MOSTLY OPERA Competitors

As the nation’s independent public broadcaster, the ABC is proud to be the source of Australian conversations, culture and stories. The ABC produces quality, distinctive, award-winning content that informs, educates and entertains audiences from across Australia and the world. Over 70% of Australians watch, read or listen to the ABC each week. The ABC has 56 Australian and 11 international locations and is the largest creative employer in the southern hemisphere. It maintains Australia’s largest daily investigative news team, has one of the world’s largest dedicated rural reporting teams and is recognised as Australia’s pre-eminent source of independent news and current affairs. The ABC is also known for its distinctive drama, and as the creator and broadcaster of innovative Australian comedy. ABC content is freely available in Australia and is made accessible across television, radio, podcasts, apps, and the web. These platforms and services include national radio networks (RN, triple j, ABC Classic), regional local radio (available from 48 regional locations), digital radio services, four television channels, ABC iview, and numerous websites and mobile apps. By ensuring audiences can easily experience ABC content, the ABC shares Australian stories with the nation and the world. The ABC is yours, now and into the future.

The Metropolitan Opera is a vibrant home for the most creative and talented singers, conductors, composers, musicians, stage directors, designers, visual artists, choreographers, and dancers from around the world.

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.