San Francisco Opera musicians end strike after tentative contract deal

By CBS Bay Area

The San Francisco Opera’s orchestra musicians are heading back to the stage after reaching a tentative four-year contract agreement with management, ending a nearly weeklong strike that forced the cancellation of the company’s 2026-27 season opener and several other performances.

The agreement, announced Thursday, covers Aug. 1, 2026, through July 31, 2030, and still must be ratified by the orchestra. The San Francisco Opera said the deal addresses “important structural changes” while providing a fair agreement for musicians. The orchestra’s negotiating committee said it provides a fair contract and stability for its members.

For the orchestra’s principal clarinetist José Granero, the agreement means getting back to the place where he has spent 15 years doing something he has devoted nearly his entire life to: playing music.

“I will keep up my best, to keep playing the best for you,” Granero said.

“You need to practice more”

Granero grew up in a small village in southern Spain and said his family were farmers. He began playing music when he was 4 years old.

He remembers people telling him he would “die of hunger” if he pursued music as a career.

“I fought, I fought,” Granero said.

After twenty years of hard work, that determination eventually brought him to San Francisco Opera, where his clarinet became a fixture in the orchestra pit.

But during the strike, even practicing became a challenge.

Granero lives in a small San Francisco apartment where he worries about disturbing his neighbors. He also could not use his usual practice space inside the Opera House while musicians were on strike.

So he improvised.

At times, he brought his clarinets outside the War Memorial Opera House and practiced on the sidewalk.

“It’s a very, very special clarinet,” he said, holding one of his instruments.

The unusual practice routine reflected the larger disruption caused by the labor dispute.

Why San Francisco Opera musicians went on strike

The orchestra’s previous contract expired July 31 after months of negotiations.

At the center of the dispute was a disagreement over how much work the Opera should guarantee its musicians and how they should be compensated for that work.

Under the previous contract, tenured orchestra musicians were guaranteed 24 weeks of work. The Opera argued that the structure no longer reflected how much the orchestra was actually being used, saying it had been unable to use about 25% of the orchestra hours guaranteed under the contract last season and expected that figure to reach roughly 33% this season. The company has also said it faces a structural deficit of about $15 million a year.

Management’s proposal sought to reduce the guaranteed workload while increasing weekly wages, with the goal of keeping musicians’ overall compensation at roughly the same level despite fewer guaranteed weeks.

Musicians saw the proposal differently.

They argued that reducing guaranteed weeks and freezing wages would amount to a significant reduction in real income when adjusted for inflation. Their union, American Federation of Musicians Local 6, said the offer did not amount to a fair contract.

The Opera, meanwhile, said it could no longer sustain a compensation structure that had developed over decades while the company’s season and number of performances had changed.

The musicians argued that the Opera could instead pursue growth by expanding successful productions and finding ways to bring more people into the theater.

Strike canceled opening night

The dispute came to a head Sept. 12, when orchestra musicians went on strike just before the scheduled opening-night performance of Giuseppe Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra.

The performance was canceled, as was the following day’s free Opera in the Park concert in Golden Gate Park.

The Opera subsequently canceled additional performances through Sept. 20, including two more performances of Simon Boccanegra and the planned opening of Thea Musgrave’s Mary, Queen of Scots.

The walkout also brought musicians and supporters to picket lines outside the War Memorial Opera House.

“Union power!” musicians and supporters chanted during one demonstration.

Some Opera patrons even joined them, urging management to reach a deal.

“Listen to musicians. Listen to the community,” one fan of the orchestra said.

The strike was the orchestra’s first since it became an independent ensemble in the early 1980s. The last major labor disruption at the Opera was a management lockout in 1990.

A deal brings musicians back to the pit

After nearly a week of negotiations, the two sides reached the tentative agreement Thursday. The Opera said the new four-year agreement puts the company on a path toward long-term fiscal stability. The musicians said the deal provides stability for orchestra members.

The specific financial terms of the tentative contract have not been publicly released.

For Granero, though, the immediate result is much simpler.

He’ll be able to go back inside to practice his instrument.

“We’re going to be back this weekend for the rest of the season,” he said after the agreement was announced.

The Opera’s 104th season is now scheduled to resume Tuesday, Sept. 22, with Simon Boccanegra at the War Memorial Opera House.

And after spending a week practicing wherever he could, Granero will once again take his clarinet into the place where he has spent 15 years making music.

For someone who was once told a life in music would leave him hungry, it is another hard-fought return to the stage.