Derrick Skye is a Los Angeles-based composer, conductor, and musician known for his transcultural approach to music, integrating diverse musical practices from cultures around the world into his work. An American with Ghanaian, Nigerian, British, and Irish ancestry, Mr. Skye first had aspirations to become an astronaut, but eventually found that his musical practice offered the same sense of awe that he felt looking at the stars. He makes his San Francisco Symphony debut with this performance.

Mr. Skye has had commissions and performances by the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, London Philharmonic, Netherlands Philharmonic, National Arts Centre Orchestra of Canada, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, and Kennedy Center. Highlights of his oeuvre include Prisms, Cycles, Leaps for orchestra, which weaves together Western classical music, music of the Balkans, music of the Volta Region of Ghana, and Hindustani classical music; American Mirror for string quartet, which reflects on the coming together of cultures in American society consisting of generations and descendants of refugees, immigrants, and enslaved people; and god of the gaps, a piece for solo violin, loop pedal, and electronics.

In addition to his work as a composer, Mr. Skye is dedicated to promoting cross-cultural understanding through music. His mission is to create music that transcends cultural boundaries and bridges diverse communities. He is artistic director and conductor of Bridge to Everywhere, board member of American Composers Forum, member of the New Music USA program council, and former artistic advisor for Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra. Through his work, Mr. Skye demonstrates his belief in the power of music to inspire, connect, and foster dialogue across cultures.

Ellie Goulding has a voice that can pierce through bass-heavy club music, dance atop piano ballads, and breezily run up the hill of artsy synth-pop. Forbes wrote, “Goulding has gotten crafting pop songs down to a science,” while Billboard and Rolling Stone included Higher Than Heaven on their “Best Of 2023 So Far” album round-ups. Ms. Goulding recently nabbed a coveted Official Chart Double in the UK, topping both the Official Singles and the Official Albums Chart. Spending eight weeks at No. 1 with her Calvin Harris collaboration “Miracle,” her new album Higher Than Heaven also became her fourth chart-topping LP. She now joins Adele as the British female solo artist with the most No. 1 albums, with four apiece. “Miracle” also topped the US Dance Radio Chart, while the song has over 434 million global streams.
 
To date, Ms. Goulding has earned 10 platinum singles, four No. 1 UK albums, two BRIT Awards, a Grammy Award nomination, and a Golden Globe nomination. She has sold more than 28 million albums and 230 million singles and amassed 50 billion streams worldwide. She is also one of the most streamed female artists on Spotify with over 8 billion streams. With more than 50 million followers combined on her social platforms, she earned YouTube’s Diamond Award with 10 million subscribers on her YouTube channel and over 6.8 billion views globally.
 
A long-standing activist and philanthropist, Ms. Goulding uses her platform to engage young people with global issues. Her environmental work dates to 2017, when she was awarded the UN’s New Voices Award; in recognition of her wider activism, she became a goodwill ambassador for UN Environment. In 2022 she also became a TIME100 Impact Award winner, was named an ambassador for the WWF, and was honored by the UN Association as a humanitarian of the year.