Support for the San Francisco Symphony Chorus is provided through the San Francisco Symphony Chorus Endowment Fund, generously established by Peter G. Neumann.
Open rehearsals are endowed by a bequest from The Estate of Katharine Hanrahan.
Inside Music talks are supported in memory of Horacio Rodriguez.
Open Rehearsal
Elim Chan Conducts Adams and Mendelssohn
October 29, 2026
Overview
Elim Chan conducts the Symphony in a stunning quartet of works that delve into the great unknown. In Nänie, Brahms memorializes a beloved friend with a poignant choral funeral song, transforming sorrowful resignation into humble gratitude. Renaud Capuçon regales us with the lustrous melodies, vibrant textures, and glittering pyrotechnics of Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto. Arvo Pärt’s shimmering a cappella Magnificat exemplifies the tintinnabuli style, which the composer invented and named after the bell-like resonance produced by a triad. John Adams’s Doctor Atomic Symphony, a condensed instrumental version of his 2005 opera, cloaks Nuclear Age anxiety in dark orchestral splendor.Concert Extras
An Inside Music Talk with Sidney Chen will be presented on stage at 9:00am before the Open Rehearsal. Free to all ticketholders.
Art Installation: Día de los Muertos
Peruse dedicated altars and festive art installations created by local artists for the San Francisco Symphony’s annual Día de los Muertos concert on Saturday, November 7. On display until November 11.
Art Installation: Día de los Muertos
Peruse dedicated altars and festive art installations created by local artists for the San Francisco Symphony’s annual Día de los Muertos concert on Saturday, November 7. On display until November 11.
Artists
Conductor
Violin
Jenny Wong, Chorus Director
San Francisco Symphony
Program
Johannes
Brahms
Nänie
Felix
Mendelssohn
Violin Concerto
Arvo
Pärt
Magnificat
First San Francisco Symphony Performances
John
Adams
Doctor Atomic Symphony
First San Francisco Symphony Performances
Sponsors
From Music Director Designate Elim Chan
The standout element of this program is the San Francisco Symphony Chorus, which I’m really looking forward to working with. The voice has always been central to my musical life, going back to my earliest experiences growing up, and it’s a medium I’m eager to explore further in my upcoming projects here. A piece like Pärt’s Magnificat is perfect in that sense because it’s completely a cappella, which is challenging, but also allows the chorus to truly showcase what it can do. Brahms’s Nänie is a beautiful funeral song that echoes many of the sentiments found in the Doctor Atomic Symphony. While Adams’s work reflects on Oppenheimer and humanity’s capacity to destroy the world, Brahms grapples with questions of mortality and grief. The famous line, “Auch das Schöne muss sterben!” speaks to an idea that resonates deeply across both works. Nothing can escape death, and that theme runs through the outer pieces on this program. They are profound meditations on mortality. The subject matter itself and the way John addresses these moral questions are incredibly powerful. The topic remains very relevant today. You see the human struggle behind the development of something that could ultimately kill thousands of people. What I find so powerful is that when you take away the words and hear Doctor Atomic Symphony, he translates the opera into purely symphonic terms, but you still feel so much of the psychology of what he was trying to describe and underline in the original work.
“
The standout element of this program is the San Francisco Symphony Chorus. The voice has always been central to my musical life and it’s a medium I’m eager to explore further in my upcoming projects here. ” Elim Chan, Music Director Designate
Renaud Capuçon
San Francisco Symphony
Elim Chan
Conductor
Conductor Elim Chan embodies the spirit of contemporary orchestral leadership with her crystalline precision and expressive zeal. In May 2026 she assumed the role of Music Director Designate of the San Francisco Symphony, a position she will begin in September 2027. She was recently appointed Artistic Partner with the Vienna Symphony for the 2026–27 and 2027–28 seasons, following her designation as Portrait Artist at the Musikverein in the 2022–23 season. Chan served as Principal Conductor of the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra from 2019–2024 and Principal Guest Conductor of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra between 2018–2023.
