa Clara County and the southeastern part of San Mateo County. The Bay Area is located in the warm-summer Mediterranean climate zone ( Köppen Csb ) that is a characteristic of California's coast, featuring mild to cool winters with occasional rainfall, and warm to hot, dry summers. It

16815-502: The bay shallows as a refuge, is the most important component of the flyway south of Alaska . Many endangered species of birds are also found here: the California least tern , the California clapper rail , the snowy egret , and the black crowned night heron . There is also a significant diversity of salmonids present in the bay. Steelhead populations in California have dramatically declined due to human and natural causes; in

16992-488: The bay, with uptake in the bay's phytoplankton and contamination of its sportfish . Aquatic mammals are also present in the bay. Before 1825, Spanish, French, English, Russians and Americans were drawn to the Bay Area to harvest prodigious quantities of beaver , river otter , marten, fisher, mink, fox, weasel, harbor and fur seals and sea otter . This early fur trade, known as the California Fur Rush ,

17169-681: The best singers in the world. As a reaction to the economic climate of the times, in 1982 McEwen, created the "San Francisco Opera Center" to oversee and combine the operation and administration of the numerous affiliate educational and training programs. Providing a coordinated sequence of performance and study opportunities for young artists, the San Francisco Opera Center included the "Merola Opera Program", " Adler Fellowship Program ", "Showcase Series", "Brown Bag Opera", "Opera Center Singers", "Schwabacher Recitals", and various Education Programs. By introducing his young singers to

17346-473: The business venture was a financial failure, it was the first semiconductor company in the Bay Area, and the talent that it attracted to the region eventually led to a high-tech cluster of companies later known as Silicon Valley . In 1989, in the middle of a World Series game between two Bay Area baseball teams, the Loma Prieta earthquake struck and caused widespread infrastructural damage, including

17523-405: The cast, while Price sang Bess for another year, on Broadway and a second US tour. Warfield said the episode put a strain on their young marriage. The couple was legally separated in 1967, and divorced in 1973. They had no children. Price and Warfield both dreamt of careers in opera, but racism limited opportunities for black singers. The New York City Center Opera under Laszlo Halasz had hired

17700-568: The city of San Francisco, natural and artificial topographical features direct the movement of wind and fog, resulting in startlingly varied climates between city blocks. Along the Golden Gate Strait , oceanic wind and fog from the Pacific Ocean are able to penetrate the mountain barriers inland into the Bay Area. During the summer, rising hot air in California's interior valleys creates a low pressure area that draws winds from

17877-487: The classics, the thinking went, drove away audiences and donors and ran up costs in the company's hour of greatest need." Rosenberg returned to Germany to work with Sir Simon Rattle and the Berlin Philharmonic as its Intendantin . From 2004 to 2007, Keith Cerny served as the chief financial officer of the San Francisco Opera. After 33 years of directing the Houston Grand Opera , David Gockley became

18054-575: The company during its history. The legendary tenor Lauritz Melchior conducted the orchestra, rather than sing, in a performance of the famous Radetsky March by Johann Strauss I; it was possibly his last public appearance. One of the highlights of the afternoon program was a moving performance of the love duet from Madama Butterfly with soprano Licia Albanese and tenor Frederick Jagel . Adler retired on December 15, 1981. Following Adler's retirement announcement in June 1979, Terence A. McEwen (1929–1998)

18231-458: The company's spring tour for the first time in Tosca , Butterfly , and Fanciulla . Recognizing that Price would have to be included on the tour, which would create problems for presenters in the segregated South, Bing declared that the Met would no longer perform to segregated houses, starting in 1962. Price gave the first performance by an African American to sing a leading role with the company in

18408-494: The country, has five MSAs which include, wholly or partially, areas within the nine-county definition, and one CSA which includes eight Bay Area counties (excluding Sonoma ), but including neighboring San Benito , Santa Cruz , San Joaquin , Merced , and Stanislaus counties. The Association of Bay Area Health Officers (ABAHO), an organization that has fought local outbreaks of HIV/AIDS in 1980s and with COVID-19 pandemic and Delta cron hybrid variant (2020–22), consists of

