Chamber Music at Davies Symphony Hall

June 28, 2026

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Overview

Experience intimate chamber music programs curated and performed by small ensembles of SF Symphony musicians.

Concert Extras

Lobby Exhibit: Michael Tilson Thomas—A Maestro for San Francisco. Head to Davies Symphony Hall’s First Tier lobby for a photo exhibit exploring Michael Tilson Thomas’s transformative tenure with the San Francisco Symphony. On display through August 1.

Artists

Violin

Violin

Violin

Violin

Leonid Plashinov-Johnson

Viola

Amos Yang

Cello

Davis You

Cello

Blair Francis Paponiu

Flute

Clarinet

Harp

Piano

Piano

Soprano

Program

Gareth Farr

Taheke

Sarn Oliver

CAT (Contemporary Artful Tonalities) String Quartet

Joan Tower

Petroushskates

Gabriel Fauré

Piano Trio in D minor, Opus 12

Program Book

Chamber Music at Davies Symphony Hall

June 28, 2026

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Sunday

June 28, 2026

2:00PM

Davies Symphony Hall

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Melissa Kleinbart

Violin

Melissa Kleinbart, occupant of the Katharine Hanrahan Chair, joined the SFS in 1998 after serving as associate concertmaster with the San Francisco Opera orchestra and assistant concertmaster with the Vancouver Symphony. In addition to solo appearances with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Vancouver Symphony, and New York Symphonic Ensemble, Ms. Kleinbart has been a participant at the Marlboro and Tanglewood music festivals and has performed with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. A graduate of the Juilliard School, she performs and teaches with the San Francisco Academy Orchestra.

(September 2018)

Florin Parvulescu

Violin

Florin Parvulescu joined the San Francisco Symphony first violins in 1998. A native of Romania, he was previously a member of the St. Louis Symphony and Baltimore Symphony, won the 1993 Marbury Competition at the Peabody Conservatory, and was a prizewinner in the 1994 Yale Gordon Concerto Competition. He also attended the American Academy of Conducting at the Aspen Music Festival.

SFS 10/2022

Mariko Smiley

Violin

Mariko Smiley began violin studies at age six with her father, David Smiley, who was a violist with the SF Symphony. She joined the San Francisco Symphony in 1982 and was for many years a member of the Aurora String Quartet.

Sarn Oliver

Violin

Violinist and composer Sarn Oliver has performed as soloist, chamber musician, and recitalist throughout the US, Russia, Europe, and Japan. He has recorded violin concertos with Montpellier Chamber Orchestra in France as well as numerous CDs in the US. His performances have been broadcast in New York, Sacramento, Hawaii, and Japan. Before joining the SFS in 1995, he was concertmaster of the Santa Cruz Symphony and principal second violin of the Sacramento Symphony. An avid chamber musician, Mr. Oliver founded the Tilden Trio with cellist Peter Wyrick and pianist June Oh and created Tangled Duo with San Francisco Symphony violinist Mariko Smiley. He has performed with the Craftsbury Chamber Players, Elko Chamber players, Ebb and Flow Arts in Maui, and has been active in supporting arts organizations by donating performances to such organizations as the Open String and Música Marin. Mr. Oliver created the record label SarnWorks to promote contemporary classical music as well as chamber music and has produced, engineered, and performed on numerous CDs produced by SarnWorks. In the Bay Area, he often performs with his symphony colleagues on the SFS chamber music series, Chamber Music Sundaes, and at UCSF’s Cole Hall. An active composer, Mr. Oliver’s works have been performed in the United States, Japan, and Russia; a new commission for a solo piano work will be performed in Seoul, Korea. Mr. Oliver began his violin studies with Elmar Olivera and Ron Neal. He went on to receive his Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from the Juilliard School where his teachers included Sally Thomas, Ivan Galamian, Felix Galimir, and others. He taught at the Juilliard Pre-College and at Meadowmount as an assistant to Sally Thomas as well as instructing violin at UC Berkeley, UC Davis, UOP Stockton, and privately. Mr. Oliver is also an active painter as well as a violin and bow maker.

(September 2018)

Leonid Plashinov-Johnson

Viola

Leonid Plashinov-Johnson joined the San Francisco Symphony viola section at the beginning of the 2022-23 season. Previously a member of the St. Louis Symphony, he is a laureate of multiple competitions, most recently the Primrose International Viola Competition, and has participated in the Yellow Barn, Ravinia, and AIMS festivals. Born in Russia, he graduated from New England Conservatory, where he won the concerto competition.

Amos Yang

Cello

Amos Yang joined the San Francisco Symphony in 2007 as Assistant Principal Cello and holds the Karel & Lida Urbanek chair. He was previously a member of the Seattle Symphony and a member of the Maia String Quartet.

Born and raised in San Francisco, he was a member of the SF Symphony Youth Orchestra and San Francisco Boys Choir. He earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the Juilliard School and now serves on the faculty of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and the San Francisco Academy Orchestra.

