Nicola Benedetti appears this season with the Cincinnati Symphony, Philharmonia Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, and Scottish Chamber Orchestra. She made her San Francisco Symphony debut at the 2012 New Year’s Eve concert, and made her subscription debut in March 2017, an became a Shenson Young Artist in 2020.

Winner of the 2020 Grammy Award for Best Classical Instrumental Solo in Wynton Marsalis’s Violin Concerto, as well as Best Female Artist at both 2012 and 2013 Classical BRIT Awards, Benedetti records exclusively for Decca. In 2021, BBC Music Magazine named her “Personality of the Year” for her online support of many young musicians during the pandemic.

In 2019, she established the Benedetti Foundation, which delivers transformative experiences through mass music events and unites those who believe music is integral to life’s education. In its first four years, the foundation has worked with close to 70,000 participants of all ages and levels, instrumentalists and non-instrumentalists alike, across 105 countries. Its free online educational video resources have had more than six million views.

Benedetti was appointed a CBE in 2019, awarded the Queen’s Medal for Music in 2017, and an MBE in 2013. In addition, she holds the positions of vice president of the National Children’s Orchestras; “big sister” for Sistema Scotland; and patron of the National Youth Orchestras of Scotland’s Junior Orchestra, Music in Secondary Schools Trust, and Junior Conservatoire at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. In 2022, Benedetti became the festival director of the Edinburgh International Festival, becoming both the first Scottish and first female director since its beginning in 1947.

Born and raised in São Paulo, Brazil, Plínio Fernandes fuses classical guitar with Brazilian folk music. An exclusive Decca Gold recording artist, he released his debut album, Saudade, in 2022, which reached No. 1 on the Billboard Traditional Classical Albums Chart. His second album, Bacheando, released in September 2023, explores Bach’s influence on Brazilian music and contrasts with his recently released EP, Cinema.

Highlights of Fernandes’s 2025–26 season include this tour with Nicola Benedetti, debuts at National Sawdust, Smith Square London, Eindhoven Muziekgebouw, stART Festival, Kissinger Sommer Festival, as well as with the Bournemouth Symphony and Oxford Philharmonic. Other recent highlights include debuts at the BBC Proms, Lucerne Festival, Ravinia Festival, and Amsterdam Concertgebouw, as well as with the BBC Concert Orchestra, and a recital tour of the United Kingdom with Sheku Kanneh-Mason.

Fernandes appeared on Forbes’s “Brazil’s Under 30” list, was named a “rising star” by Classic FM, and recently received the Revelação Award at the 30th Annual Prêmio da Música Brasileira. A passionate advocate for music education, he was invited to join London Music Masters as an ambassador, and is involved with performing, teaching, and guiding young musicians in schools. He makes his debut at the San Francisco Symphony with this performance.

Hanzhi Wang was the first accordionist to win a place on the roster of Young Concert Artists, first to be named Musical America’s “New Artist of the Month,” and first to release a solo CD on Naxos. She holds the Ruth Laredo Prize and Mortimer Levitt Career Development Award for Women Artists of YCA.

Wang has given recitals at UC Santa Barbara’s Lively Arts, Stanford Live, Bravo! Vail, Krannert Center, and Candlelight Concert Society. She has also appeared as soloist with the Oregon Music Festival, Victoria Symphony, Sinfonia Gulf Coast, Iris Orchestra, Hawaii Symphony, Erie Philharmonic, and Reno Chamber Orchestra.

Wang earned her bachelor’s degree at the Beijing Central Conservatory of Music. She completed her master’s degree and soloist diploma at the Royal Danish Academy of Music with the renowned accordion professor Geir Draugsvoll. She makes her debut at the San Francisco Symphony with this performance.

Adrian Daurov solos this season with the Chamber Orchestra of New York at Carnegie Hall’s Zankel Hall, tours with Nicola Benedetti, and appears at the Chicago Chamber Music Society alongside the Euclid Quartet.

A native of Saint Petersburg, Russia, he made his debut at 15 with the Saint Petersburg State Symphony, and subsequently earned top prizes at Bulgaria’s First International Music Competition, the Netherlands’ Peter De Grote International Music Competition, and New York’s LISMA International Music Competition. He went on to study at the Juilliard School, and was appointed principal cello of the Chamber Orchestra of New York, a position he still holds.

Recent seasons have included performances with the Dayton Philharmonic, Berkshire Symphony, Altoona Symphony, Bozeman Symphony, Kalamazoo Symphony, Longwood Symphony, and Wyoming Symphony, among others. He makes his debut at the San Francisco Symphony with this performance.