18585-490: The destruction of tidal marshes, and large portions are currently being rehabilitated to their natural state. Over time, droughts and wildfires have increased in frequency and become less seasonal and more year-round, further straining the region's water security . According to the 2010 United States Census , the population of the nine-county Bay Area was 7.15 million, with 49.6% male and 50.4% female. Of these, approximately 2.3 million (32%) are foreign born. In 2010

18762-493: The director of a top-secret research project at Harvard University during World War II, joined the faculty at Stanford University in order to reshape the university's engineering department. His students, including David Packard and William Hewlett , would later help usher in the region's high-tech revolution. In 1955, Shockley Semiconductor Laboratory opened for business in Mountain View near Stanford, and although

18939-491: The down payment on an upright piano . Meanwhile, at the age of eight, she had begun visiting the home of Alexander and Elizabeth Chisholm, a wealthy white family for whom Leontyne's aunt worked as a laundress. Leontyne and George became good friends with the Chisholms' older daughters, Jean and Peggy, and Mrs. Chisholm encouraged Leontyne's piano-playing and singing, often inviting her to sing at house parties. Aged nine, she

19116-603: The earliest known archaeological evidence of human habitation of the Bay Area estuaries, dates to around 10,000 BCE, with evidence pointing to even earlier settlement in Point Reyes in Marin County . It has been conjectured that the people living in the Bay Area at the time of first European contact were descended from Siberian tribes who arrived at around 1,000 BCE by sailing over the Arctic Ocean and following

19293-600: The early 1960s, the Bay Area and the rest of Northern California became the center of the counterculture movement . Telegraph Avenue in Berkeley and the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood in San Francisco were seen as centers of activity, with the hit American pop song San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair) further enticing like-minded individuals to join the movement in the Bay Area and leading to

19470-646: The effects of the quake hastened the loss of the region's dominant status in California to the Los Angeles metropolitan area . During the 1929 stock market crash and subsequent economic depression , not a single San Francisco-based bank failed, while the region attempted to spur job growth by simultaneously undertaking two large infrastructure projects: construction of the Golden Gate Bridge , which would connect San Francisco with Marin County , and

19647-572: The end of the Gold Rush, two thirds of the indigenous population had been killed. During this same time, a constitutional convention was called to determine California's application for statehood into the United States. After statehood was granted, the capital city moved between three cities in the Bay Area: San Jose (1849–1851), Vallejo (1851–1852), and Benicia (1852–1853) before permanently settling in Sacramento in 1854. As

19824-409: The end of the scene she was shouting the words. The standby, soprano Dorothy Kirsten , was called and finished the performance. The newspapers said that Price was suffering a viral infection, but stress and the unsuitable weight of the role of Minnie played their parts. After several weeks off, Price repeated Puccini's La fanciulla del West and then, after a Butterfly in December, which ended with

20001-409: The fact that the opera lacked a formal training program at that time, and also regular tours by the SFO to Los Angeles between 1937 and 1965, which expanded the season into November. However, until well after Merola's death on August 30, 1953, while conducting an open-air concert at Stern Grove , the main San Francisco season rarely extended beyond late October. Kurt Herbert Adler (1905–1988) came to

20178-594: The failure of the Bay Bridge , a major link between San Francisco and Oakland . Even so, the Bay Area's technology industry continued to expand and growth in Silicon Valley accelerated: the United States census confirmed that year that San Jose had overtaken San Francisco in terms of population. The commercialization of the Internet in the middle of the decade rapidly created a speculative bubble in

20355-470: The first black singers in leading roles in the mid-1940s, starting with Camilla Williams and Todd Duncan . In 1949, the new general manager of the Metropolitan Opera , Rudolf Bing , had said publicly he would cast Negro singers "for the right part". The Metropolitan Opera recognized Price's potential by inviting her to sing " Summertime " at a "Met Jamboree" fund-raiser on April 6, 1953, at

