San Francisco Opera is the second largest opera company in North America. Originally presented over two weeks, the Company’s season now contains approximately seventy-five performances of ten operas between September and July. San Francisco Opera celebrated the 75th anniversary of its performing home, the War Memorial Opera House, in 2007. The venerable beaux arts building was inaugurated on October 15, 1932 and holds the distinction of being the first American opera house that was not built by and for a small group of wealthy patrons; the funding came thanks to a group of private citizens who encouraged thousands of San Franciscans to subscribe.