SAN FRANCISCO, CA—Guest conductors Karina Canellakis, Ton Koopman, Ruth Reinhardt, Nathalie Stutzmann, and Xian Zhang lead the San Francisco Symphony in five weeks of concerts at Davies Symphony Hall, May 6–June 5, 2022. Featured soloists include pianists Aaron Diehl and Daniil Trifonov, and cellist Alisa Weilerstein. Tickets can be purchased online at sfsymphony.org and by phone at (415) 864-6000.

On May 6, 7 & 8, Music Director of the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra Xian Zhang makes her San Francisco Symphony Orchestral Series debut conducting two SF Symphony premieres of works by Nokuthula Ngwenyama and Florence Price, and culminating with Antonín Dvořák’s Symphony No. 9, From the New World—written during his sojourn in the United States. The program opens with Nokuthula Ngwenyama’s Primal Message, originally written for viola quintet in 2018 and which received its full orchestra premiere under the direction of Xian Zhang in 2021. Ngwenyama comments, “Primal Message is a fantasia that relies upon primal relationship . . . It invites examination of our collective evolution through a drive to express, tying us in concert with universal celebration.” Also new to the San Francisco Symphony is Florence Price’s Piano Concerto in One Movement, composed in 1933 and premiered with the composer at the piano, featuring jazz and classical pianist Aaron Diehl making his Orchestral Series debut.

May 13–15 concerts are conducted by Chief Conductor of the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra Karina Canellakis and include works by Richard Strauss, Lili Boulanger, and Witold Lutosławski. Richard Strauss’ Don Quixote, a tone poem based on Miguel de Cervantes’s early seventeenth-century novel Don Quixote de la Mancha depicting the ill-fated adventures of Don Quixote and Sancho Panza, features cellist Alisa Weilerstein as soloist. The program continues with the SF Symphony premiere of Lili Boulanger’s D’un soir triste (Of a Sad Evening), composed in 1918 as the twenty-four-year-old composer was nearing the end of her life. Concluding the program is Witold Lutosławski’s virtuosic Concerto for Orchestra, composed in 1950 at the request of conductor Witold Rowicki and based on Polish folk material.

On May 20–22, founder of the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir Ton Koopman leads the San Francisco Symphony in works by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Franz Joseph Haydn, creative contemporaries who often crossed paths during their careers as composers and performers. The program features two of their late symphonies—Mozart’s Symphony No. 36, Linz and Haydn’s Symphony No. 80, in its SF Symphony premiere. Also on the program is Mozart’s Serenade No. 6, Serenata notturna.

May 26–28 concerts are conducted by Nathalie Stutzmann in her San Francisco Symphony Orchestral Series debut. Stutzmann was recently announced as Music Director of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra beginning in the 2022–23 season, making her the second woman in history to lead a major American orchestra after Marin Alsop. The program opens with Johannes Brahms’ Nänie, Gesang der Parzen, and Schicksalslied—three choral works inspired by Classical mythology and featuring the San Francisco Symphony Chorus. Anchoring the program is Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 6, Pathétique.  

On June 2–5, conductor Ruth Reinhardt makes her SF Symphony Orchestral Series debut with a program featuring music by Lotta Wennäkoski, Mason Bates, and Antonín Dvořák. The program opens with the SF Symphony premiere of Lotta Wennäkoski’s Helsinki Variations and continues with the West Coast premiere of Mason Bates’ Piano Concerto, featuring pianist Daniil Trifonov. Co-commissioned by the San Francisco Symphony and Philadelphia Orchestra, Bates’ Piano Concerto was composed during the pandemic, with Daniil Trifonov in mind. Completing the program is Antonín Dvořák’s Symphony No. 5.

CALENDAR EDITORS, PLEASE NOTE: 

Tickets 
Tickets for concerts at Davies Symphony can be purchased via sfsymphony.org or by calling the San Francisco Symphony Box Office at 415-864-6000.

Location 
Davies Symphony Hall is located at 201 Van Ness Avenue in San Francisco.

Health & Safety Information 
Davies Symphony Hall is currently operating at full audience capacity. A face covering is required for entry into Davies Symphony Hall and must be worn at all times. Due to the transmissibility of the Omicron variant, the SF Symphony strongly recommends that patrons wear a non-vented respirator, such as an N95, KN95, or KF94 face mask. The San Francisco Symphony requires proof of up-to-date vaccination against COVID-19 for everyone entering Davies Symphony Hall ages 12 and up who’s eligible—including patrons, performers, volunteers, and staff. “Up-to-date vaccination” is defined as two weeks after completion of the two-dose regimen of Pfizer or Moderna vaccines, one dose of Johnson & Johnson vaccine, or other WHO authorized COVID-19 vaccine, and one week after receiving a booster shot, for those eligible. Patrons under age 12 must show proof of up-to-date vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test (PCR test taken within 2 days of event entry or antigen [rapid] test taken within 1 day of event entry.   

For those patrons under age 12 who wish to show verification of a negative COVID-19 test result, the following are acceptable as proof: a printed document (from the test provider or laboratory); or an email, text message, web page, or application (app) screen displayed on a phone or mobile device from the test provider or laboratory. The information should include person’s name, type of test performed, negative test result, and date the test was administered. Self-administered antigen testing is not acceptable at this time, but patrons may bring an unopened at-home rapid test with them to Davies Symphony Hall to take with a verified EMT present. Details about health and safety protocols at Davies Symphony Hall can be found here.   

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