20532-589: The first time over Portsmouth Square . In 1848, James W. Marshall 's discovery of gold in the American River sparked the California Gold Rush , and within half a year 4,000 men were panning for gold along the river and finding $ 50,000 per day. The promise of fabulous riches quickly led to a stampede of wealth-seekers descending on Sutter's Mill . The Bay Area's population quickly emptied out as laborers, clerks, waiters, and servants joined

20709-423: The first week in the new house, placing a burden on tech crews who were still learning how to run the new equipment and lighting. The chaotic final rehearsals, along with scenes of Price's beautiful singing, were captured by cinema verite director Robert Drew in a documentary on The Bell Telephone Hour , The New Met: Countdown to Curtain . Antony and Cleopatra was never revived at the house. Barber prepared

20886-447: The great voices of the past, inviting them to rehearsals, and giving tickets to current productions McEwen hoped to create rounded performers who could appear in the regular Fall season. Among his successes in this regard was the mezzo-soprano Dolora Zajick from Nevada. By "hand holding" her through the various stages of training, he prepared her for the role of Azucena in Il trovatore for

21063-424: The high-tech economy known as the dot-com bubble . This bubble began collapsing in the early 2000s and the industry continued contracting for the next few years, nearly wiping out the market. Companies like Amazon.com and Google managed to weather the crash however, and following the industry's return to normalcy, their market value increased significantly. Even as the growth of the technology sector transformed

21240-499: The house in 1982. A characteristic of the Adler years was the interest in developing stronger connections to opera stage directors in an attempt to strengthen the dramatic and theatrical elements of the works. In this, he was greatly supported by his long relationship with Jean-Pierre Ponnelle , the often-controversial stage director and designer who began his association with SFO in 1957. Several innovations undertaken by Adler included

21417-417: The house with ease, and she has a good technique to back up the voice itself. She even took the trills as written, and nothing in the part as Verdi wrote it gave her the least bit of trouble. She moves well and is a competent actress. But no soprano makes a career of acting. Voice is what counts, and voice is what Miss Price has." Reviewers were less enthusiastic about Corelli, who was infuriated and told Bing

21594-466: The interior, causing a cooling effect for cities along the Peninsula and even as far south as San Jose. This weather pattern is also the source for delays at San Francisco International Airport . In Marin county north of the Golden Gate strait, two gaps north of Muir Woods bring cold air across the Marin Headlands , with the cooling effect reaching as far north as Santa Rosa . Further inland,

21771-408: The larger subregions, the East Bay includes a variety of enclaves, including the suburban Tri-Valley area and the highly urban western part of the subregion that runs alongside the bay, including Oakland. The " North Bay " includes Marin , Sonoma , Napa , and Solano counties, and is the geographically largest and least populated subregion. The western counties of Marin and Sonoma are encased by

21948-594: The last minute for Antonietta Stella , who had suffered an appendicitis. Price's European opera debut came in May 1958, again as Aida, at the Vienna State Opera with Karajan conducting. This was followed by performances of the role at the Royal Opera House in London (replacing Anita Cerquetti ), and at the Arena di Verona . The next fall, Price appeared as Leonora in Verdi's Il trovatore in San Francisco, with

22125-493: The latter two into the Pacific Ocean. In the South Bay, the Guadalupe River drains into San Francisco Bay near Alviso . There are also several lakes present in the Bay Area, including man-made lakes like Lake Berryessa and natural albeit heavily modified lakes like Lake Merritt . Prior to the introduction of European agricultural methods, the shores of San Francisco Bay consisted mostly of tidal marshes. Today,

22302-699: The leading performers of the century. One of these works was Barber's Antony and Cleopatra , which she starred in for its world premiere. She made her farewell opera performance at the Met in 1985 in Aida . A lirico spinto (Italian for "pushed lyric") soprano, her musical interpretations were subtle but often overshadowed her acting. She was noted for her roles in operas by Mozart and Puccini, as well as playing Cleopatra in Handel's Giulio Cesare and Poppea in Monteverdi's L'incoronazione di Poppea . However,

