San Francisco

Performing Arts

San Francisco is known for its rich and varied cultural scene, which embraces both European (Western) and non-Western traditions in the performing arts. Its flagship musical institution is the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, founded in 1911. Appointed in 1995, music director Michael Tilson Thomas has expanded the group's repertoire to include a greater number of twentieth-century works, as well as the standard classical and Romantic offerings. Other well-known musical ensembles founded in San Francisco include the Kronos Quartet and the male choir Chanticleer. The San Francisco Opera, widely considered the leading opera company in the western United States, was founded in 1923, making it one of the nation's oldest opera companies. Jazz has flourished in the Bay Area since

the 1940s and 1950s, the heyday of area native Dave Brubeck (b. 1920). The 1960s made San Francisco one of the nation's rock capitals, birthplace of the "San Francisco Sound," exemplified by the Grateful Dead, the Jefferson Airplane, and Janis Joplin's band, Big Brother and the Holding Company.

The San Francisco Ballet, the country's oldest resident ballet company, has a wide repertoire of works by both classical and twentieth-century choreographers, and the Oakland Ballet has also made a name for itself in the region. San Francisco's modern dance troupes include Contraband.

San Francisco's American Conservatory Theatre is considered one of the country's leading regional theaters and also runs a highly regarded drama school. The San Francisco Mime Troupe, founded 40 years ago, is still popular with local audiences and tours widely.