Cal Performances Competitors

Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive (BAMPFA) ignites cultural change for a more inclusive and artistic world. BAMPFA has been uniquely dedicated to art and film since 1970, with international programming that is locally connected and globally relevant. It holds more than 25,000 artworks and 18,000 films and videos in its collection, with particular strengths in modern and contemporary art and historical Chinese painting, as well as the world’s largest collection of African American quilts. As part of the University of California, Berkeley, BAMPFA is committed to artistic diversity through its robust slate of art exhibitions, film screenings, artist talks, live performances, and educational programs that shed new light on the art of the past and connect our audiences with leading filmmakers and artists of our time. BAMPFA sits on the edge of campus and downtown Berkeley, where it welcomes visitors from across and beyond the Bay Area in a repurposed building designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro.

Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (LCPA) is a cultural and civic cornerstone of New York City. The primary advocate for the entire Lincoln Center campus, our strategic priorities include: fostering collaboration and deepening impact across the Lincoln Center resident organizations; championing inclusion and increasing the accessibility and reach of Lincoln Center’s work; and nurturing innovation on stage and off to help ensure the arts are at the center of civic life for all. LCPA presents hundreds of programs each year, offered primarily for free and choose-what-you-pay, including many specially designed for young audiences, families, and those with disabilities. The 11 resident organizations include: The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Film at Lincoln Center, Jazz at Lincoln Center, The Juilliard School, Lincoln Center Theater, The Metropolitan Opera, New York City Ballet, New York Philharmonic, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, the School of American Ballet, and Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. **Campus photography by Mark Bussell

Founded in 1923, San Francisco Opera is the oldest surviving opera company on the West Coast and a leader in arts education and innovation. It all started, according to legend, over a game of poker. In his travels across the United States, the Neapolitan conductor Gaetano Merola had noticed that San Francisco audiences hungered for opera. Over a card game in the North Beach neighborhood, an idea took hold: Why not give San Francisco its very own resident opera company? Merola rallied local leaders and music lovers, and soon — on September 26, 1923 — the curtain rose on a new beacon in the art world: San Francisco Opera. Starting with that very first performance of “La Bohème,” San Francisco Opera established itself as destination for world-class talent and incomparable artistry. Artists like Leontyne Price and Birgit Nilsson would arrive to make their American stage debuts. New operas like “Dead Man Walking” and “Appomattox” would take shape under its proscenium. And new technology like supertitles and simulcasts would be adopted early on to make opera more accessible for everyone. Matthew Shilvock leads the company as its seventh general director, having assumed the role in August 2016. He succeeds company founder Gaetano Merola (1923-1953), Kurt Herbert Adler (1953-1981), Terence A. McEwen (1982–1988), Lotfi Mansouri (1988–2001), Pamela Rosenberg (2001–2005) and David Gockley (2006–2016). He is joined by the leadership of music director Eun Sun Kim, who follows in the footsteps of previous music directors including Sir John Pritchard (1982-1989), Sir Donald Runnicles (1992-2009) and Nicola Luisotti (2009-2018). Come visit us in our historic 1932 home, the War Memorial Opera House, the first municipally owned opera house in the United States — and one of the last Beaux-Arts buildings to be built in the country. Or find us out and about in our community, where we hold free events like Opera in the Park. To learn more, please visit sfopera.com.