San Francisco Opera and orchestra reach tentative four-year agreement
San Francisco Opera and the San Francisco Opera Orchestra, represented by the American Federation of Musicians (AFM) Local 6, have reached a tentative agreement on a new four-year contract, it was announced on 17 September 2026. Reached after a week of intensive negotiations, the deal runs from 1 August 2026 to 31 July 2030 and is still subject to ratification.
General Director Matthew Shilvock thanked both negotiating committees and praised the involvement of Mayor Daniel Lurie, Matthew Goudeau and the mediators for their work over the past week in reaching an agreement that addresses structural change while treating the musicians fairly. “We look forward to coming together again,” he said, “and reconnecting through the collective beauty of the arts.”
Gabe Young, associate principal oboist and chair of the Orchestra Negotiating Committee, said the deal gives the musicians much-needed stability after a difficult period, and thanked Mayor Lurie’s team for brokering the agreement as well as the public and opera patrons for their patience. “We cannot wait to return to the pit,” he said, “and perform once again for the company we love.”
Mayor Lurie linked the resolution to the city’s broader health, noting that the Opera House draws visitors to Hayes Valley’s small businesses and brings people together through music, and thanked both the Local 6 musicians and Shilvock’s leadership team for their commitment throughout. “We are getting those performances started again,” he said.
The company’s 104th season now opens on Tuesday 22 September with Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra, in Claus Guth’s Hamburg State Opera production, staged for San Francisco by revival director Katherine M. Carter. Caroline H. Hume Music Director Eun Sun Kim conducts, with Mongolian baritone Amartuvshin Enkhbat in the title role, bass-baritone Christian Van Horn as Jacopo Fiesco, and soprano Eleonora Buratto and tenor Joshua Guerrero making their house debuts as Amelia Grimaldi and Gabriele Adorno.
Thea Musgrave’s Mary, Queen of Scots – which had its West Coast premiere in 1979 under the composer’s own baton – opens on Thursday 24 September in a new co-production with English National Opera, directed by Stewart Laing and conducted, in her company debut, by Clelia Cafiero. Soprano Heidi Stober takes the title role. The San Francisco Opera Chorus, directed by John Keene, appears in both productions.
Details of the 2026–27 season are at sfopera.com.
Graham Spicer, aka ‘Gramilano’, is a writer, director and photographer based in Milan. He was a regular columnist for Opera Now magazine and wrote for the BBC until transferring to Italy. His articles have appeared in various publications from Woman’s Weekly to Gay Times, and he wrote the Danza in Italia column for Dancing Times magazine. Graham was the historical advisor on Codice Carla, the 2023 documentary on Italian ballerina Carla Fracci.
Graham also works as a dance photographer, and his photos have appeared in many books, theatre programmes, and magazines, including Dancing Times, Dance Spirit and Ballet2000, as well as all the major Italian newspapers.
He is a member of the Dance Section of The Critics’ Circle.