22479-446: The most ethnically diverse cities in the United States. Leontyne Price Mary Violet Leontyne Price ( / l i ˈ ɒ n t iː n , ˈ l iː ə n t iː n / lee- ON -teen, LEE -ən-teen ; born February 10, 1927) is an American spinto soprano who was the first African-American soprano to receive international acclaim. From 1961 she began a long association with the Metropolitan Opera . She regularly appeared at

22656-491: The next day he would never sing with Price again. The outburst was soon forgotten, and Price and Corelli sang together often, at the Met, in Vienna, in Salzburg, and once, for Karajan's version of Bizet 's Carmen , in the recording studio. In recognition of her extraordinary first season at the Met, Time magazine put her on its cover, and ran a profile under the headline, "A voice like a banner flying". After Anderson, three black artists had preceded Price in leading roles at

22833-578: The nine years following the opening season, the San Francisco War Memorial Opera House was designed by Arthur Brown Jr. On October 15, 1932, the company inaugurated the new opera house with a performance of Tosca on with Claudia Muzio in the titular role. Characteristic of Merola's years as general director was the fact (as noted by Chatfield-Taylor) that "the great singers of the world came regularly to San Francisco, often performing several roles in deference to

23010-508: The opera on AM and FM (in multiplex stereo with quadraphonic encoding). The broadcasts were hosted by several well-known announcers, including Scott Beach and Fred Cherry. In the summer of 1972, the San Francisco Opera began its 50th anniversary celebrations with a special free concert in Sigmund Stern Grove. Adler conducted most of the program, which featured performances by many of the surviving singers who had appeared with

23187-413: The opera. These included Plácido Domingo flying with no notice from New York City to San Francisco – albeit three hours after curtain time – to replace the ailing Carlo Cossutta on the opening night of Otello and the last-minute substitution by Leontyne Price for Margaret Price in the role of Aida. From 1971 to 1979, San Francisco station KKHI broadcast the regular Friday night performances of

23364-501: The performance, Virgil Thomson engaged her in Four Saints in Three Acts , prior to embarking on her debut tour; she also starred (alongside her husband William Warfield ) in a successful revival of Gershwin 's Porgy and Bess . Numerous concert performances followed, including a recital at the Library of Congress with composer Samuel Barber on piano. Her 1955 televised performance of Puccini 's Tosca , plus appearances at

23541-581: The plane from Paris, she sang the opening performance of Porgy and Bess at the State Fair of Texas on June 9, 1952, receiving rave reviews. The production played in Pittsburgh , Chicago and Washington, D.C., and then toured Vienna , Berlin , London , and Paris , under the auspices of the U.S. State Department . On the eve of the European tour, Price married William Warfield , her Porgy and

23718-561: The public and draws some 30,000 listeners. The concert is presented in conjunction with the non-profit San Francisco Parks Trust and the San Francisco Chronicle Charities. By the 1970s, the company was highly successful and offered audiences the "cream of the crop" of internationally known singers, but with Adler often bringing in unknowns to make their American debuts or the surprise of well-known singers replacing ailing ones, there were some exciting nights at

23895-633: The public health officers of 9 Bay Area counties, in addition to the Central Coast counties of Santa Cruz , San Benito , and Monterey and the city of Berkeley . Among locals, the nine-county Bay Area is divided into five sub-regions: the East Bay , North Bay , Peninsula , city of San Francisco , and South Bay . The " East Bay " is the densest region of the Bay Area outside of San Francisco and includes cities and towns in Alameda and Contra Costa counties centered around Oakland . As one of