Chan made her San Francisco Symphony debut during the 2022–23 season in a program that included the world premiere of Elizabeth Ogonek’s Moondog, a Symphony commission. Subsequent appearances here have included Britten’s Les Illuminations and Holst’s The Planets and an all-Tchaikovsky program. Upcoming concerts with the San Francisco Symphony will feature Debussy’s La Mer and Berlioz’s Les Nuits d’été with mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke in June 2026, and a program pairing choral works of Brahms and Arvo Pärt with the San Francisco Symphony Chorus, Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto alongside Renaud Capuçon, and the first SF Symphony performances of John Adams’s Doctor Atomic Symphony, in October 2026.
A sought-after guest conductor, Chan will make her Berlin Philharmonic debut in the 2026–27 season, alongside first appearances with the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, NHK Symphony Orchestra, and Dallas Symphony Orchestra. She conducts her first staged opera with John Adams’s Doctor Atomic at Zurich Opera House in a new production. In 2028, she will make her Vienna Philharmonic debut.
Recent debuts and upcoming re-invitations include leading orchestras such as the Boston Symphony, New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Cleveland Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, and Pittsburgh Symphony in the United States, and the Toronto Symphony, London Symphony Orchestra, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Staatskapelle Berlin, Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden, Munich Philharmonic, Bamberg Symphony, Orchestre de Paris, and Hong Kong Philharmonic internationally.
Chan appeared at both the Lucerne and Salzburg festivals and conducted the First Night of the Proms with the BBC Symphony Orchestra in 2024 and returned in 2025 to conduct the Last Night of the Proms. With the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra, she recorded All These Lighted Things for Alpha Classics, pairing the titular Elizabeth Ogonek work with works by Prokofiev and Ravel.
Born in Hong Kong, Elim Chan studied at Smith College in Massachusetts and at the University of Michigan. In 2014, she became the first female winner of the Donatella Flick Conducting Competition and went on to spend her 2015–16 season as Assistant Conductor at the London Symphony Orchestra, where she worked closely with Valery Gergiev. In the following season, Chan joined the Dudamel Fellowship program of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. She also owes much to the support and encouragement of Bernard Haitink, whose masterclasses she attended in Lucerne in 2015.
Chan made her San Francisco Symphony debut during the 2022–23 season in a program that included the world premiere of Elizabeth Ogonek’s Moondog, a Symphony commission. Subsequent appearances here have included Britten’s Les Illuminations and Holst’s The Planets and an all-Tchaikovsky program. Upcoming concerts with the San Francisco Symphony will feature Debussy’s La Mer and Berlioz’s Les Nuits d’été with mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke in June 2026, and a program pairing choral works of Brahms and Arvo Pärt with the San Francisco Symphony Chorus, Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto alongside Renaud Capuçon, and the first SF Symphony performances of John Adams’s Doctor Atomic Symphony, in October 2026.
A sought-after guest conductor, Chan will make her Berlin Philharmonic debut in the 2026–27 season, alongside first appearances with the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, NHK Symphony Orchestra, and Dallas Symphony Orchestra. She conducts her first staged opera with John Adams’s Doctor Atomic at Zurich Opera House in a new production. In 2028, she will make her Vienna Philharmonic debut.
Recent debuts and upcoming re-invitations include leading orchestras such as the Boston Symphony, New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Cleveland Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, and Pittsburgh Symphony in the United States, and the Toronto Symphony, London Symphony Orchestra, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Staatskapelle Berlin, Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden, Munich Philharmonic, Bamberg Symphony, Orchestre de Paris, and Hong Kong Philharmonic internationally.
Chan appeared at both the Lucerne and Salzburg festivals and conducted the First Night of the Proms with the BBC Symphony Orchestra in 2024 and returned in 2025 to conduct the Last Night of the Proms. With the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra, she recorded All These Lighted Things for Alpha Classics, pairing the titular Elizabeth Ogonek work with works by Prokofiev and Ravel.
