These concerts are generously sponsored by the Ralph I. Dorfman Commissioning Fund.
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
Sibelius 2 and Gabriella Smith
March 18, 2027
Overview
“Listen to the birds!” urged the composer Paul Dukas. “They are great teachers.” Einojuhani Rautavaara’s Cantus Arcticus, from 1972, is a concerto for birdsong and orchestra; like several of his other compositions, it incorporates field recordings of natural sounds. More recently, the native Californian and dedicated environmentalist Gabriella Smith cuts right to the chase with an SF Symphony-commissioned violin concerto, How to Be a Bird. In her youth the composer volunteered on a songbird research project and dreamed of a career in ornithology; as an adult, she advocates for them through music. Rautavaara’s mentor Sibelius didn’t include any explicit birdsong in his Symphony No. 2, but you’d never know it from the way the woodwinds chatter, warble, and keen.Concert Extras
An Inside Music Talk will be presented on stage at 9:00am before the Open Rehearsal. Free to all ticketholders.
Program
Einojuhani
Rautavaara
Cantus Arcticus
First San Francisco Symphony Performances
Gabriella
Smith
How to Be a Bird
San Francisco Symphony Commission and First San Francisco Symphony Performances
Jean
Sibelius
Symphony No. 2
Sponsors
These concerts are generously sponsored by The Paul L. & Phyllis Wattis Endowment for New Music.
These concerts are generously sponsored by the Ralph I. Dorfman Commissioning Fund.
Open rehearsals are endowed by a bequest from The Estate of Katharine Hanrahan.
Inside Music Talks are supported in memory of Horacio Rodriguez.
These concerts are generously sponsored by the Ralph I. Dorfman Commissioning Fund.
Open rehearsals are endowed by a bequest from The Estate of Katharine Hanrahan.
Inside Music Talks are supported in memory of Horacio Rodriguez.
Alexi Kenney
Gabriella Smith
Dima Slobodeniouk
Conductor
Dima Slobodeniouk served as music director of Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia from 2013–22 and as principal conductor of the Lahti Symphony and artistic director of the Sibelius Festival from 2016–21. Together with Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia, he built an extensive and highly acclaimed media library of live concert recordings.
This season, Dima Slobodeniouk appears with the New York Philharmonic, Pittsburgh Symphony, Houston Symphony, Boston Symphony at Tanglewood and Symphony Hall, Cleveland Orchestra at Blossom Music Festival, and he debuts with the St. Louis Symphony. In Europe, he leads the WDR Symphony, Dresden Philharmonic, Finnish Radio Symphony, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic, Bergen Philharmonic, Antwerp Symphony, and Vienna Symphony. In recent seasons, he has also collaborated with the Berlin Philharmonic, London Symphony, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Munich Philharmonic, Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich, and NHK Symphony. He made his San Francisco Symphony debut in January 2020 and will return in March 2027 for a program of works by Jean Sibelius, Einojuhani Rautavaara, and Gabriella Smith.
Slobodeniouk’s recordings include Esa-Pekka Salonen’s Cello Concerto with the Rotterdam Philharmonic and soloist Nicolas Altsaedt and works by Stravinsky with the Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia for BIS. Other recordings include works by Kalevi Aho with the Lahti Symphony, which won a 2018 BBC Music Magazine Award.
A passionate believer in widening opportunity, Slobodeniouk launched a conducting initiative during his tenure at Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia, giving aspiring conductors podium time with a professional orchestra and the opportunity to work with him on selected repertoire. Slobodeniouk studied violin at Helsinki’s Sibelius Academy, where he also took up conducting studies with Leif Segerstam, Jorma Panula, and Atso Almila.
This season, Dima Slobodeniouk appears with the New York Philharmonic, Pittsburgh Symphony, Houston Symphony, Boston Symphony at Tanglewood and Symphony Hall, Cleveland Orchestra at Blossom Music Festival, and he debuts with the St. Louis Symphony. In Europe, he leads the WDR Symphony, Dresden Philharmonic, Finnish Radio Symphony, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic, Bergen Philharmonic, Antwerp Symphony, and Vienna Symphony. In recent seasons, he has also collaborated with the Berlin Philharmonic, London Symphony, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Munich Philharmonic, Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich, and NHK Symphony. He made his San Francisco Symphony debut in January 2020 and will return in March 2027 for a program of works by Jean Sibelius, Einojuhani Rautavaara, and Gabriella Smith.
Slobodeniouk’s recordings include Esa-Pekka Salonen’s Cello Concerto with the Rotterdam Philharmonic and soloist Nicolas Altsaedt and works by Stravinsky with the Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia for BIS. Other recordings include works by Kalevi Aho with the Lahti Symphony, which won a 2018 BBC Music Magazine Award.
A passionate believer in widening opportunity, Slobodeniouk launched a conducting initiative during his tenure at Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia, giving aspiring conductors podium time with a professional orchestra and the opportunity to work with him on selected repertoire. Slobodeniouk studied violin at Helsinki’s Sibelius Academy, where he also took up conducting studies with Leif Segerstam, Jorma Panula, and Atso Almila.
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