PEACHES CHRIST is a filmmaker and cult leader living in San Francisco. Her infamous movie events are self- produced at the Castro Theatre and regularly draw more than 1,000 attendees to each new production before they tour. Events have featured special guest stars John Waters, Cloris Leachman, and Pam Grier, among others.

Peaches is the alter-ego of Joshua Grannell, the writer and director of the feature film All About Evil. The award-winning dark comedy gore film stars Natasha Lyonne, Thomas Dekker, Cassandra Peterson, Mink Stole, and Peaches Christ herself. Joshua is also co-owner and creator of Into The Dark Productions, which produces immersive theatre events at the Old San Francisco Mint building, including Terror Vault. Peaches Christ has been featured in the films Milk, I am Divine, The Diary of a Teenage Girl, Mansfield 66/67, Tura!, Scream Queen: My Nightmare on Elm Street, You Don’t Nomi, and television shows Behind the Monsters and Queer for Fear.

Caldwell Tidicue, popularly known as Bob the Drag Queen, is the winner of the Emmy award-winning reality show, RuPaul’s Drag Race, Season 8. His standup special, Suspiciously Large Woman, premiered on LOGO TV in summer 2017. Film credits include Rough Night, Cherry Pop, Words—a Documentary, and Straight Outta Oz and his television credits include HBO’s High Maintenance and Playing House. Mr. Tidicue is currently working on a documentary titled A Queen for the People. This performance marks Bob the Drag Queen’s San Francisco Symphony debut.

(November 2017)

The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence® is a leading-edge order of queer nuns. Since their first appearance in San Francisco on Easter Sunday 1979, the Sisters have devoted themselves to civil rights activism, community service, ministry, and outreach to those on the fringes. A registered 501(c)3 corporation, SPI, Inc. raises money for those in need, giving away $15,000-$25,000 dollars in grants each quarter. The Sisters believe all people have the right to express their unique joy and beauty and use humor and irreverent wit to expose the forces that chain the human spirit. Tonight, the Sisters blessing the stage are Sister Roma! (There's No Place Like Rome), Sister Flora Good Thyme, Sister Rosemary Chicken, Sister Maddie bout You, and Sister Angelina Holi. This performance marks the first time the Sisters of Perpetual of Indulgence have appeared with the San Francisco Symphony.

(November 2017)

Armistead Maupin is the author of the iconic Tales of the City series. Launched in 1976 as a groundbreaking serial in the San Francisco Chronicle, Tales of the City has since blazed its own trail through popular culture—from a sequence of globally best-selling novels, to a Peabody award-winning television miniseries starring Olympia Dukakis and Laura Linney, to an ambitious new musical that had its world premiere at San Francisco’s American Conservatory Theater in 2011. The series now encompasses eight hugely popular novels: Tales of the City, More Tales of the City, Further Tales of the City, Babycakes, Significant Others, Sure of You, Michael Tolliver Lives, and Mary Ann in Autumn. The final Tales novel, The Days of Anna Madrigal, was released in January 2014. His latest book is the memoir Logical Family, which grew out of his critically acclaimed one-man show of the same name.

Mr. Maupin’s 1992 novel, Maybe the Moon, which followed the serio-comic adventures of a dwarf actress working in Hollywood, was named one of the ten best books of the year by Entertainment Weekly. The Night Listener (2000), a psychological suspense novel inspired by an episode in the author’s own life, became a 2006 feature film starring Robin Williams and Toni Collette.

In 1997 Mr. Maupin received the Bill Whitehead Award for Lifetime Achievement from the Publishing Triangle of New York. He was honored with the Trevor Project’s Life Award “for his efforts in saving young lives” in 2002 and was the first recipient of Litquake’s Barbary Coast Award for his literary contribution to San Francisco. In 2012 he was awarded Lambda's Pioneer Award which is bestowed on individuals who have broken new ground in the field of LGBT literature and publishing, and he also received the Visionary Award from the 2014 Outfest Legacy Awards for his collected novels. In 2014 he received an honorary doctor of letters from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. He is the subject of a new documentary, Untold Tales of Armistead Maupin. He lives with his husband, Christopher Turner, a photographer. He made his San Francisco Symphony debut in 1999.

