A passionate communicator, Daniel Bartholomew-Poyser brings clarity and meaning to the concert hall, fostering deep connections between audiences and performers. He is concurrently the Resident Conductor of Engagement and Education of the San Francisco Symphony, Barrett Principal Education Conductor and Community Ambassador of the Toronto Symphony, Artist in Residence and Community Ambassador of Symphony Nova Scotia, and Principal Youth Conductor and Artistic Partner of Canada’s National Arts Centre Orchestra. He previously served as assistant conductor of the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony and associate conductor of the Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra. Host of Canadian Broadcasting Company’s (CBC) nationally broadcast weekly radio show Centre Stage, he is also the subject of a multi award-winning CBC documentary Disruptor Conductor, focusing on his efforts to extend the boundaries of the orchestral music world through concerts for neurodiverse, incarcerated, African diaspora, and LGBTQ2S+ populations.

From an early age, percussionist Magatte Sow was surrounded by West African music and dance and innumerable artists from around the world. Mr. Sow studied djembe with his father Malik Sow and Kissima Diabate; sabar with Omar Mboup, Chiekh Tirou Mbaye; and tama with Ndongo Mbaye. This performance marks his San Francisco Symphony debut.

Mr. Sow appeared in the movie Amistad; has been featured on albums of Ashley Maher, Angélique Kidjo, and Rob Thomas; and has performed at the Nobel Peace Prize Awards. He has collaborated with artists including Stevie Wonder, Earth Wind and Fire, The Very Best, Andre Manga, Munyungo Jackson, Leon Mobley, Youssou N’Dour, Baaba Maal, Salif Keita, John Legend, Jill Scott, Janelle Monáe, Dianne Reeves, Kara Mack, Raja Kassis, Paulo Stagnaro, and Pedrito Martinez. Mr. Sow has toured with Debbie Allen as percussionist and cast member of her musical Oman Oman, and, for the past nine years, has been the percussionist for Angélique Kidjo, winning his first Grammy for his work on her album Eve.  Along with tama player Massamba Diop and singer Baaba Maal, Mr. Sow performed as soloist on Ludwig Göransson’s film score for Black Panther.

In Los Angeles, Mr. Sow is a member of his father’s group Fara Toro, and in Senegal, a member of Generation Percu and Kondiof. He continues to return to Senegal to further his connection to the country through music.  

In the 2018-19 season, soprano Ann Moss gives world premieres by Ursula Kwong-Brown, Feona Lee Jones, and Allen Shearer with Composers, Inc., and makes appearances with Solo Opera, Cleveland Opera Theater, and guitarist David Tanenbaum. She performs the US premiere of Jake Heggie’s orchestrated song cycle Newer Every Day: Songs for Kiri with the Baldwin-Wallace University Orchestra, and gives the Bay Area premiere of Ingrid Stölzel's The Gorgeous Nothings, composed on fragments of Emily Dickinson. As co-founder and Artistic Director of new music repertory group CMASH, Ms. Moss has created and premiered more than 100 new vocal works. She has been a featured soloist with Left Coast Chamber Ensemble, San Francisco Contemporary Music Players, Earplay, Eco Ensemble, and West Edge Opera; the Alexander, Lydian, Ives, and Hausmann string quartets; and she performed at the FENAM, Other Minds, Fresno New Music, PARMA, and Switchboard Music festivals. She has released two solo albums, Currents and Love Life, and she can also be heard on releases for the Arsis, Naxos, Albany, PARMA, Angels Share Records, and Navona Records labels. A native of Boston and a graduate of Hampshire College, the Longy School of Music of Bard College, and San Francisco Conservatory, Ms. Moss resides and teaches in Richmond, CA with her husband, violist Justin Ouellet. She made her San Francisco Symphony debut in 2017.