Press Room

Matthew Spivey joined the San Francisco Symphony in 2015 and was appointed Chief Executive Officer in September 2022, following a year as Interim CEO. 

That season featured the release of two signature digital projects led by Music Director Esa-Pekka Salonen—Igor Stravinsky’s The Soldier’s Tale, created in collaboration with acclaimed British director, designer, and video artist Netia Jones; and LIGETI: PARADIGMS, a performance merging avant-garde classical music and Artificial Intelligence, developed with media artist Refik Anadol, Dolby Laboratories, and SF Symphony Collaborative Partner Carol Reiley.

In March 2022, the San Francisco Symphony embarked on an international tour with Salonen, performing at the Philharmonie in Paris, Philharmonie Luxembourg, and the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg. The international performances explored a creative touring model, bringing the full breadth of the San Francisco Symphony’s innovative programming and educational initiatives to immersive four-day residencies in Paris and Hamburg. With Salonen, the Orchestra also collaborated with director Peter Sellars on three acclaimed staged productions—Stravinsky’s Oedipus rex and Symphony of Psalms, Kaija Saariaho’s Adriana Mater, and Schoenberg’s Erwartung. In 2025, the Symphony’s live concert recording of Adriana Mater, released on Deutsche Grammophon, won the Grammy® Award for Best Opera Recording. 

In March 2023, the San Francisco Symphony began a partnership partnered with Apple for the launch of a new classical music streaming app, Apple Music Classical, and has since released 15 spatial audio recordings of live concert performances on the platform. In March 2024, Salonen and the San Francisco Symphony collaborated with pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet and Cartier to present a multisensory performance of Alexander Scriabin’s Prometheus, The Poem of Fire, combining a dynamic musical and light performance with olfactory curation designed by Cartier chief perfumer Mathilde Laurent. 

Spivey worked closely with the Orchestra’s eight Collaborative Partners throughout their four-year tenure developing projects that drew on the Partners’ diverse expertise. These included innovative digital initiatives, imaginative performance formats, commissions of new music, and cross-disciplinary collaborations. During his time with the Symphony, Spivey has partnered with music directors Salonen and Michael Tilson Thomas on numerous commissions, including 11 world premieres conducted by Salonen.

From 2015 to 2019, Spivey served as the Symphony’s Director of Artistic Planning, working with  Tilson Thomas to shape the Orchestra’s artistic direction and overseeing programming for the Orchestra’s subscription season, recording projects, commissioning programs, tours, festivals, and SF Symphony Chorus operations, while providing artistic direction for the SF Symphony’s 200+ concerts and presentations each season. As Chief Programming Officer from 2019 to 2021, Spivey was instrumental in the appointment and launch of Esa-Pekka Salonen as the Orchestra’s twelfth Music Director.

Before joining the San Francisco Symphony in 2015, Spivey served as the vice president and general manager of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. In that role, he managed all aspects of artistic planning and concert production with oversight of education and public relations activity. Prior to that, he served as that organization’s vice president of artistic operations. Spivey previously held positions with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, and the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra. He studied clarinet at the New England Conservatory and received an Executive MBA from the University of Texas at Arlington.