San Francisco Opera

What it reported doing in 2024

Production and artistic accomplishments - san francisco opera's 2024-25 season began on friday, september 6, 2024, with the annual opera ball gala and verdi's un ballo in maschera conducted by music director eun sun kim. Un ballo in maschera was presented in a new-to-san francisco opera production by italian director leo muscato and starred michael fabiano, lianna haroutounian, and the debut of mongolian baritone amartuvshin enkhbat. Chorus director john keene prepared the artists of the san francisco opera chorus.on september 14, poul ruders' 2000 opera the handmaid's tale had its west coast premiere in a new co-production by san francisco opera and the royal danish theatre. The cast was headed by irene roberts and also starred lindsay ammann, sarah cambidge, john relyea, simone mcintosh, christopher oglesby, and brenton ryan, under the baton of karen kamensek and directed by john fulljames.wagner's tristan und isolde returned to the company's stage in october and november in a new-to-san francisco opera production by director paul curran and designer robert innes hopkins. As part of her commitment to lead works by verdi and wagner every season, eun sun kim led this path-breaking romantic epic not heard on the company's stage in 18 seasons. The cast featured simon o'neill, anja kampe, kwangchul youn, and, in their house debuts, wolfgang koch and annika schlicht.francesca zambello's production of bizet's carmen returned on november 13, for 8 sold-out performances starring eve-maud hubeaux in her american debut as carmen, jonathan tetelman, christian van horn, and louise alder with benjamin manis conducting. The 2025 summer season opened on june 3 with puccini's la boheme in the san francisco opera production by john caird with ramon tebar conducting two casts. The principal roles were performed by pene pati, evan leroy johnson as rodolfo, karen chia-ling ho, nicole car as mimi, andrea carroll, brittany renee as musetta along with artists who sang in all performances including lucas meachem, bogdan talos, samuel kidd, and dale travis. Lobby activations during the boheme performances featuring interactive scenes and performers enhanced the audience's experience and provided opportunities for photos. Eun sun kim conducted mozart's early masterpiece idomeneo in a new-to-san francisco opera production by director lindy hume. The cast included ying fang in her company debut, daniela mack, elza van den heever, matthew polenzani, and alek shrader. On june 27, the company produced its first pride concert as part of the larger, san francisco-wide pride weekend festivities. Sapphira cristal emceed the evening showcasing the san francisco opera orchestra onstage under the batons of eun sun kim and robert mollicone with soloists jamie barton, brian mulligan, and nikola printz. As a special feature of the concert, video projection designer tal rosner projected designs, animations, and historic images around the auditorium.in october, a new documentary film, eun sun kim: a journey into lohengrin co-produced by san francisco opera and lumahai productions, was released online for free streaming. The behind-the-scenes film about kim and the preparations for the 2023 performances of wagner's lohengrin was also telecast on kqed.along with its mainstage operas, the company presented several concerts during its 102nd season, beginning with the 50th free opera in the park concert as part of opening weekend with artists from the fall season including eun sun kim conducting the san francisco opera orchestra. In celebration of the 200th anniversary of beethoven's ninth symphony, kim conducted a one-night-only performance of the work on october 26 leading the orchestra and chorus onstage with soloists jennifer holloway, annika schlicht, russell thomas, and kwangchul youn. In december, the company's resident artists, the adler fellows, were featured in the future is now concert at herbst theatre under the baton of benjamin manis. Chorus director john kee

Financial Efficiency

• Mission deployment rate: 91.7%; rating input score 92
• Program expense ratio: 74.8%; rating input score 75
• Fundraising efficiency: $9.08 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 39; 39th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

• Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings
• Pay-setting controls: 5 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 83
  • Compensation committee: Pass
  • Independent consultant: Missing
  • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
  • Written employment contract: Pass
  • Compensation survey or study: Pass
  • Board or committee approval: Pass
• Foreign activity oversight: Scored; rating input score 0
• Grant itemization coverage: Scored; rating input score 0
• Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
• Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

• Independent voting board: 98.6%; rating input score 99; 54th percentile among comparable filings
• Governance controls: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
  • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
  • Whistleblower policy: Pass
  • Document-retention policy: Pass
  • CEO compensation review process: Pass
  • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
  • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
  • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
  • Audit committee oversight: Pass
  • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

• Operating margin: -7.6%; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings
• Total-asset coverage ratio: 4.11; rating input score 82; 82nd percentile among comparable filings
• Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.1; rating input score 83; 83rd percentile among comparable filings
• Officer compensation ratio: 5.8%; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

• Program expense growth: 1.1% per year; rating input score 100; 11th percentile among comparable filings
• Revenue growth: 1.8% per year; rating input score 100; 13th percentile among comparable filings
• Asset growth: 4.6% per year; rating input score 100; 33rd percentile among comparable filings