24072-497: The racial makeup of the nine-county Bay Area was 52.5% White (42.4% were non-Hispanic and 10.1% were Hispanic ), 23.3% Asian , 6.7% non-Hispanic Black or African American , 0.7% Native American or Alaska Native , 0.6% Pacific Islander , 5.4% from two or more races and 10.8% from other races. Hispanic or Latino residents of any race formed 23.5% of the population. The Bay Area cities of Vallejo , Suisun City , Oakland , San Leandro , Fairfield , and Richmond are among

24249-593: The radio and offered her a role in Dialogues of the Carmelites in 1957, thus providing her with her first performance on a major operatic stage. A short time later in the same season, she was to step into the role of Aida at short notice to replace Antonietta Stella , a role which gave her long-lived international acclaim. Adler developed a strong professional relationship with Birgit Nilsson . Nilsson made her US-debut in San Francisco in 1956. She returned almost every season for 26 years and made her last appearance in

24426-525: The region and even riots in Oakland. His name was symbolically tied to the Occupy Oakland protests two years later that sought to fight against social and economic inequality. By August 2023, San Francisco was in such severe decline that Mayor Matt Mahan of San Jose joked that one day the region might be renamed the "San Jose Bay Area", after its largest and most prosperous city. The borders of

24603-521: The region for Queen Elizabeth I as Nova Albion or New Albion , the English made no immediate follow up to the claim. In 1595, Philip II of Spain tasked Sebastião Rodrigues Soromenho with mapping the west coast of the Americas. Soromenho set sail on Manila Galleon San Agustin on July 5, 1595 and in early November they reached land between Point St. George and Trinidad Head , north of

24780-505: The region's economy, progressive politics continued to guide the region's political environment. By the turn of the millennium, non-Hispanic whites , the largest ethnic group in the United States, were only half of the population in the Bay Area as immigration among minority groups accelerated. During this time, the Bay Area was the center of the LGBT rights movement : in 2004, San Francisco began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples ,

24957-437: The result of millions of years of tectonic plate movements. Because the Bay Area is crossed by six major earthquake faults , the region is particularly exposed to hazards presented by large earthquakes. The climate is temperate and conducive to outdoor recreational and athletic activities such as hiking, running, and cycling. The Bay Area is host to five professional sports teams and is a cultural center for music, theater, and

25134-555: The running of an opera company. In January 1982 McEwen was running the SFO. Given his expertise and background in understanding opera and the wonders of the human voice, it is not surprising that his approach in his early years was away from the theatrical side and more focused on singers. With his Ring Cycle which began in the Summer 1983 and Fall 1984 seasons — and which was presented in its entirety in June 1985 – McEwen demonstrated where his priorities lay: they were focused on hiring

25311-405: The rush to find gold, and California's first newspaper, The Californian , was forced to announce a temporary freeze in new issues due to labor shortages. By the end of 1849, news had spread across the world and newcomers flooded into the Bay Area at a rate of one thousand per week on their way to California's interior, including the first large influx of Chinese immigrants to the U.S. The rush

25488-583: The salmon migration. However the current academic consensus is compatible with the oral tradition of the Ohlone and Miwok peoples, which suggests they have been living in the Bay Area for several hundreds if not thousands of years. At the time of colonization, the Ohlone peoples in the Bay Area primarily lived on the San Francisco Peninsula, in the South Bay and in the East Bay, and the Miwok primarily lived in

25665-428: The same time, she was cautious – some said too cautious – in choosing new roles, conscious of her need to keep her reputation as a leading prima donna intact. After 1970, she performed only three new roles: Giorgetta in Puccini's Il tabarro in San Francisco; Puccini's Manon Lescaut , in San Francisco and New York; and the title role in Ariadne auf Naxos , also in San Francisco and New York. Of these, only Ariadne

25842-599: The short season and long travel time across the country." Edwin MacArthur led the San Francisco Opera Orchestra in several 78-rpm recordings for RCA Victor in the late 1930s, including performances by soprano Kirsten Flagstad . Some of these were later reissued by RCA on LP and CD. Short versions of all the works in the season were broadcast on about 30 California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho and British Columbia radio stations, starting about 1941. Merola's tenure lasted 30 years. Characteristics of Merola's SFO included creating opportunities for young American singers regardless of

