News

Three years after announcing his initial diagnosis, San Francisco Symphony Music Director Laureate Michael Tilson Thomas’ brain tumor has returned, forcing the longtime conductor to officially step down from performing.

Celebrate the Lunar New Year by attending one of many cultural events in the Bay Area at Koret-supported organizations like museums, educational centers, and other cultural institutions.

Comedian Alex Edelman’s solo show “Just for Us” — about how he, as a Jew, infiltrated a white nationalist meeting — will come back to the stage for a limited-run engagement at Berkeley Rep’s Peet’s Theater.

“Pan American Unity,” Diego Rivera’s largest mural, is monumental both in size and in scope. How the 30-ton mural travelled seven miles from CCSF to SFMOMA is its own great saga. Read more about the universities, interns, docents, and custodio who brought this mural to the public.

Coming to the San Francisco Opera in the fall, Rhiannon Giddens and Michael Abels’ opera Omar has won the 2023 Pulitzer Prize for music. The opera is based on the actual 19th century journal of an Islamic scholar abducted from his home in West Africa and enslaved in South Carolina.

As the SF Opera embarks on its second century, the company has co-commissioned three resonant new works. Read our interview with General Director Matthew Shilvock about the art and soul of engaging audiences.

The Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (IPO) will perform on Nov. 6 at Davies Symphony Hall in San Francisco and again the next evening at Bing Concert Hall on the Stanford University campus, after opening the tour with four performances in Southern California starting Nov. 2.

At San Francisco Opera, rehearsals are now underway for the world premiere of Antony and Cleopatra, the latest drama from preeminent American composer John Adams. Opening September 10, the opera tells the story of a romance that would topple the world order—splintering alliances and sparking war on the Mediterranean.

The 20-year transformation of the Presidio’s waterfront adds 14 acres to the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, building a national park space over concrete tunnels connecting San Francisco to the Golden Gate Bridge. Presidio Tunnel Tops features walking trails, art installations, picnic areas, and the mobile food program Presidio Pop Up.

Jewish Story Partners, a Los Angeles-based non-profit film funding organization, announced its third round of grantees today, with $468,000 in new grants distributed among 16 projects. The films traverse a rich variety of Jewish experiences, among them powerful stories from award-winning filmmakers like Michel Franco, Tia Lessin and Carl Deal, Julia Mintz, Pierre Sauvage, Jason Osder, William Youmans, and Joshua Zeman.

OMCA is one of six organizations to win the 2022 National Medal for Museum and Library Service. It is the nation’s highest honor given to museums and libraries that make significant and exceptional contributions to their communities. The award will be presented at a ceremony in July in Washington, DC.

OMCA is welcoming Spring at its newly-renovated outdoor gardens. Lunchtime Sessions will feature dance, music, and children’s literature events every Saturday in March at noon. Grab a picnic blanket and bring your lunch, or stop by the museum cafe or Off the Grid Food Trucks, and enjoy a live outdoor performance. For more details on upcoming programs, visit museumca.org.