Pippin to Be Celebrated at 90 + 90 with $90 and Up

Donald Pippin

, San Francisco's acclaimed founder-director of the small-in-name-only Pocket Opera, turned 90 in December, with the same impressive number accounting for his funny, brilliant libretto translations. What better way to celebrate than with a big fundraiser party — $90 for dinner, entertainment, and excerpts from the season-opening Martha by Flotow.

The event will take place at 12:30 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 24 in the Green Room of the War Memorial Veterans Building. Here are the basic facts about the Pippin Era:

The Zebulon, North Carolina, native was educated at Harvard University, and began his musical career as an accompanist at George Balanchine's School of American Ballet in New York City. In 1952, he moved to San Francisco and has been an integral part of the city's artistic life since. He began as a pianist and new music advocate (collaborating with Harry Partch, among others), and ran his own recital series at North Beach's legendary hungry i. In 1975, he founded Pocket Opera, "an organization dedicated to presenting professional performances of operatic works in intimate, intelligible productions at affordable prices."

Going at full speed, Pippin has planned a typically offbeat season for 2016, including standards — Rigoletto, Julius Caesar, La Vie Parisienne — such rarely performed works as Martha, Verdi's King for a Day, and a Pippin special doublebill of Pagliacci and Von Suppe's My Fair Galatea.