One of many reasons David Gockley has receieved such acclaim when his 2016 retirement was officially announced is the way he handled the general director's greatest challenge, keeping the Opera solvent while maintaining high standards.
Even without the disastrous 2008-2013 Recession, financing the most expensive of performing arts is an almost impossible task — just note the recent fate of important American and European companies going under or teetering on the edge of oblivion.
Gockley righted the deeply troubled ship in the War Memorial by calling for and executing economies without hurting the company's basic mission, by raising substantial amounts both for the operating budget ($77 million for FY2015) and the Endowment (since he took over in 2006 to a $165 million total today) — and being open and honest about problems, however weighty they might have been.
What he told the company's annual meeting in March — in wake of New York City Opera and San Diego Opera endgame crises — was an example of that unblinking communication.
Gockley presented a still-troubling matrix for San Francisco Opera finances with some alarming figures for 1980, 2015, and 2022 (the centennial year):
Operating budget
1980: $11 million
2015: $77m (he said $75m back in March)
2022: $92m
[$11m is about $31m today]
Subscribers
1980: 165,000
2015: 93,000
2022: 80,000 estimated
Ticket sales providing percentage of budget
1980: 58.7%
2015:32% (close to the current San Diego figure)
2022: 29%
Present and predicted declines in the number of subscribers and ticket sales will challenge not only Gockley in the remaining 22 months of his tenure, but his successor(s) as well. And yet, Gockley's agenda, stated almost 10 years ago when he was appointed to the job, is still work in progress:
What I want to do is to fill the theater and maximize the revenue and interest the donors and pursue the grand tradition of the San Francisco Opera, the tradition of international glamour and excitement and luminousness.