Lighting Designer

The Knights of the Holy Grail are in decline. Their ruler, Amfortas, is ailing from an unhealable wound. While the knight Gurnemanz wistfully recalls the prophecy of a guileless youth who will restore the order, he refuses to believe that the naive, young man before him could be that savior. And so the youth, Parsifal, leaves on what will become a journey that will bring him full circle back to the knights.

For the first time in 25 years, Wagner’s final opera returns in a brand-new San Francisco Opera production. Matthew Ozawa— whose work was last seen in the acclaimed Orpheus and Eurydice—directs this meditation on compassion, focusing on the intersection of Eastern and Western spiritual traditions in a mythical world of knights and sorcerers.

Music Director Eun Sun Kim continues her exploration of Wagner’s works through this sublime score, brought to life with a cast of Wagnerian superstars joined by the San Francisco Opera Orchestra, Chorus, and Dancers.

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Parsifal

War Memorial Opera House

Samuel Barber is one of the most celebrated American composers of the twentieth century, and Vanessa was a hit upon arrival at the Metropolitan Opera in 1958 and won the Pulitzer. It could have remained in the canon as one of the great American operas of all time, but its unique brand of gothic creep and fiercely emotional music did not jive with the overly-academic tastes of the time, and over the following decades the piece receded into near-obscurity. Together with director R.B. Schlather, we have planned a reinvention of this classic, stripping away the gewgaws and doilies of its original imaginings, and allowing the riveting extremes of these palpable characters to break through. Heartbeat's version, adapted by Jacob Ashworth, pares the work down to five singers, trapped inside their own circumstances, with a new arrangement by Dan Schlosberg.

Lighting Designer

Yuki Nakase Link

Events

Past events

Oct 25 - Nov 13, 2025

Parsifal · San Francisco Opera

Jul 17 - Aug 3, 2025

Vanessa · Heartbeat Opera

About

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