San Francisco Symphony Announces Three Summer with the Symphony Programs: The Movie Music of Hans Zimmer, Time for Three & West Side Story, and Morgan Freeman’s Symphonic Blues Experience

SAN FRANCISCO, CA—The San Francisco Symphony announces three upcoming performances as part of the 2025 Summer with the Symphony season.

On July 16 & 18, Sarah Hicks leads the San Francisco Symphony in The Movie Music of Hans Zimmer, featuring celebrated music from the scores of The Dark Knight, Dune, Gladiator, Inception, Interstellar, The Lion King, The Pirates of the Caribbean, Sherlock Holmes, and more. Over the course of his career, Zimmer has composed music for more than 150 films, winning two Academy Awards, a BAFTA Award, and a Tony Award. The Symphony will bring this program to Stanford Live’s Frost Amphitheater on July 17. This concert will not feature film clips.

On July 23, Grammy and Emmy Award-winning ensemble Time for Three joins conductor Robert Moody and the Orchestra to perform Mason Bates’ Silicon Hymnal, an SF Symphony co-commission written for the trio. Prominently featuring electronic elements, this new work will receive its world premiere with the Brevard Music Center Orchestra a month prior to its performance with the SF Symphony. Moody also conducts the first San Francisco Symphony performance of Christopher Theofanidis’ Rainbow Body, inspired by the eponymous Tibetan Buddhist concept of one’s body being absorbed by the universe as light after their death. The concert closes with Leonard Bernstein’s Symphonic Dances from West Side Story.

Comprised of Ranaan Meyer (double bass, vocals), Nicolas Kendall (violin, vocals), and Charles Yang (violin, vocals), the uniqueness of Time for Three’s instrumentation matches their sound, which blends eras, styles, and traditions from classical to Americana to singer-songwriter. Their charismatic performances on major stages, frequent collaborations with acclaimed artists like Ben Folds and Arlo Guthrie, and commitment both on and offstage to encouraging the next generation of musicians, all showcase Time for Three’s unwavering dedication to pushing creative boundaries and captivating audiences worldwide. Time for Three previously performed with the San Francisco Symphony in 2006 and 2022.

On July 25, Anthony Parnther conducts Morgan Freeman’s Symphonic Blues Experience, a soul-stirring odyssey through the heart of the Mississippi Delta, birthplace of the Blues. With live commentary and narration by Academy Award winner Morgan Freeman, this captivating multi-media performance fuses the raw, aching power of authentic Delta Blues with the grandeur of a symphony orchestra, creating a breathtakingly expansive soundscape. Through cinematic storytelling, masterful performances by Blues artists Anthony “Big A” Sherrod and Jacqueline “Jaxx” Nassar from Ground Zero Blues Club, and sweeping orchestral arrangements, Symphonic Blues unveils the Delta’s profound cultural legacy and its indelible influence on music across the world. This performance also shines a light on the region’s enduring spirit and the pivotal role of Ground Zero Blues Club in Clarksdale, Mississippi—a sacred ground for Blues preservation and a living testament to its power. More than just a concert, Symphonic Blues is a transformative celebration of history, resilience, and the music that gave voice to generations.

Tickets for The Movie Music of Hans Zimmer, Time for Three, and Morgan Freeman’s Symphonic Blues Experience start at $30 and go on sale to the public today at 10:00am PT on sfsymphony.org.