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San Francisco Opera
San Francisco Opera's first show was in 1922 when it released a season of opera at Stanford University. That season was a proof of concept. It showed that people were interested in an expensive art form, which was already expensive at the time. (Another story, told in George Martin's 1993 book Verdi at the Golden Gate and other places, is that opera has been a part of San Francisco since the middle of the 19th century.) In its first official season, from 1923 to 1924, the new company put on shows at the Civic Auditorium, now called the Bill Graham Auditorium.
The challenge of trying new things at an organization that strives for perfection
The San Francisco Opera has been essential to the city's culture since the 1850s. In 1927, voters approved a municipal bond for SFO's building, the 3,146-seat War Memorial Opera House. Wealthy patrons pay for most opera houses, but this "people's opera house" was built with money from regular people. The new building would make it possible to put on shows that could have worked better in the big opera house.
As one of the best opera companies in the world, SFO has always tried to do everything perfectly in its performances. The company's new General Director, Matthew Shilvock, has described this pursuit of excellence as a mixed benefit and a burden. He said, "It's a blessing because it lets us make moments of exquisite theater, but it's a curse because it doesn't let us change quickly."
SFO has limited resources, just like almost every other non-profit. Ticket sales pay for only a tiny part of its production and administrative costs. The rest comes from donations, grants, and an endowment. SFO has built a highly structured organization to help it survive and grow in a world where high-performance standards and limited resources are at odds with each other.
Keeping Creativity Alive
The project showed the Opera staff how important it is to try new things. After that, Opera put together several groups (called "groups") of people from different departments to work on issues related to opening the new building.
This led to the formation of SF Opera Lab, a production arm tasked with staging operas and other performances at the Diane B. Wilsey Center. The SF Opera Lab would try out new things at the Wilsey Center and other places in the city.