26019-415: The singer in tears, cleared her schedule and took a respite in Rome. The official word was that she had never fully recovered from the earlier virus. However, Price later said she was suffering from nervous exhaustion, having performed a schedule of history making intensity, without a vacation for several years. In April, now rested and in fine voice, she returned to the Met for her first Toscas and then joined

26196-483: The standing-room section at the Met and became fascinated by opera. In fall 1950, Price joined Juilliard's Opera Workshop and sang small roles in workshop performances of Mozart's Magic Flute (First Lady) and Puccini's Gianni Schicchi (Aunt Nella). In the summer of 1951, she enrolled in the opera program at the Berkshire Music Center at Tanglewood and sang Ariadne in Strauss 's Ariadne auf Naxos (second cast). In early 1952, Price performed as Mistress Ford in

26373-605: The summer 1986 season to great acclaim. During the 1983 fall season, the student/family matinee performances of La traviata were presented with supertitles . These are English translations of the libretto projected over the proscenium simultaneously with the action on stage. The overwhelmingly favorable response prompted the company to introduce the practice in increasing numbers of performances in subsequent seasons. Supertitles are now used for all San Francisco Opera productions and SFO also rents its supertitles internationally to other opera companies. In 1986, Sir John Pritchard

26550-408: The summer. Many went on to international careers, among them Carol Vaness and Thomas Hampson . Another innovation was "Opera in the Park" which, since 1971, has been an annual free concert in Golden Gate Park on the Sunday following opening night of the Fall Season. It traditionally features artists from the opening weekend in full concert with the San Francisco Opera Orchestra. The event is open to

26727-417: The territory would be short-lived, however, and in 1846 a party of settlers occupied Sonoma Plaza and proclaimed the independence of the new Republic of California . That same year, the Mexican–American War began, and American captain John Berrien Montgomery sailed the USS  Portsmouth into the bay and seized San Francisco, which was then known as Yerba Buena , and raised the American flag for

26904-403: The tip of the San Francisco Peninsula, the city of San Francisco is not considered part of the "Peninsula" subregion, but as a separate entity. The term "South Bay" has different meanings to different groups: Writing in 1959 for the Army Corps of Engineers , the United States Department of Commerce defined the South Bay as comprising five counties, corresponding to their two-way division of

27081-472: The title role in Puccini's Tosca , the first appearance by an African American in a leading role in televised opera. (Another black soprano, Veronica Tyler , had sung in the NBC Opera chorus for several seasons.) Price went on to star in three other NBC Opera broadcasts, as Pamina in Mozart's The Magic Flute in 1956, as Madame Lidoine in Poulenc's Dialogues of the Carmelites the following years, and as Donna Anna in Mozart's Don Giovanni in 1960. Tosca

27258-510: The title role, and sang Massenet's Thaïs . Her Liu was well received while her Thaïs was considered stiff and mannered. On May 21, 1960, she sang for the first time at La Scala in Milan , again as Aida. The reception was tumultuous, and a Milanese critic wrote that "our great Verdi would have found her the ideal Aida". She was the first African American to sing a prima donna role in Italy's greatest opera house. (The African-American soprano Mattiwilda Dobbs had sung there two years earlier, in

27435-444: The titular city of San Francisco. Its eastern half, which runs alongside the Bay, is highly populated, while its less populated western coast traces the coastline of the Pacific Ocean and is known for its open space and hiking trails. Roughly coinciding with the borders of San Mateo County , it also includes the northwestern Santa Clara County cities of Palo Alto , Mountain View , and Los Altos . Although geographically located on

27612-419: The western counties in the Bay Area, leaving only Alameda , Contra Costa , and Solano counties as remnants of a once large breeding range. Bald eagles were once common in the Bay Area, but habitat destruction and thinning of eggs from DDT poisoning reduced the California state population to 35 nesting pairs. Bald eagles disappeared from the Bay Area in 1915, and only began returning in recent years. In

