July 23–24, 2024
JOHN LEGEND: A NIGHT OF SONGS & STORIES WITH THE SF SYMPHONY
Overview
This special performance will feature songs and stories with 12-time Grammy Award-winner John Legend, alongside the San Francisco Symphony. Experience intimate reimaginings of his greatest hits (“All of Me,” “Ordinary People,” “Tonight”), unexpected stories from Legend’s life and career, and selections from his most recent release LEGEND (“Nervous,” “Wonder Woman”).Strict 4 ticket limit. Purchases or accounts over the limit are subject to cancellation. Tickets will be delivered approximately 1 week before the program: e-Tickets will be available in your account 7 days before the concert. Printed tickets will be delivered via mail.
Conductor
Parnther has conducted many of the world’s preeminent artists, from Joshua Bell, Lynn Harrell, Jessye Norman, and Frederica von Stade to Imagine Dragons, John Legend, Avenged Sevenfold, Wu-Tang Clan, Metro Boomin, and Rihanna. Recent highlights include guest appearances with the New York Philharmonic, Seattle Symphony, Cincinnati Symphony, Vancouver Symphony, Indianapolis Symphony, St. Louis Symphony, Nashville Symphony, and Chineke! Orchestra, with whom Parnther made his BBC Proms debut. Recent engagements include collaborations with the Atlanta Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, Buffalo Philharmonic, Detroit Symphony, Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, Los Angeles Opera, Los Angeles Philharmonic, National Symphony, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, and Sydney Symphony. He made his San Francisco Symphony debut in March 2023.
Dedicated to amplifying traditionally underrepresented voices, Parnther has reconstructed and performed orchestral works by Margaret Bonds, Duke Ellington, Zenobia Powell Perry, Florence Price, William Grant Still, and Samuel Coleridge-Taylor. As well as leading LA Opera’s world premiere of Tamar-kali’s oratorio We Hold These Truths and Long Beach Opera’s revival of Anthony Davis’s Pulitzer Prize–winning The Central Park Five, Parnther has premiered and recorded works by Batiste, Kris Bowers, Chanda Dancy, Davis, Adolphus Hailstork, Marian Harrison, Philip Herbert, Daniel Kidane, Gary Powell Nash, James Newton, Perry, Price, Taylor, George Walker, Errollyn Wallen, James Wilson, and John Wineglass.
As one of today’s foremost film conductors, Parnther’s recent projects include Avatar: The Way of Water, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Encanto, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, Nope, Creed III, Ghostbusters: Afterlife, Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules, The Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wild, Tenet, American Dad!, Oppenheimer, Turning Red, Star Wars: The Mandalorian, Star Wars: The Book of Boba Fett, and League of Legends.
Critically acclaimed, multi- platinum singer-songwriter John Legend has garnered 12 Grammy Awards, an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Tony Award, and an Emmy Award, among others. He is the first African American man to earn an EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony) and one of only 17 people in the prestigious club. He has released eight celebrated albums over the course of his career, including Get Lifted (2004), Once Again (2006), Evolver (2008), Love in the Future (2013), Darkness and Light (2016), A Legendary Christmas Deluxe (2019), Bigger Love (2020), and LEGEND (2022). Mr. Legend launched his critically acclaimed Las Vegas residency, Love In Las Vegas, which began in April 2022 at Zappos Theater at Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino. He makes his San Francisco Symphony debut with these performances.
Mr. Legend starred as Jesus in NBC’s Jesus Christ Superstar Live In Concert in April 2018. That year, he was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie and won an Emmy as a producer in the category of Outstanding Variety Special (Live). He joined The Voice for Season 16 and was a coach on Season 22.
Beyond his music career, Mr. Legend, along with partners Mike Jackson and Ty Stiklorius, is a principal of Get Lifted Film Co. Their projects include the film adaptation of S.A. Cosby’s novel Blacktop Wasteland, Al Sharpton’s documentary Loudmouth, and the second season of the IFC/AMC comedy series Sherman’s Showcase. Get Lifted produced the Netflix films Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey and Monster; documentary films Citizen Ashe, The Legend of the Underground, A Crime on the Bayou, 40 Years a Prisoner, and Giving Voice; the HBO docuseries Atlanta’s Missing and Murdered: The Lost Children; and Sherman’s Showcase: Black History Month Spectacular and Rhythm + Flow.
As an activist, Mr. Legend launched HUMANLEVEL in 2021, an initiative to uplift communities disproportionately impacted by institutionalized racism. He also initiated the #FREEAMERICA campaign in 2015 to change the conversation surrounding criminal justice policies and to end mass incarceration. In addition to Mr. Legend’s signature initiatives, he serves on the board of directors of Harlem Village Academies and Management Leadership for Tomorrow, and on the advisory boards for the Quattrone Center for the Fair Administration of Justice at the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School and Teach for All.
Enrich Your Experience
- Wednesday, July 24: Join us in the OVATION LOUNGE in the Wattis Room for an exclusive and intimate experience before the concert and during intermission. Enjoy complimentary sparkling wine, a buffet with unlimited savory bites, a private full bar, luxurious seating, and a private restroom for $90.
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