Stern Grove Festival: Celebrating 75 Years in Concert with Nature

San Francisco Opera founder and director Gaetano Merola and singer Brunetta Mazzolini, shortly before Merola died conducting Madama Butterfly on stage at Stern Grove Festival, August 30, 1953.

In 1931, Rosalie Meyer Stern deeded Sigmund Stern Grove to the City of San Francisco with the vision of creating a space for the public to enjoy the performing arts. This year as Stern Grove Festival celebrates 75 years of world class, admission-free performances in Sigmund Stern Grove, the Library takes a look back at how her vision became a treasured San Francisco institution.

Stern Grove Festival: Celebrating 75 Years in Concert with Nature is a display tracing the history of Stern Grove Festival through a series of photographs that capture defining moments both intimate and historic.  The exhibit provides an inside look at Stern and her family and captures the spirit of the audience and the artists who make each concert at Stern Grove Festival a rich community and cultural event.

This display can viewed from July 14 to September 27, 2012,  in the Steve Silver Music Center on the 4th floor of the Main Library.