27789-459: The winter season is cool and mild, the summer season is characterized by warm sunny days, while in San Francisco and areas closer to the Golden Gate strait, the summer season is periodically affected by fog. Due to the Bay Area's diverse topographic relief (itself the result of the clashing tectonic plates ), the region is home to numerous microclimates that lead to pronounced differences in climate and temperature over short distances. Within

27966-534: The world's major opera houses, including the Royal Opera House , San Francisco Opera , Lyric Opera of Chicago , and La Scala ; at La Scala, she was also the first African American to sing a leading role. She was particularly renowned for her performances of the title role in Giuseppe Verdi 's Aida . Born in Laurel, Mississippi , Price attended Central State University and then the Juilliard School (graduating cum laude ), where she had her operatic debut as Mistress Ford in Verdi's Falstaff . Having heard

28143-505: Was Adler's hand-picked successor. Growing up in the Montreal area of Canada, McEwen learned to love opera at an early age, listened to the Met broadcasts, and at age 14, made a trip to New York one winter break to hear several of his favorite operas, which included Bidu Sayão and Jussi Björling in Rigoletto . As a singer, Sayão was forever to remain his passion, one which was accentuated by seeing her in Manon performances in Montreal. His passion for opera in general led him to visit

28320-413: Was a cheerleader and salutatorian . She earned extra money by singing for funerals and civic functions. Mississippi was highly segregated at the time, and subject to Jim Crow laws . As such, as a black woman, the only evident musical career path was as a teacher. She began her study in music education at Central State University , a historically black school in Wilberforce, Ohio . However, on

28497-503: Was announced that Gockley's contract was to be extended through SFO's 2015–16 season. In October 2014 it was announced that Gockley would be stepping down from his post at the end of the 2015/16 season. His replacement was announced to be Matthew Shilvock in September 2015. San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area , commonly known as the Bay Area , is a region of California surrounding and including San Francisco Bay . The Association of Bay Area Governments defines

28674-447: Was appointed music director and served until 1989. On 8 February 1988, McEwen announced his resignation. The following day his mentor, Kurt Herbert Adler, died. Lotfi Mansouri (born 1929) was already a known quantity when Terry McEwen announced his retirement. Then head of the Canadian Opera Company in Toronto , Mansouri had received an education in medicine in Los Angeles, but gave it all up upon becoming fixated on opera, first as

28851-412: Was called to sing on important national or ceremonial occasions. In January 1973, she sang " Precious Lord, Take My Hand " and " Onward, Christian Soldiers " at the state funeral of President Lyndon B. Johnson . (She had sung at his inauguration in 1965.) In 1980, President Jimmy Carter invited her to sing at the White House for the visit of Pope John Paul II and at the state dinner after the signing of

29028-403: Was considered a failure by many, who found the sequence of scenes confusing, the Shakespearean text unintelligible, and director Franco Zeffirelli 's production suffocatingly elaborate. Zeffirelli buried an essentially intimate score under giant scenery, a movable pyramid and sphinx, innumerable supernumeraries, and two camels. Bing had overreached, too, by scheduling three other new productions in

29205-402: Was considered a great success. When she sang the role at the Met in 1979, she was suffering from a viral infection and canceled all but the first and last of eight scheduled performances. Reviewing the first performance, the New York Times critic John Rockwell was not complimentary. In the U.S., her beautiful voice, personal dignity, and well known patriotism made her an iconic American, who

29382-454: Was considered by critics as superlative. She appeared even more rarely in opera in Europe. In the early 1970s, she sang Aida and a single Forza in Hamburg, and returned to London's Covent Garden in Trovatore and Aida . However, she gave well received recitals in Hamburg, Vienna, Paris, and at the Salzburg Festival. At the latter she became a special favorite, appearing there in 1975, 1977, 1978, 1980, 1981, and 1984. In 1976, after almost

