At age 81, David Gockley has a half century of outstanding opera administration as his legacy. His last position before retiring in 2016 was as the general director of the San Francisco Opera, which he led through a crucial decade.
It was to the War Memorial, SF Opera’s home, that Gockley returned on Tuesday, for the dedication of his memorial plaque.
Each of the century-old SF Opera’s six former general directors has a physical homage in the War Memorial’s main lobby:
— Gaetano Merola (founding general director, 1923–1953), bas-relief by sculptor Spero Anargyros, installed in 1953
— Kurt Herbert Adler (1953–1981), bust by Bruce Wolfe, installed in 1968
— Terence McEwen (1982–1988), bas-relief by Sarita Waite, installed in 1997
— Lotfi Mansouri (1988–2001), bas relief, by Bruce Wolfe, unveiled in 2009
— Pamela Rosenberg (2001–2005), bas relief by Bertrand Freiesleben, installed in 2021, unveiled in 2022 (the unveiling was postponed by the pandemic.)
The latest addition is Gockley’s bas-relief, created by sculptor Jennifer Frudakis-Petry.
In the company of his former assistant Matthew Shilvock, SF Opera’s general director since 2016, Gockley attended the ceremony last week, and his remarks included the following:
“I am most proud of the work we did in establishing an American opera repertory. When I was growing up, opera was exotic, but I felt that it was an art form that could be American as well as any other particular national origin. The fact that we’ve made an impact on that gives me the greatest pleasure.”
At the Houston Grand Opera, which he headed for 33 years and brought to national prominence, and in San Francisco, Gockley introduced groundbreaking world premieres. His passion for keeping opera alive resulted in a stunning 45 commissions for new works, almost all from living American composers, including Nixon in China by John Adams, A Quiet Place by Leonard Bernstein, Florencia en el Amazonas by Daniel Catán, Cold Sassy Tree by Carlisle Floyd, The Making of the Representative of Planet 8 and Appomattox by Philip Glass, The End of the Affair and Three Decembers by Jake Heggie, Atlas by Meredith Monk, Dolores Claiborne by Tobias Picker, The Dream of the Red Chamber by Bright Sheng, and Harvey Milk and The Bonesetter’s Daughter by Stewart Wallace. He also oversaw the first opera house productions of George Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess, and Scott Joplin’s Treemonisha (both in 1976).
Shilvock said: “Every single day that David led Houston Grand Opera and San Francisco Opera, he pushed boundaries, setting the tone and the direction for the whole industry. He inspired everyone to go beyond their own comfort level because we all believed so passionately in his vision.
“Care, passion, resolve, focus, humor, determination, strength are just a few of the traits that have made David an impresario of towering impact in our art form and the most remarkable leader of this company.”
Gockley came to San Francisco from Houston in 2006 to succeed Pamela Rosenberg and helped the company recover from a difficult financial crisis. Besides championing radio, film, and online distribution of performances, he helped pioneer free, open-air simulcasts to audiences in the AT&T Ballpark. Gockley oversaw the installation of the Koret-Taube Media Suite, the video production setup behind such innovations as OperaVision, a series of screens providing real-time closeups of the stage during performances. He also produced such major presentations as Hector Berlioz’s Les Troyens and Richard Wagner’s Ring cycle.
Together with philanthropist Dede Wilsey, Gockley spearheaded the inclusion of new facilities for the company in the Opera House’s twin neighbor, the War Memorial Veterans Building, when it was retrofitted a decade ago.
Before stepping down from his post at the end of the 2016 season, Gockley programmed the next two seasons, and helped prepare the company’s 2022 centennial season.