International stars like Placido Domingo performed here regularly. Constructed by architect Arthur Brown Jr., who also designed San Francisco's palatial City Hall just across the street, the 3,146-seat venue has been the home of the San Francisco Opera ever since Opening Night 1932, when the company performed Puccini's 'Tosca.'īy the 1970s, the San Francisco Opera was already considered one of the top companies in the world. Tapping into the large Italian-American community and other local patrons of the arts, Merola and the San Francisco Opera got the War Memorial Opera House built entirely on contributions from the public, making it the first project of its kind in the country. After visiting for years, in 1923 he decided to stay in the city and found the San Francisco Opera Company.

Touring San Francisco in 1906, the young Italian conductor Gaetano Merola saw the need for a permanent company here. San Francisco has been in love with opera since the Gold Rush days, when more than two dozen different theaters across the city hosted visiting opera companies. From classic productions like Puccini's 'La Bohème' to operatic renderings of modern literary sensations like Margaret Atwood's 'The Handmaids Tale,' the performances here represent a full spectrum of opera at it's finest. With a nine month regular season spanning September to May plus a special summer series, it's always a good time to catch a performance.

Housed in the magnificent War Memorial Opera Building, the world renowned San Francisco Opera is both a cultural and architectural jewel of the city's Civic Center. Anyone who loves big voices, beautiful music, and breathtaking costumes is in for a treat at the San Francisco Opera, the longest continuously running opera company on the West Coast.

San francisco opera house seating chart