San Francisco Opera has announced its upcoming season, with Music Director Eun Sun Kim at the center of the repertory—and a long Wagner arc now officially underway.
Kim conducts Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra, Massenet’s Manon, and Wagner’s Das Rheingold, the latter marking the first formal step toward a complete Ring of the Nibelung, planned for 2028.
The season opens September 12–13 with a full weekend slate: the Opera Ball gala, performances of Simon Boccanegra, and the company’s annual free Opera in the Park concert.
Among the season’s notable returns is Thea Musgrave’s Mary, Queen of Scots (1977), rarely staged and now coming back to San Francisco in a new co-production, starring soprano Heidi Stober.
Standard repertory revivals include Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro in Michael Cavanagh’s production and Puccini’s Tosca, with Rachel Willis-Sørensen singing the title role for the first time.
Kim also leads the San Francisco Opera Orchestra and soprano Adela Zaharia in an all–Richard Strauss concert program. The company’s PRIDE CONCERT returns in summer 2027.
Full cast lists below.
San Francisco Opera 2026–27 Season
Simon Boccanegra (Verdi) September 12–27, 2026
Amartuvshin Enkhbat (Simon Boccanegra), Eleonora Buratto*/Toni Marie Palmertree (Amelia/Maria), Christian Van Horn (Jacopo Fiesco), Joshua Guerrero* (Gabriele Adorno), Aleksey Bogdanov (Paolo Albiani) Eun Sun Kim, conductor Claus Guth*, original director; Katherine M. Carter, revival director
Mary, Queen of Scots (Musgrave) September 20–October 4, 2026
Heidi Stober (Mary, Queen of Scots), Thomas Mole* (James Stewart, Earl of Moray), Thomas Kinch (Earl of Bothwell), Christopher Sokolowski* (Lord Darnley), Hadleigh Adams (David Riccio), Philip Skinner (Lord Gordon), David Soar (Cardinal Beaton) Clelia Cafiero*, conductor Stewart Laing*, director
Manon (Massenet) October 15–November 1, 2026
Amina Edris (Manon), Pene Pati (Chevalier des Grieux), Vitor Bispo* (Lescaut), James Creswell (Comte des Grieux), Steven Cole (Guillot de Morfontaine), Taylor Raven (Rosette) Eun Sun Kim, conductor Vincent Boussard, director
Le nozze di Figaro (Mozart) October 31–November 29, 2026
Peter Kellner* (Figaro), Slávka Zámečníková (Susanna), Thomas Mole (Count Almaviva), Olivia Smith (Countess Almaviva), Simone McIntosh (Cherubino), Maurizio Mararo (Doctor Bartolo), Catherine Cook (Marcellina), Alek Shrader (Don Basilio), Chance Jonas-O’Toole (Don Curzio) Sebastian Weigle*, conductor Shawna Lucey, director; Michael Cavanagh, original director
Tosca (Puccini) June 4–July 2, 2027
Rachel Willis-Sørensen (Floria Tosca), Riccardo Massi* (Mario Cavaradossi), Quinn Kelsey (Baron Scarpia), Dale Travis (Sacristan) Clelia Cafiero, conductor Shawna Lucey, director
*San Francisco Opera debut
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