[From www.sfcv.org]
San Francisco Opera, at age 81, is about to have the first
woman conductor in a mainstage subscription performance. Sara
Jobin will make her debut on November 7, conducting "Tosca,"
then "The Flying Dutchman," on Dec. 1. Other performances
of those two operas will be conducted by Jobin's mentor, SFO
music director Donald Runnicles.
Jobin's local history goes back about a decade: she conducted
the Peninsula Symphony in programs where the music ran from
Mancini to Elgar to Stravinsky; she was the accompanist for
a South Valley Opera production of "Don Giovanni" (which
featured such young singers as Cynthia Clayton, Lori Ann
Phillips, Julie Ness, and Mel Ulrich; she's been heading the
Tassajara Symphony, been active in San Ramon Valley educational
programs (Frederica von Stade helped her raise funds); and
worked in a multitude of positions on the SFO musical staff.
Last year, Jobin conducted the SFO Orchestra in a quirky Opera
Center triple bill of Jack Beeson's "Dr. Heidegger's Fountain
of Youth," Ernst Toch's "Edgar & Emily," and William Walton's
"The Bear," receiving excellent reviews for her work. She
was one of the participants on a "Women in Opera" panel, along
with Sandra Bernhard, Carla Lucero, and Pauline Oliveros.
Jobin's female predecessors at SFO included Kathryn Cathcart,
who conducted student and family matinees of "La Traviata in
the Opera House, and others who led Showcase performances,
and four appearing on the podium for Spring Opera: Fiora
Contino, Paulette Houpt-Nolen, Judith Somogi, and Thea Musgrave.
Janos Gereben
www.sfcv.org
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