September 1, 2024
Creative Connection
Priscilla Geeslin and Matthew Spivey on building collaboration
by Steven Ziegler
by Steven Ziegler
When San Francisco Symphony Board Chair Priscilla Geeslin first started attending Symphony concerts in the 1980s, she encountered a Hayes Valley neighborhood very different than the one that greets concertgoers today. “You could park right outside the hall,” Geeslin, known as Prisca, recalls. “There was one restaurant, Hayes Street Grill, and if you were lucky, you could get in.” Geeslin fondly remembers trips up from the Peninsula, where she and her soon-to-be husband, Keith, worked, for regular outings at the Opera and Symphony. Her involvement with the Symphony grew steadily over the years—first as a volunteer, then as the head of the Volunteer Council, joining the Board of Governors in 1998, and finally becoming Chair in 2020. She’s quick to point out that her experience with the Symphony is not out of the ordinary. “I think it says a lot that people stay here because they’re dedicated, they’re passionate, and they really care. And I think you see it in all aspects of this organization.”
Matthew Spivey, the Symphony’s Chief Executive Officer, also sensed that the San Francisco Symphony was a special place when he first joined the administrative staff nearly a decade ago as Director of Artistic Planning. A clarinetist by training, Spivey first became enchanted by the workings of an orchestra through formative experiences behind-the-scenes at Tanglewood and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Positions at the Fort Worth Symphony and Baltimore Symphony followed, and when the opportunity arose to dive back into the West Coast’s thriving musical scene—particularly in San Francisco—he couldn’t say no. Spivey has relished working alongside two visionary San Francisco Symphony music directors—first, Michael Tilson Thomas, and later, Esa-Pekka Salonen—cooking up programs for San Francisco’s adventurous audiences. “There is something in the water in San Francisco. Audiences here are innately curious. And I love being around people like that,” Spivey says. “It’s so much more fun to program when you can explore, and you feel like there’s an audience that wants to go there with you.”
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Matthew Spivey, the Symphony’s Chief Executive Officer, also sensed that the San Francisco Symphony was a special place when he first joined the administrative staff nearly a decade ago as Director of Artistic Planning. A clarinetist by training, Spivey first became enchanted by the workings of an orchestra through formative experiences behind-the-scenes at Tanglewood and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Positions at the Fort Worth Symphony and Baltimore Symphony followed, and when the opportunity arose to dive back into the West Coast’s thriving musical scene—particularly in San Francisco—he couldn’t say no. Spivey has relished working alongside two visionary San Francisco Symphony music directors—first, Michael Tilson Thomas, and later, Esa-Pekka Salonen—cooking up programs for San Francisco’s adventurous audiences. “There is something in the water in San Francisco. Audiences here are innately curious. And I love being around people like that,” Spivey says. “It’s so much more fun to program when you can explore, and you feel like there’s an audience that wants to go there with you.”
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For Geeslin, it was a different type of San Francisco Symphony audience that first made an impression on her. “My daughter went to school in Hayes Valley and one of the things I always loved was walking over to the Adventures in Music concerts. Coming to a concert with younger children, it’s noisy and they’re bouncing up and down in the seats and conducting. It is that moment of pure joy in the hall that you see them engaging. You see that enthusiasm and the brightness it brings to them.” She sees a throughline between Adventures in Music and Music and Mentors—the Symphony’s comprehensive music education programs in partnership with San Francisco Unified School District—Music for Families concerts, and more recent initiatives, like the annual Teen Night concert. “Teen Night took that and expanded it and allowed an older group of students to really be a part and experience the hall in a new way. It’s an exciting way to continue bringing along that next generation of people who want to experience great music and learn about everything that we’re doing here.”
Spivey highlights recent performances of Scriabin’s Prometheus, The Poem of Fire, developed in collaboration with Cartier, as characteristic of the ways the Symphony can continue to grow and engage new audiences. The multisensory concert—developed by Salonen, pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet, and Cartier’s in-house perfumer Mathilde Laurent—brought together scent cues, dramatic lighting, and a performance of Scriabin’s work by the San Francisco Symphony and Chorus. “Many of the people who came to that performance had never been to an orchestral concert before,” Spivey says. “And these were individuals who immediately connected with what was happening on stage. There was no barrier, there was no learning curve. You didn’t have to take a course in music appreciation. This was immediately and viscerally exciting. And that’s a big part of what we should be trying to accomplish.” Although the conclusion of Salonen’s contract as Music Director signals a transition in artistic leadership, both Spivey and Geeslin believe that future projects with Salonen will continue to explore new ways to connect artists and audiences. “Esa-Pekka’s work has significantly shaped our organization, and I am eager to see what our ongoing collaboration will bring next,” Spivey says.
The Prometheus program was especially notable in the way that it brought together a group of artists with different focus areas to create something completely new, something Salonen has prioritized in his time at the Symphony. “I think one of the defining characteristics of orchestral music is its unique ability to be collaborative,” Spivey says. “Orchestras can take many different shapes and forms. They can cross genres. They can work in partnership with almost any instrument or creative discipline: dance, visual art, you name it. And it starts to become especially interesting when you think about how to bring some of those ideas into the concert hall.
Spivey is also eager to explore more partnerships with Bay Area artists, noting “San Francisco is a special place with an extraordinarily eclectic and vibrant arts community. There are so many artists here in our backyard that are doing amazing things. It is both interesting and rewarding to reinforce our artistic identity as emblematic of San Francisco, of the Bay Area, of California, of the West Coast, and of American music.”
