American conductor James Gaffigan is general music director of Komische Oper Berlin and music director of the Queen Sofía Palace of the Arts in Valencia, Spain. As an orchestral conductor, he regularly works with the New York Philharmonic, Cleveland Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, National Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Detroit Symphony, and Metropolitan Opera. In Europe, he has appeared with the London Symphony, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Vienna Symphony, Munich Philharmonic, Berlin Staatskapelle, Czech Philharmonic, Bavarian State Opera, and Vienna State Opera.

Gaffigan’s previous titles include principal guest conductor of both the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra and the Trondheim Symphony Orchestra and Opera, chief conductor of the Lucerne Symphony, and assistant conductor of the Cleveland Orchestra. He made his San Francisco Symphony debut in December 2006, served as Associate Conductor from 2006–09, and returns for three programs next season. He was first prize winner of the 2004 Sir Georg Solti International Conducting Competition.

Ray Chen first came to attention with first prizes at the 2008 Yehudi Menuhin Competition and 2009 Queen Elisabeth Competition, and since then has built a profile in North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. Signed in 2017 to Decca Classics, his forthcoming recording with the London Philharmonic follows three critically acclaimed albums on Sony, the first of which, Virtuoso, received an Echo Klassik Award.

Mr. Chen’s profile continues to grow: he was featured on Forbes’s list of 30 most influential Asians under 30, made a guest appearance on Amazon’s Mozart in the Jungle, and performed for live television audiences on France’s Bastille Day and at the Nobel Prize Concert in Stockholm.

Mr. Chen made his San Francisco Symphony debut in January 2011, became a Shenson Young Artist in 2018, and has performed with the London Philharmonic, National Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, and Pittsburgh Symphony, among others, and will make upcoming debuts with the Berlin Radio Symphony and Bavarian Radio Chamber Orchestra. His commitment to music education is paramount, inspiring the younger generation of music students with his series of self-produced videos combining comedy and music, and drawing new audiences to the concert hall.

Born in Taiwan and raised in Australia, Mr. Chen was accepted to the Curtis Institute of Music at age 15, where he studied with Aaron Rosand and was supported by Young Concert Artists.

He plays the 1715 “Joachim” Stradivarius violin on loan from the Nippon Music Foundation, an instrument once owned by the famed Hungarian violinist Joseph Joachim.