[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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