Geeslin views the Symphony’s work in this sphere as part of a larger effort to support the revival of San Francisco following the COVID-19 pandemic. “We have such a richness here in the Civic Center and in San Francisco, with SFJAZZ, the Opera, the Ballet, the Symphony, the Conservatory. San Francisco is coming back, and we are already seeing it. It’s going to take more time, but I think this is really an opportunity.”
Geeslin places the Symphony’s challenges, including a current financial landscape that necessitated expense reductions, within the broader context of the organization’s long-term future. “We have to think about what the Symphony looks like going forward. People want to engage, they want to be a part of what is going on. And I think we need to tap into that. We need to consider what the future audience of the Symphony looks like, what they need, and what they want.”
Spivey picks up this thread, noting “the thing that makes me most excited, the thing I see more than anything else now is an unprecedented level of curiosity and interest. Many more people are interested and those who enter the hall are walking away even more excited. I think this is a wonderful opportunity to seize that moment and feed the creative appetite of this next generation of audiences.”
Geeslin says that recent discussions about the Symphony’s future are a positive indication of the community’s dedication to the organization. “We have a passionate city, particularly people who come to the Symphony. They care, they love the Symphony. This is their way of showing how much they care, how much they support everything we’re trying to do.” Spivey elaborates, “The more people who are actively engaged with the organization, the more people who come to concerts and support what the San Francisco Symphony does, the more fuel there is for creativity and the more we can give back to San Francisco and the Bay Area.”
Ultimately, it all comes back to the idea of connection—between the artists on stage, the audience, and the greater community. “I want people to come to a San Francisco Symphony concert because that’s where they feel like they get the nourishment they need,” Spivey says. “I want this to feel like this incredibly special, fertile ground where people come to be replenished and uplifted and to find the most rewarding experiences in life. Just as the redwoods in Marin provide a sacred grove, I want the San Francisco Symphony to be its own musical grove.”
Steven Ziegler is the San Francisco Symphony’s Editorial Director.
Spivey highlights recent performances of Scriabin’s Prometheus, The Poem of Fire, developed in collaboration with Cartier, as characteristic of the ways the Symphony can continue to grow and engage new audiences. The multisensory concert—developed by Salonen, pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet, and Cartier’s in-house perfumer Mathilde Laurent—brought together scent cues, dramatic lighting, and a performance of Scriabin’s work by the San Francisco Symphony and Chorus. “Many of the people who came to that performance had never been to an orchestral concert before,” Spivey says. “And these were individuals who immediately connected with what was happening on stage. There was no barrier, there was no learning curve. You didn’t have to take a course in music appreciation. This was immediately and viscerally exciting. And that’s a big part of what we should be trying to accomplish.” Although the conclusion of Salonen’s contract as Music Director signals a transition in artistic leadership, both Spivey and Geeslin believe that future projects with Salonen will continue to explore new ways to connect artists and audiences. “Esa-Pekka’s work has significantly shaped our organization, and I am eager to see what our ongoing collaboration will bring next,” Spivey says.
The Prometheus program was especially notable in the way that it brought together a group of artists with different focus areas to create something completely new, something Salonen has prioritized in his time at the Symphony. “I think one of the defining characteristics of orchestral music is its unique ability to be collaborative,” Spivey says. “Orchestras can take many different shapes and forms. They can cross genres. They can work in partnership with almost any instrument or creative discipline: dance, visual art, you name it. And it starts to become especially interesting when you think about how to bring some of those ideas into the concert hall.
Spivey is also eager to explore more partnerships with Bay Area artists, noting “San Francisco is a special place with an extraordinarily eclectic and vibrant arts community. There are so many artists here in our backyard that are doing amazing things. It is both interesting and rewarding to reinforce our artistic identity as emblematic of San Francisco, of the Bay Area, of California, of the West Coast, and of American music.”
Geeslin views the Symphony’s work in this sphere as part of a larger effort to support the revival of San Francisco following the COVID-19 pandemic. “We have such a richness here in the Civic Center and in San Francisco, with SFJAZZ, the Opera, the Ballet, the Symphony, the Conservatory. San Francisco is coming back, and we are already seeing it. It’s going to take more time, but I think this is really an opportunity.”
Geeslin places the Symphony’s challenges, including a current financial landscape that necessitated expense reductions, within the broader context of the organization’s long-term future. “We have to think about what the Symphony looks like going forward. People want to engage, they want to be a part of what is going on. And I think we need to tap into that. We need to consider what the future audience of the Symphony looks like, what they need, and what they want.”
Spivey picks up this thread, noting “the thing that makes me most excited, the thing I see more than anything else now is an unprecedented level of curiosity and interest. Many more people are interested and those who enter the hall are walking away even more excited. I think this is a wonderful opportunity to seize that moment and feed the creative appetite of this next generation of audiences.”
Geeslin says that recent discussions about the Symphony’s future are a positive indication of the community’s dedication to the organization. “We have a passionate city, particularly people who come to the Symphony. They care, they love the Symphony. This is their way of showing how much they care, how much they support everything we’re trying to do.” Spivey elaborates, “The more people who are actively engaged with the organization, the more people who come to concerts and support what the San Francisco Symphony does, the more fuel there is for creativity and the more we can give back to San Francisco and the Bay Area.”
Ultimately, it all comes back to the idea of connection—between the artists on stage, the audience, and the greater community. “I want people to come to a San Francisco Symphony concert because that’s where they feel like they get the nourishment they need,” Spivey says. “I want this to feel like this incredibly special, fertile ground where people come to be replenished and uplifted and to find the most rewarding experiences in life. Just as the redwoods in Marin provide a sacred grove, I want the San Francisco Symphony to be its own musical grove.”
Steven Ziegler is the San Francisco Symphony’s Editorial Director.
