San Francisco Ballet Executive Director St.Germain Addresses Stanford Live Season Opening
July 9, 2022—At the opening of the Stanford Live summer performance season last night, Executive Director of San Francisco Ballet Danielle St. Germain outlined key highlights of the Company's upcoming 90th anniversary season and expressed her appreciation for the partnership with Stanford Live.
Stanford Live performances are held outdoors at the remodelled Frost Amphitheater. Last night the season opening featured the San Francisco Symphony, conducted by Erina Yashima, performing works by Dvorak, Kareen Roustom, and Edouard Lalo with cello concerto performed by Johannes Moser.
St.Germain also stressed the Company's gratitude for Stanford Live in co-presenting Complexions Contemporary Ballet's Bay Area appearance with STAR DUST: From Bach to Bowie on August 3rd. She expressed SF Ballet's appreciation for the enthusiastic welcome they received at last summer's Stanford Live, coming out of the pandemic after not having performed for 525 days. "We'd not performed at Stanford in over 50 years", she said, "but you embraced SF Ballet like family!"
St. Germain also thanked the support of donors Sue and John Diekman, Nancy Kukacka, Kate and Bill Duhamel, and Akiko Yamazaki and Jerry Yang for making these performances possible.
SF Ballet's upcoming season is a milestone in more ways than one. In January and February the Company will celebrate their 90th anniversary with the next@90 festival presenting nine world premiere ballets by nine innovative, international choreographers. Also, next week marks the arrival of SF Ballet's new Artistic Director, Tamara Rojo, who takes the helm from retired Helgi Tomasson. Rojo arrives on Tuesday, July 12 to get acquainted with the artistic team and the City of San Francisco. She will assume her position officially on December 12. St. Germain pointed out that Rojo is widely recognized and celebrated for having transformed the English National Ballet.
St.Germain closed her remarks with thanks to the San Francisco Symphony and Stanford Live, with wishes that their partnership with SF Ballet will continue for years to come. "I couldn't be more excited," St.Germain stated, "and hope you will join us again during this banner year."
San Francisco Ballet returns to Stanford Live's Frost Amphitheater on August 5 and 6 for their Starry Nights performance, accompanied by the San Francisco Ballet Symphony Orchestra, "of which we are extremely proud," added St.Germain. The outdoor performance features Helgi Tomasson's 7 for Eight, Jerome Robbins' In the Night, and William Forsythe's Blake Works I, which St.Germain called "effortlessly sexy". For more information, see www.sfballet.org.