San Francisco Ballet continued to serve as the school's director until his retirement in 1975. In 1938, the company's first major production was "Coppélia", choreographed by Willam Christensen. In 1940, it staged "Swan Lake", the first time that the ballet was produced in its entirety by an American company. On Christmas Eve 1944, the company staged "Nutcracker"—the first complete production of Tchaikovsky's most popular piece ever danced in the United States. In 1942, San Francisco Opera Ballet split into two independent companies, ballet and opera. The ballet half was sold to Willam and Harold Christensen. Willam became artistic director, while Harold took on
Quartet San Francisco with the Santa Fe Opera. She is co-concertmaster of the Oakland East Bay Symphony and concertmaster with the Santa Fe Pro Musica Chamber Orchestra. She is on the faculty of the Music Department at Stanford University. James "Jim" Shallenberger, a founding member of the Kronos Quartet, played violin on the 2002 recording "Quartet San Francisco". Shallenberger is a member of the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra and the San Francisco Opera and Ballet Orchestras. He is one of the extended faculty of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. "Pacific Premieres", the group's fifth album, was released in 2013. The album consists