San Francisco Symphony April 2025 Programming

SAN FRANCISCO, CA—The San Francisco Symphony’s April programming lineup features an Orchestral Series program led by Marin Alsop and featuring pianist and composer Gabriela Montero, Michael Tilson Thomas’s 80th birthday concert, recitals with violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter and pianist Evgeny Kissin, and a Shenson Spotlight Series recital by pianist Martin James Bartlett. The month also includes a concert featuring award-winning artist, actor, author, and activist Common, as well as a live-to-picture film series performance of James Cameron’s Titanic, a SoundBox program curated by composer and percussionist Andy Akiho, and a chamber music concert with Symphony musicians.

Orchestral Series
April 10–12: Alsop Conducts Music of the Americas
Marin Alsop, Chief Conductor of the ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra and Artistic Director and Chief Conductor of the Polish National Radio Symphony, conducts Gabriela Ortiz’s playful Antrópolis, which pays tribute to dance halls in Mexico City. Composer and pianist Gabriela Montero joins Alsop and the Orchestra for the first SF Symphony performances of her Piano Concerto No. 1, Latin. Montero describes the work as a “chiaroscuro reflection on who we are as a continent, dark and light... It’s not a political piece, but it’s a statement: Not everything that glitters is gold.”

The second half of the program opens with Aaron Copland’s patriotic Fanfare for the Common Man, followed by Joan Tower’s Fanfare for the Uncommon Woman No. 1, dedicated to Alsop. Closing out the program is Samuel Barber’s Symphony No. 1, a one-movement work that recalls Sibelius in character.

Special Events
April 26: MTT 80th Birthday Concert
On April 26, the San Francisco Symphony celebrates the 80th birthday of Music Director Laureate Michael Tilson Thomas in a one-night-only celebration featuring MTT alongside the Orchestra, SF Symphony Chorus, and special guests including vocalists Sasha Cooke, Ben Jones, Frederica von Stade, and Jessica Vosk. The program includes Benjamin Britten’s The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra, Ottorino Respighi’s Roman Festivals, the final movement from Leonard Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms featuring the SF Symphony Chorus, and several of MTT’s own songs, sung by Cooke, Jones, von Stade, and Vosk. The event will also feature special birthday surprises for MTT and the audience.

“I am overjoyed to mark my 80th with the wonderful musicians of the San Francisco Symphony and Chorus,” said Tilson Thomas, who turned 80 on December 21, 2024. “I remember the fantastic celebrations for my 60th and 70th, and I am delighted that this milestone concert features extraordinary artists I’ve had the privilege to know and collaborate with over the years.”

This concert is sold out. Limited numbers of returned tickets may become available; check sfsymphony.org for current information.

April 24: Common with the San Francisco Symphony
Grammy, Emmy, and Academy Award-winning artist, actor, author, and activist Common joins conductor Jonathan Taylor Rush and the San Francisco Symphony for a one-night-only performance at Davies Symphony Hall featuring many of his biggest hits. This is Common’s second appearance with the San Francisco Symphony, following a performance at Davies Symphony Hall on August 1, 2018. Common continues to break down barriers with a multitude of critically acclaimed roles and continued success across all aspects of his career, from music (his most recent album, THE AUDITORIUM: VOL 1, received two Grammy nominations this year) to film (Selma), television (Silo), Broadway (Between Riverside and Crazy), social activism, and his most recent book, And Then We Rise.

Great Performers Series
April 6: Anne-Sophie Mutter Violin Recital
Violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter, accompanied by her longtime collaborator, pianist Lambert Orkis, plays Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Violin Sonata No. 18 in G major, K.301; Franz Schubert’s Fantasy in C major for Violin and Piano; Aftab Darvishi’s Likoo; Clara Schumann’s Three Romances for Violin and Piano; and Ottorino Respighi’s Violin Sonata in B minor.

April 20: Evgeny Kissin Piano Recital
Pianist Evgeny Kissin plays a solo recital featuring Johann Sebastian Bach’s Partita No. 2 in C minor; Frédéric Chopin’s Nocturnes in C-sharp minor and A-flat major, along with Scherzo No. 4 in E major; Dmitri Shostakovich’s Piano Sonata No. 2; and selections from Shostakovich’s 24 Preludes and Fugues. 

Shenson Spotlight Series
April 9: Martin James Bartlett
Pianist Martin James Bartlett performs a solo recital including François Couperin’s Les Baricades mystérieuses; selections from Jean-Philippe Rameau’s Suite in A minor, RCT 5; Robert Schumann’s Kinderszenen and "Widmung" (in a transcription by Liszt); Maurice Ravel’s Pavane pour une infante défunte and La Valse; and Richard Wagner's Liebestod from Tristan und Isolde, in a transcription by Liszt. Bartlett was the inaugural recipient of the Prix Serdang in 2022, a Swiss prize curated by Rudolf Buchbinder in recognition of the achievements of a promising young pianist while forging an international solo career. Highlights of Bartlett’s 2024–25 season include debuts at the Lucerne and Moritzburg summer festivals, a return to the Concertgebouw, and two chamber music recitals at the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg.

Film Series
April 4–5: Titanic—Film with Live Orchestra
Sarah Hicks conducts James Cameron’s Titanic live-to-picture, featuring a score composed by James Horner. The 1997 romantic drama stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet as a poor artist and a socialite who fall in love on the Titanic’s ill-fated maiden voyage.

SoundBox
April 11–12: Andy Akiho
Composer and percussionist Andy Akiho presents Sculptures, a SoundBox program that features works born from Akiho’s collaborations with ceramic artist Jun Kaneko—where art itself becomes an instrument—along with unexpected instrumental pairings that bring Akiho’s percussion into dynamic interplay with SF Symphony musicians. Taking place in a backstage rehearsal space at Davies Symphony Hall, each SoundBox performance is unique—encompassing shifting stage settings, art installations, projection screens, and unexpected elements, featuring original lighting design by Luke Kritzeck and video design by Adam Larsen. Since its debut in 2014, SoundBox has been widely recognized for its creative approach to the orchestral medium and its ability to galvanize a diverse demographic.

Chamber Series
April 27: Chamber Music at Davies Symphony Hall
In this chamber music concert, San Francisco Symphony musicians perform Giovanni Bottesini’s Passione amorosa for Four Double Basses, Paul Schoenfield’s Café Music, Bohuslav Martinů’s Nonet, and Sergei Prokofiev’s String Quartet No. 1. 

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