Jaap van Zweden is currently music director of the Seoul Philharmonic and music director-designate of the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France. From 2018 to 2024 he served as the 26th music director of the New York Philharmonic, and he was the music director of the Hong Kong Philharmonic for 12 seasons running from 2012 to 2024. He made his San Francisco Symphony debut in October 2012.

Van Zweden’s 2024-25 season included tour performances with the Hong Kong Philharmonic in the Concertgebouw, and a concert performance of Der fliegende Holländer with the Netherlands Radio Orchestra, where he holds the title of honorary chief conductor. He was also part of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra’s celebration of Anton Bruckner’s Bicentenary, conducting the composer’s Fourth Symphony, and he conducted Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France. Guest appearances with American orchestras included Mahler’s Sixth and Seventh symphonies with the Chicago Symphony in Chicago and on a European tour, his first appearance with the Cincinnati Symphony, and a return to the Dallas Symphony, where he served as music director from 2008 to 2018.

Van Zweden’s tenure as Music Director of the New York Philharmonic was distinguished by such highlights as the reopening of the transformed David Geffen Hall, as well as premieres of 31 new works. Recordings with the New York Philharmonic include the world premiere of David Lang’s prisoner of the state and Julia Wolfe’s Grammy-nominated Fire in my mouth, both released on Decca Gold. He conducted the Hong Kong Philharmonic in Wagner’s Ring Cycle, released on Naxos, and his acclaimed performances of Lohengrin, Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, and Parsifal—the last of which earned him the Edison Award for Best Opera Recording—are available on CD and DVD.

Born in Amsterdam, Mr. van Zweden was appointed the youngest-ever concertmaster of the Concertgebouw Orchestra and began his conducting career in 1996. He remains conductor emeritus of the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra and honorary chief conductor of the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic. He previously served as chief conductor of the Royal Flanders Orchestra and as music director of the Dallas Symphony. Under his leadership, the Hong Kong Philharmonic was named Gramophone’s Orchestra of the Year in 2019. He was named Musical America’s 2012 Conductor of the Year and was the subject of a 60 Minutes profile. In 1997 Mr. Zweden and his wife, Aaltje, established the Papageno Foundation to support families of children with autism.

Yuja Wang is celebrated for her charismatic artistry, emotional honesty, and captivating stage presence. She has performed with the world’s most venerated conductors, musicians, and ensembles, and is renowned not only for her virtuosity, but her spontaneous and lively performances.

Her skill and charisma were recently demonstrated in a marathon Rachmaninoff performance at Carnegie Hall with the Philadelphia Orchestra and Yannick Nézet-Séguin. This historic event celebrating 150 years since the birth of Rachmaninoff included performances of all four of his concertos plus the Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini. The 2022–23 season also saw Wang performing the world premiere of Magnus Lindberg’s Piano Concerto No. 3 with the San Francisco Symphony and Esa-Pekka Salonen.

Wang was born into a musical family in Beijing. After childhood piano studies in China, she received advanced training in Canada and at the Curtis Institute of Music under Gary Graffman. Her international breakthrough came in 2007, when she replaced Martha Argerich as soloist with the Boston Symphony. Two years later, she signed an exclusive contract with Deutsche Grammophon, and has since established her place among the world’s leading artists, with a succession of critically acclaimed performances and recordings. She was named Musical America’s Artist of the Year in 2017, and in 2021 received an Opus Klassik Award for her world-premiere recording of John Adams’s Must the Devil Have All the Good Tunes? with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Gustavo Dudamel.

As a chamber musician, Wang has developed long-lasting partnerships with several leading artists. This season, she embarks on an international duo-recital tour with pianist Víkingur Ólafsson, including a return to the Great Performers Series at Davies Symphony Hall (March 2). Wang made her San Francisco Symphony debut in February 2006 and became a Shenson Young Artist later that year. She can be heard on the Masterpieces in Miniature album on SFS Media.