29559-458: Was director of the Canadian Opera Company where, in 1983, he had introduced the revolutionary supertitles. Mansouri's feelings on the effects of titling was that the audience would be more engaged in the performance. This was a momentous change in the world of opera. Mansouri introduced many new operas to the SFO repertory. These included more Russian operas with the highlight being Valery Gergiev 's conducting of Prokofiev 's War and Peace and

29736-415: Was first reported in Redwood Creek at Muir Beach in 1996, has since been spotted in the North Bay's Corte Madera Creek , the South Bay's Coyote Creek , as well as in 2010 in San Francisco Bay itself at the Richmond Marina . Other mammals include the internationally famous sea lions who began inhabiting San Francisco's Pier 39 after the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake and the locally famous Humphrey

29913-428: Was instrumental in loaning out funds for rebuilding efforts. Congress immediately approved plans for a reservoir in Hetch Hetchy Valley in Yosemite National Park , a plan they had denied a few years earlier, which now provides drinking water for 2.4 million people in the Bay Area. By 1915, the city had been sufficiently rebuilt and advertised itself to the world during the Panama Pacific Exposition that year, although

30090-443: Was more than any other single factor, responsible for opening up the West and the San Francisco Bay Area, in particular, to world trade. By 1817 sea otter in the area were practically eliminated. Since then, the California golden beaver re-established a presence in Alhambra Creek , followed by the Napa River and Sonoma Creek in the north, and the Guadalupe River and Coyote Creek in the south. The North American river otter which

30267-400: Was named music director and principal conductor of SFO in 1990, and assumed the posts in 1992. In November 1992, Mansouri introduced "Pacific Visions", an ambitious program designed to maintain the vitality of the opera repertoire through new commissions and the presentation of unusual repertoire. It was launched with the commissioning of the following operas: Summing up his years at the SFO,

30444-486: Was not controversial. Price's appearance had not been widely advertised by NBC, which had a policy of "integration without identification", and the Jackson, Mississippi, NBC affiliate carried the broadcast signal to her home town of Laurel. However, Jet magazine noted that her appearance with tenor David Poleri , the Cavaradossi, marked a first TV broadcast with a mixed-racial couple, and her later NBC Opera broadcasts were boycotted by several NBC affiliates, most of them in

30621-422: Was not the board's natural choice to replace Merola at the time of his death in 1953. After three months of acting as artistic director, and with the assistance of its president, Robert Watt Miller, Adler was confirmed as general director. Adler's had several aims in taking over the company. One was to expand the season which in Merola's time ran. It changed from the Friday after Labor Day until early November (when

30798-516: Was of Asian origin. The completion of the railroad connected the Bay Area with the rest of the United States, established a truly national marketplace for the trade of goods, and accelerated the urbanization of the region. In the early morning of April 18, 1906, a large earthquake with an epicenter near the city of San Francisco hit the region. Immediate casualty estimates by the U.S. Army 's relief operations were 498 deaths in San Francisco, 64 deaths in Santa Rosa , and 102 in or near San Jose, for

30975-413: Was so great that vessels were abandoned by the hundreds in San Francisco's ports as crews rushed to the goldfields. The unprecedented influx of new arrivals spread the nascent government authorities thin, and the military was unable to prevent desertions. As a result, numerous vigilante groups formed to provide order, but many tasked themselves with forcibly moving or killing local Native Americans , and by

31152-479: Was taken on a school trip to hear Marian Anderson sing a recital in Jackson . The experience was her first significant exposure to classical music , and she later recalled: "The whole aura of the occasion had a tremendous effect on me, particularly the singer's dignity and, of course, her voice." Multiple commentators asserted that this event galvanized Price's interest in a musical career. In her teen years, Price attended Oak Park Vocational High School, where she

31329-403: Was the opening night of the new Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center on September 16, 1966, in Barber's Antony and Cleopatra , a new opera commissioned for the occasion. The composer had written the role of Cleopatra especially for Price, often visiting her at home to run through new pages of the score. In reviews of the premiere, Price's singing was highly praised. However, the opera

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