(November 2017)

Chef Melissa King is one of the most exciting young talents in America’s culinary scene. After graduating from the Culinary Institute of America, she trained under several notable chefs, including Dominique Crenn, Craig Stoll, and Ron Siegel. She earned national recognition as a finalist on the Bravo TV series Top Chef. Her hyper-local cooking style combines the Bay Area’s best ingredients with modern techniques and Asian flavors. In 2015, Ms. King founded Co+Lab, an experimental pop-up dinner series in which she collaborates with local chefs and food artisans. She is the first chef ambassador for Whole Foods Market and she has created two ice cream flavors with Humphry Slocombe sold exclusively at Whole Foods. She was selected as Celebrity Grand Marshal for San Francisco Pride 2016 advocating for the LGBTQ community. In 2016, she was the opening guest chef of Elle Café Aoyama, a fine dining restaurant in the fashion district of Tokyo, in partnership with Elle magazine. Ms. King is regularly engaged as a speaker supporting women’s empowerment, environmental sustainability, food education for youths, and entrepreneurship. This appearance marks her San Francisco Symphony debut. She also appears at food and music festivals such as Outside Lands, Comedy Central’s Clusterfest, Pebble Beach Food & Wine Festival, and the Napa Valley Film Festival. Thrillist recognized Melissa King as one of the best female chefs in San Francisco. To learn more about Melissa King, visit chefmelissaking.com

(November 2017)

Cheyenne Jackson is a Grammy-nominated actor, singer, and songwriter. Recent and upcoming projects include the FX television show American Horror Story: Apocalypse and the Disney film Descendants 3, coming in 2019. His notable theater appearances include The Most Happy Fella at City Center's Encores! in New York and David West Read’s play The Performers on Broadway. On and off Broadway, Mr. Jackson has starred in 8, Finian’s Rainbow (Drama Desk nomination), Damn Yankees, Xanadu (Drama League and Drama Desk nominations), The Agony & the Agony, All Shook Up (Theater World Award, Drama League, Outer Critics Circle nominations), the premiere cast of Altar Boyz, Aida, Thoroughly Modern Millie, On the 20th Century, and The 24 Hour Plays. His television appearances include recurring roles on 30 Rock, Glee, and American Woman, and appearances on Family Practice, Life on Mars, Ugly Betty, It Takes a Village, Curb Your Enthusiasm, and Local Talent. He was also seen in Steven Soderbergh’s Liberace biopic Behind the Candelabra. He has appeared in films including the 2006 Academy Award-nominated motion picture United 93, The Green, Price Check, and Lola Versus. For his self-penned album, I’m Blue, Skies, Mr. Jackson collaborated with Sia, Stevie Aiello, and Charlotte Sometimes. He made his debut with the San Francisco Symphony in the role of Tony in the 2013 presentation of West Side Story, also recorded for SFS Media.

(December 2018)

Singer, songwriter, guitarist, and teacher Diana Gameros was born into a musical family surrounded by traditional Mexican songs of love and revolution. The first of her family to receive formal music lessons, Ms. Gameros left Mexico as a teenager to study piano and recording technology in Michigan. During those formative years, she soaked up the sounds of classical music, underground rock, the avant-garde, world music, and jazz. Ms Gameros has shared the stage with, Bebel Gilberto, La Santa Cecilia, Natalia Lafourcade, and Taylor Mac, among others. In 2013 she released her first album Eterno Retorno. Last month she released her second album, Arrullo, featuring traditional Mexican songs that she arranged to pay homage to her heritage and homeland. Recorded at Women’s Audio Mission Studio in San Francisco, it features the Magik*Magik string quartet, Patrick Wolff, and Ms. Gameros's mother, Altagracia Estupiñan. Ms. Gameros received the Emerging Leader Award from the Chicana/Latina Foundation in 2014 for her work in music and social justice activism. Her songs have been featured on NPR’s All Songs Considered, Weekend Edition, and the websites of Public Radio International’s The World and PBS’s NewsHour. She made her San Francisco Symphony debut earlier this year.

(November 2017)