02-07-2025
- Entertainment
- San Francisco Chronicle
San Francisco Opera reaches new contract agreement with its orchestra
The San Francisco Opera and its orchestra reached a new agreement just before the close of its 2024-25 season, securing wage increases, enhanced retirement packages and updated healthcare benefits for the company's musicians.
The two-year contract with the American Federation of Musicians, the union that represents more than 70,000 professional musicians in North America, was ratified by the orchestra on Thursday, June 26, the day before its first-ever Pride concert.
The collective bargaining agreement spans Aug. 1, 2024 through July 31, 2026.
'We're happy to have reached this Agreement and are especially proud that our musicians, along with our healthcare consultant, identified and delivered major cost savings that will benefit the entire Company,' Gabe Young, chair of the orchestra's negotiating committee, said in a statement. 'We look forward to negotiating a longer-term contract in the coming years in collaboration with Opera leadership.'
The Opera and its orchestra expect to begin negotiations on a multi-year contract during the next round of talks.
The Opera's 2024-25 season opening gala last September was nearly disrupted by unresolved contract negotiations, but the orchestra musician and the company's management were able to reach a short-term agreement just before its performance of Verdi's 'Un Ballo in Maschera (A Masked Ball).'
Prior to that, orchestra musicians had been without a contract since July 2024 and were ' deeply concerned ' about stalled discussions with Opera leadership.
'I am very grateful to both the musicians and the staff who worked with great commitment, care, and thoughtfulness to reach this new agreement,' Matthew Shilvock, the Opera's general director, said in a statement. 'We deeply value the extraordinary talents of the San Francisco Opera Orchestra and the transcendent music making they realize in both our theater and in the community.'
With the new deal in place, the Opera is set to return to the War Memorial Opera House for its 2025-26 season with Verdi's 'Rigoletto' on Sept. 5.
Across the street at Davies Symphony Hall, San Francisco Symphony labor negotiations have remained tense, with musicians and choristers staging multiple protests over artistic direction, compensation, and financial transparency.
Frustrations escalated ahead of the departure of Music Director Esa-Pekka Salonen, who cited disagreements with the board as his reason for stepping down. The Finnish conductor gave his final performance with the orchestra on June 14.
Meanwhile, the San Francisco Ballet, who also performs at the War Memorial, reached a new three-year contract agreement with its orchestra at the start of June, seven months before its previous one was set to expire.
