San Francisco Opera held a Ring (Act I of Götterdämmerung pictured left, photo by Cory Weaver) symposium for Cycle 2 on June 21, 2011. The event began with Jonathan Khuner giving us an overview of the plot and music of Der Ring des Nibelungen. He played musical examples on the piano and also had more than 70 snippets played from the Solti recording. This talk was a combination of Khuner's pre-opera lectures, but more fun given the piano. After lunch we heard what was presented as panel discussion moderated by Kip Cranna. For the most part, there was not a lot of discussion, the five panelists each gave a talk and questions were taken at the end. Jonathan Khuner and Sara Jobin, both members of the San Francisco Opera Music Staff, spoke about the music. Jobin's breakdown of how the Rheinmaidens music changes from their first appearance in Rheingold, and their final appearance in Götterdämmerung was insightful. Projection Designer Jan Hartley showed us how she put together the projections. Elise Sandell, Assistant Director went through all of the scenes but the final one in Götterdämmerung. Christopher Verdosci, Assistant Costume Director, went into the details of how the costumes elucidate the character development. He had someone from the costume shop model an extra giant outfit sans gloves.