Born in Hong Kong, Elim Chan studied at Smith College in Massachusetts and at the University of Michigan. In 2014, she became the first female winner of the Donatella Flick Conducting Competition and went on to spend her 2015–16 season as Assistant Conductor at the London Symphony Orchestra, where she worked closely with Valery Gergiev. In the following season, Chan joined the Dudamel Fellowship program of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. She also owes much to the support and encouragement of Bernard Haitink, whose masterclasses she attended in Lucerne in 2015.
Renaud Capuçon
Violin
Renaud Capuçon solos this season with Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Boston Symphony, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, and Munich Philharmonic. As a conductor, Capuçon appears this season with the Toronto Symphony, where he is a spotlight artist, as well as with the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin and Hungarian Radio Symphony.
Since 2021, Capuçon has been artistic director of the Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne, where he both plays and conducts. This season, he leads the orchestra on a European tour with Martha Argerich and directs a Beethoven cycle marking the bicentenary of the composer’s death. He is also artistic director of Sommets Musicaux de Gstaad, the Easter Festival in Aix-en-Provence, and the Rencontres Musicales Festival in Evian. Since 2022, he has had a creative partnership recording for Deutsche Grammophon.
Capuçon regularly performs with the Berlin Philharmonic, Vienna Philharmonic, New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Filarmonica della Scala, London Symphony, Orchestre de Paris, Orchestre National de France, Budapest Festival Orchestra, and Yomiuri Nippon Symphony. He made his San Francisco Symphony debut in October 2011.
Born in Chambéry in 1976, Capuçon was appointed Chevalier de l’Ordre National du Mérite by the French government in 2011, and in 2016 was appointed Chevalier de la Légion d’honneur. He plays the Guarneri del Gesù “Panette” of 1737, which belonged to Isaac Stern.
Since 2021, Capuçon has been artistic director of the Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne, where he both plays and conducts. This season, he leads the orchestra on a European tour with Martha Argerich and directs a Beethoven cycle marking the bicentenary of the composer’s death. He is also artistic director of Sommets Musicaux de Gstaad, the Easter Festival in Aix-en-Provence, and the Rencontres Musicales Festival in Evian. Since 2022, he has had a creative partnership recording for Deutsche Grammophon.
Capuçon regularly performs with the Berlin Philharmonic, Vienna Philharmonic, New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Filarmonica della Scala, London Symphony, Orchestre de Paris, Orchestre National de France, Budapest Festival Orchestra, and Yomiuri Nippon Symphony. He made his San Francisco Symphony debut in October 2011.
Born in Chambéry in 1976, Capuçon was appointed Chevalier de l’Ordre National du Mérite by the French government in 2011, and in 2016 was appointed Chevalier de la Légion d’honneur. He plays the Guarneri del Gesù “Panette” of 1737, which belonged to Isaac Stern.
San Francisco Symphony Chorus
Jenny Wong, Chorus Director
JENNY WONG
A native of Hong Kong, Jenny Wong is Chorus Director of the San Francisco Symphony and associate artistic director of the Los Angeles Master Chorale. Her conducting engagements have included the Los Angeles Philharmonic Green Umbrella Series, Los Angeles Opera Orchestra, Pasadena Symphony and Pops, the Industry, Long Beach Opera, Phoenix Chorale, and Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles. In 2021, Wong was one of nine national recipients of Opera America’s inaugural Opera Grants for Women Stage Directors and Conductors.
As Chorus Director, Wong has worked with SF Symphony Music Director Esa-Pekka Salonen and Music Director Laureate Michael Tilson Thomas, as well as numerous guest conductors. She has also prepared choruses for the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Chicago Symphony, working with conductors Gustavo Dudamel, Susanna Mälkki, Jonathan Cohen, and Osmo Vänskä, among many others. Wong led the SF Symphony Chorus for the Deutsche Grammophon recording of Kaija Sariaaho’s Adriana Mater, which won the 2025 Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording, and helped prepare the Los Angeles Master Chorale for the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s recording of Mahler’s Symphony No. 8, which won the 2022 Grammy Award for Best Choral Performance. Together with Grant Gershon and the Los Angeles Master Chorale, Wong was also awarded the 2022 American Prize in Choral Performance in the Professional Division.
