San Francisco Symphony

MTT and the SF Symphony launch SoundBox, December 13, 2014

2014–15

A BANNER YEAR

13–14

15–16

It’s 2014-15 and the San Francisco Symphony is again in a celebratory mood. And why not? It’s Michael Tilson Thomas’ 20th season as Music Director and 70th birthday. Both orchestra and conductor let their hair down in a fun-filled, star-studded MTT 70th birthday concert. There are new artistic peaks to scale, however, as MTT and the Symphony launch the innovative SoundBox series and cap off the season with an immersive Beethoven festival.

TODAY’S PICK

Brant’s Ice Field, an SFS Media release recorded in 2014

SoundBox: Adventure Comes Home

As 2014 draws to a close, buzz begins building about a mysterious San Francisco Symphony project coming soon. What is this “SoundBox”? A new club? A concert series? An experimental art venue? A laboratory of innovation? SoundBox turns out to be all that, and more. Debuting in December 2014, SoundBox proves that the future is here, now, in San Francisco. The venue is intimate, with a flexible cabaret-style atmosphere enhanced by theatrical lighting and integrated video design. Curated by MTT and leading musicians and thinkers, each program is anchored by a single artistic theme. The astoundingly wide-ranging repertory (made possible thanks to a state-of-the-art customizable Meyer Constellation sound system) showcases SF Symphony musicians in new and unexpected ways. With lines stretching around the block from the get-go, SoundBox is San Francisco’s hottest ticket.

SoundBox is a new and experimental space for all kinds of music. Part of the experience of being in this space will be to hear music of many different eras, from the earliest music, Gregorian chants, going back to the ninth century, to the newest music, which is being written as we speak! To have a space in which the audience and musicians can explore this huge swath of time together is something I’ve always dreamed of, and now we have it. ”

— Michael Tilson Thomas

The classical music establishment has been wringing its hands for years, trying to figure out how to attract younger audiences. They can stop now. Michael Tilson Thomas has found the solution...The crowd—a decidedly younger mix than the usual Symphony audience—was right at home with the casual vibe.”

”

— Georgia Rowe, Bay Area News Group, December 15, 2014

Missa solemnis

Beethoven…with a twist

In a nod to MTT and the Orchestra’s first summer Beethoven festival together 25 years prior, the 2014-15 season concludes with an ambitious three-week exploration that offers audiences fresh perspectives on some of the composer’s most enduring works. Each of the concert weeks focuses on a major hallmark of the composer’s career: the extraordinary Missa solemnis in a radical semi-staged production conceived by Michael Tilson Thomas; concert performances of Beethoven’s only opera Fidelio with soprano Nina Stemme and tenor Brandon Jovanovich in the lead roles; and a re-creation of the “marathon” Vienna Akademie concert of December 1808, in which several important Beethoven works, including the Fifth and Sixth symphonies, had their premieres. It’s a sublime deep-dive into this most canonical of composers.

It can loom like a forbidding monolith over performer and audience alike. This is a pity because Beethoven considered it one of his supreme creations—his spiritual guidebook on which he worked for over four years. With so many people doing so many things at the same time and place, it can be difficult to follow the music’s many strands. The mission of this performance is to create more space around the music allowing us to better follow the streams of Beethoven’s thought. By strategically placing specific vocal groups, using lighting to suggest underlying moods, and video to create environments and to suggest the design of the piece, we hope to reveal these many musical streams and the incredible impact of this work. ”

— Michael Tilson Thomas, on Missa solemnis

Missa solemnis

Fidelio

MTT and SF Symphony Chorus Director Ragnar Bohlin

Michael Tilson Thomas with Bonnie Raitt and Yuja Wang at the 2014 Opening Gala

Michael Tilson Thomas with Boz Scaggs, Lars Ulrich,

Elvis Costello, Phil Lesh, and Joshua Robison

during MTT's 70th birthday celebration.

MTT listens during the finale of his 70th birthday concert

MTT cuts his birthday cake as Alice Waters looks on

MTT and friends perform Liszt’s Hexameron

MTT and Elvis Costello

MTT and friends perform Liszt’s Hexameron

Michael Tilson Thomas and Joshua Robison at their wedding, 2014

Michael Tilson Thomas with SF Symphony alumni of the New World Symphony

MUSICIAN APPOINTMENTS
Eliot Lev (violin)

PREMIERES
Samuel Adams: Radial Play

Recordings

2014–15 Tour

Violinist Gil Shaham was the featured soloist on the November 2014 National Tour