Opera Aficionado is an exciting suite of programs designed for patrons who are passionate about opera. Aficionado provides an opportunity to learn more, dive deeper, and get an inside look at the world of opera.
As part of Opera Aficionado, our Interactive Lectures Series gives opera-goers around the world a front-row seat to scholarly talks, allowing attendees to dialogue with fellow opera lovers, experts, and special guests. Each month will be focused on a concept or theme relevant to all of us.
This May on Opera Aficionado: The End of an Era
Two years ago, in May of 2020, San Francisco Opera’s department of Diversity, Equity and Community began producing a Sunday afternoon lecture series on Zoom. Over eighty episodes later, as the world finally begins to emerge out of a global pandemic and into a new normal, Opera Aficionado is coming to an end. Join us for our final month as we celebrate two years of programming and revisit our very first topical theme, Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month.
May 1 - The Butterfly Project
Aria Umezawa returns to Opera Aficionado to discuss the representation of Asian culture in opera, within the context of the character Madam Butterfly. First introduced in the celebrated opera by Giacomo Puccini, her folk-based melodies now live on in a new work by composer Teiya Kasahara, titled The Butterfly Project. Join us in discussion as we consider the timely issues of appropriation, historical racism, and the new wave of appropriate inclusion.