SAN FRANCISCO SYMPHONY CHORUS
The San Francisco Symphony Chorus was established in 1973 at the request of Seiji Ozawa, then the Symphony’s Music Director. The Chorus, numbering 32 professionals and more than 120 volunteer members, now performs more than 26 concerts each season. Louis Magor served as the Chorus’s director during its first decade. In 1982 Margaret Hillis assumed the ensemble’s leadership, and the following year Vance George was named Chorus Director, serving through 2005–06. Ragnar Bohlin concluded his tenure as Chorus Director in 2021, a post he had held since 2007. Jenny Wong was named Chorus Director in September 2023.
The Chorus can be heard on many acclaimed San Francisco Symphony recordings and has received Grammy Awards for Best Performance of a Choral Work (for Orff’ s Carmina burana, Brahms’s German Requiem, and Mahler’s Symphony No. 8) and Best Classical Album (for a Stravinsky collection and for Mahler’s Symphony No. 3 and Symphony No. 8).
A native of Hong Kong, Jenny Wong is Chorus Director of the San Francisco Symphony and associate artistic director of the Los Angeles Master Chorale. Her conducting engagements have included the Los Angeles Philharmonic Green Umbrella Series, Los Angeles Opera Orchestra, Pasadena Symphony and Pops, the Industry, Long Beach Opera, Phoenix Chorale, and Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles. In 2021, Wong was one of nine national recipients of Opera America’s inaugural Opera Grants for Women Stage Directors and Conductors.
As Chorus Director, Wong has worked with SF Symphony Music Director Esa-Pekka Salonen and Music Director Laureate Michael Tilson Thomas, as well as numerous guest conductors. She has also prepared choruses for the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Chicago Symphony, working with conductors Gustavo Dudamel, Susanna Mälkki, Jonathan Cohen, and Osmo Vänskä, among many others. Wong led the SF Symphony Chorus for the Deutsche Grammophon recording of Kaija Sariaaho’s Adriana Mater, which won the 2025 Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording, and helped prepare the Los Angeles Master Chorale for the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s recording of Mahler’s Symphony No. 8, which won the 2022 Grammy Award for Best Choral Performance. Together with Grant Gershon and the Los Angeles Master Chorale, Wong was also awarded the 2022 American Prize in Choral Performance in the Professional Division.
SAN FRANCISCO SYMPHONY CHORUS
The San Francisco Symphony Chorus was established in 1973 at the request of Seiji Ozawa, then the Symphony’s Music Director. The Chorus, numbering 32 professionals and more than 120 volunteer members, now performs more than 26 concerts each season. Louis Magor served as the Chorus’s director during its first decade. In 1982 Margaret Hillis assumed the ensemble’s leadership, and the following year Vance George was named Chorus Director, serving through 2005–06. Ragnar Bohlin concluded his tenure as Chorus Director in 2021, a post he had held since 2007. Jenny Wong was named Chorus Director in September 2023.
The Chorus can be heard on many acclaimed San Francisco Symphony recordings and has received Grammy Awards for Best Performance of a Choral Work (for Orff’ s Carmina burana, Brahms’s German Requiem, and Mahler’s Symphony No. 8) and Best Classical Album (for a Stravinsky collection and for Mahler’s Symphony No. 3 and Symphony No. 8).
Sidney Chen
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Sidney Chen is a multi-faceted artist, producer, and arts leader whose work spans performance and curation in contemporary music and interdisciplinary projects. His performance career includes projects with Meredith Monk & Vocal Ensemble, ODC/Dance, and the San Francisco Symphony, with appearances at the Edinburgh International Festival, BAM Next Wave Festival, and Carnegie Hall. A longtime member and Artistic Advisor of the chamber choir Volti, he is a leading voice in contemporary and experimental choral music. His creative work often merges sound and ritual, and his professional journey includes two decades with the Kronos Quartet, editorial direction for Nonesuch Records, and curatorial leadership for SF Music Day. He is a graduate of Harvard University.
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