Davis You

Cello

Davis You joined the San Francisco Symphony cello section at the beginning of the 2024–25 season and holds the Lyman & Carol Casey Second Century Chair. He earned his bachelor of music from New England Conservatory, where he studied with Laurence Lesser and Paul Katz, and regularly appeared as principal cello of the NEC Philharmonia. He was a member of Quartet Luminera, which won the silver medal at the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition. A Bay Area native, You began his cello studies with Irene Sharp and Jonathan Koh. He has appeared on NPR’s From the Top, San Francisco International Piano Festival, Wellesley Chamber Players Series, Taos Chamber Music Festival, and Norfolk Chamber Music Festival.

Blair Francis Paponiu

Flute

Blair Francis Paponiu joined the San Francisco Symphony as Associate Principal Flute, holding the Catherine & Russell Clark Chair, at the beginning of the 2023–24 season. She previously held the Susan and Tom Brown Chair as assistant principal and second flute with the Naples Philharmonic in Florida, and performed with the New York Philharmonic as acting section flute for two seasons. She has also been a member of the Austin Symphony and has performed with the Chicago Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, and Oregon Symphony.

The recipient of numerous awards, Mrs. Francis Paponiu won second prize in the 2020 National Flute Association’s Young Artist Competition. She has been an instrumental fellow at the Tanglewood Music Center, Music Academy of the West, Sarasota Music Festival, and Brevard Music Center.

She received a professional studies certificate in orchestral performance from the Manhattan School of Music, a master of music from the University of Texas at Austin, and a bachelor of music from the University of South Carolina, where she graduated summa cum laude and received the Presser Scholar Award. Her teachers include Robert Langevin, Marianne Gedigian, Jennifer Parker-Harley, and Cynthia Hopkins.

Yuhsin Galaxy Su

Clarinet

Yuhsin Galaxy Su joined the San Francisco Symphony as Second Clarinet at the beginning of the 2024–25 season. Prior to joining the Symphony, she completed a master’s degree at the Colburn School, where she studied with Yehuda Gilad, and before that studied at the Curtis Institute of Music with Anthony McGill. She has also performed as a pianist on the SF Symphony’s Chamber Music Series, and makes her solo clarinet debut with the Symphony at this year’s Lunar New Year concert.

During her time at Curtis, Su was selected for the Curtis 20/21 Ensemble and performed Arnold Schoenberg’s Pierrot Lunaire in fully choreographed productions at the Kimmel Center, Columbia University, Kennedy Center, and Curtis Field Recital Hall. She has also been a soloist at the Musique et Vin Music Festival and Marlboro Music Festival. She won top prizes in the 2013 and ‘14 HSNU Concerto Competition, third prize and audience prize at the International Morningside Music Bridge in Canada, first prize at the Young Classical Virtuoso of Tomorrow Music Competition, and two Chimei Arts Awards.

Katherine Siochi

Harp

Katherine Siochi joined the San Francisco Symphony as Principal Harp beginning in the 2023–24 season and made her solo debut in September 2024. She was previously principal harp of the Minnesota Orchestra, Kansas City Symphony, and Sarasota Orchestra, and has appeared as a guest with the Chicago Symphony and New York Philharmonic. She was the gold medalist of the 2016 USA International Harp Competition.

As a soloist, Ms. Siochi has performed in China, Hong Kong, Israel, and at Lyon & Healy Hall in Chicago. She has served as a concert artist for the American Harp Society, presenting solo concerts and masterclasses across the United States. Recently she also served as artist-faculty at Aspen Music Festival and School, teaching and performing with the Aspen Festival Orchestra.

Ms. Siochi earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the Juilliard School as a student of Nancy Allen, and also studied piano as a secondary instrument. In 2021 she released her debut album, Nocturne, on Lyon & Healy Records.

In 2021 Siochi released her debut album, Nocturne, on Lyon & Healy Records. She serves on the faculty of San Francisco Conservatory of Music and the Aspen Music Festival and School.

Samantha Cho

Piano

Samantha Cho is a professor of piano pedagogy at San Francisco Conservatory of Music and previously served as an associate professor of music at Cabrillo College. She has performed on the San Francisco Symphony’s Lunar New Year Concert as well as on Live from WFMT and the Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert in Chicago.

John Wilson

Piano

John Wilson performs as a pianist with the San Francisco Symphony and San Diego Symphony, and serves as principal keyboard for the Marin Symphony. In 2026–27 he gives the Bay Area premiere of Caroline Shaw’s piano concerto Watermark and appears as soloist in Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2 with the San Francisco Philharmonic. He has performed Philip Glass’s Piano Concerto No. 1 with the Chamber Orchestra of New York at Carnegie Hall and Beethoven’s Triple Concerto at the Sun Valley Music Festival, and has toured with the San Francisco Symphony under Michael Tilson Thomas and Esa-Pekka Salonen.

Wilson performed on the Grammy-winning San Francisco Symphony recordings of Meditations on Rilke and Adriana Mater. His Avie Records debut featured the world premiere of MTT’s Upon Further Reflection; he also appears on Pentatone’s Grace: The Music of Michael Tilson Thomas. He has premiered works by John Adams, Steve Reich, Timo Andres, and Gabriela Lena Frank. Wilson is a Steinway Artist.

Jesslyn Thomas

Soprano

Jesslyn Thomas is a member of the San Francisco Opera Chorus and has been a featured soloist in Le nozze di Figaro, Manon Lescaut, and It’s a Wonderful Life. She studied at the University of Southern Maine and the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. She makes her solo debut at the San Francisco Symphony with this performance.