SAN FRANCISCO SYMPHONY YOUTH ORCHESTRA WELCOMES CONDUCTOR RADU PAPONIU AS NEW WATTIS FOUNDATION MUSIC DIRECTOR, BEGINNING IN 2024–25 SEASON

Paponiu will conduct the SFSYO in four concerts during the 2024–25 season, beginning with the Orchestra’s season-opening performance on November 24

ESA-PEKKA SALONEN AND SAN FRANCISCO SYMPHONY ANNOUNCE THREE NEW SFS MEDIA RECORDINGS ON APPLE MUSIC CLASSICAL

Upcoming digital-only recordings include Igor Stravinsky’s The Firebird (available tomorrow, June 21), Sergei Prokofiev’s Music from Romeo and Juliet (available August 2), and Hector Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique (available September 23)

CYNTHIA ERIVO JOINS ESA-PEKKA SALONEN AND THE SAN FRANCISCO SYMPHONY IN CONCERT ON SEPTEMBER 14

Tickets go on sale today: Friday, June 14, at 10:00am PT on sfsymphony.org

SAN FRANCISCO SYMPHONY CELEBRATES FIVE LONGTIME ORCHESTRA MUSICIANS RETIRING AT THE CLOSE OF THE 2023–24 SEASON

Retiring musicians include violinist and former Associate Concertmaster Nadya Tichman, Associate Principal Bassoon Steven Dibner, violinist Amy Hiraga, cellist Jill Rachuy Brindel, and cellist and former Associate Principal Cello Peter Wyrick

The retiring musicians have a combined 183 years of service to the San Francisco Symphony

 TYLER TAYLOR ANNOUNCED AS WINNER OF FOURTH ANNUAL EMERGING BLACK COMPOSERS PROJECT
 

As winner of the Michael Morgan Prize, Taylor will receive a $15,000 commission and mentorship, and his piece will premiere with the San Francisco Symphony during the 2025–26 season

ESA-PEKKA SALONEN CONDUCTS THE SAN FRANCISCO SYMPHONY IN THE FINAL THREE WEEKS OF THE ORCHESTRA’S 2023–24 SUBSCRIPTION SEASON

June 13-15 Sheku Kanneh-Mason joins Salonen and the Orchestra for Shostakovich’s Cello Concerto No. 1 on a program including Gubaidulina’s Fairytale Poem and Tchaikovsky’s Francesca da Rimini

June 21-23 Salonen conducts Schumann’s Piano Concerto with Yefim Bronfman and Bruckner’s Symphony No. 4, Romantic

June 28-30 Salonen and the Orchestra are joined by mezzo-soprano Kelley O’Connor, SF Symphony Chorus, and Pacific Boychoir for Mahler’s Symphony No. 3

ESA-PEKKA SALONEN AND THE SAN FRANCISCO SYMPHONY PARTNER WITH CHOREOGRAPHER ALONZO KING AND DIRECTOR PETER SELLARS FOR MULTIDISCIPLINARY PROGRAM

Alonzo King LINES Ballet joins the Symphony for Ravel’s complete Mother Goose and Sellars directs Schoenberg’s one-act opera Erwartung, featuring soprano Mary Elizabeth Williams

CONDUCTOR GEMMA NEW REPLACES MARTA GARDOLIŃSKA IN MAY 10–12 SAN FRANCISCO SYMPHONY PERFORMANCES

New makes her Orchestral Series debut with these concerts, leading the San Francisco Symphony in the originally scheduled program, including Grażyna Bacewicz’s Overture; Edward Elgar’s Cello Concerto, featuring Pablo Ferrández in his Orchestral Series Debut; and Felix Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 3, Scottish

Gardolińska regretfully withdraws from the program due to a family illness

SAN FRANCISCO SYMPHONY ANNOUNCES SUMMER WITH THE SYMPHONY SEASON WITH CONCERTS AT DAVIES SYMPHONY HALL AND OUTDOOR PERFORMANCES AT FROST AMPHITHEATER, SHORELINE AMPHITHEATRE, AND SIGMUND STERN GROVE, JULY 4–AUGUST 4, 2024

Conductors Earl Lee and Carlos Miguel Prieto lead classical programs at Davies Symphony Hall with performances by violinist Stella Chen, soprano Caroline Corrales, and guitarist Pablo Sáinz-Villegas

Special San Francisco Symphony guest performances by Ben Folds and John Legend

San Francisco Symphony presents The Trailblazing Music of Joni Mitchell, Carole King, & Carly Simon and Classical Mystery Tour: A Symphonic Tribute to The Beatles

Summer films and film music concerts include Disney: The Sound of Magic, a symphonic celebration of Disney's 100th anniversary; La La Land; and The Movie Music of John Williams

Edwin Outwater conducts the Orchestra and vocalist Jessica Vosk in the Fourth of July Fireworks Spectacular at Shoreline Amphitheatre

San Francisco Symphony performs a free concert at Sigmund Stern Grove featuring Jessica Vosk on a program conducted by Edwin Outwater, July 7

San Francisco Symphony performs two concerts at Frost Amphitheater, presented by Stanford Live and the San Francisco Symphony, July 13 & 20

Tickets on sale now via sfsymphony.org/summer

SAN FRANCISCO SYMPHONY YOUTH ORCHESTRA CELEBRATES MUSIC DIRECTOR DANIEL STEWART IN HIS FINAL CONCERT WITH THE ORCHESTRA ON SUNDAY, MAY 19, WITH A PERFORMANCE OF MAHLER’S SYMPHONY NO. 5

Stewart became the SFSYO’s Wattis Foundation Music Director in 2019 and celebrates five seasons with the Orchestra; the May 19 concert also marks the final performance of the SFSYO’s 2023–24 season

One of the San Francisco Symphony’s flagship education programs, the SFSYO provides a pre-professional orchestral experience to more than 100 young musicians from throughout the Bay Area, free of charge

THE SAN FRANCISCO SYMPHONY ANNOUNCES
JOHN LEGEND: A NIGHT OF SONGS AND STORIES WITH THE SAN FRANCISCO SYMPHONY
JULY 23–24

Tickets go on sale Friday, April 5, at 10:00AM PT on sfsymphony.org

San Francisco Symphony’s full Summer with the Symphony lineup will be announced in May

GUEST CONDUCTORS KARINA CANELLAKIS, GUSTAVO GIMENO, MARTA GARDOLIŃSKA, AND RYAN BANCROFT LEAD THE SAN FRANCISCO SYMPHONY IN CONCERTS AT DAVIES SYMPHONY HALL IN APRIL AND MAY 2024

April 18–20 Canellakis conducts Richard Strauss’ Don Juan and Death and Transfiguration; and Maurice Ravel’s Piano Concerto for the Left Hand, featuring Cédric Tiberghien, and La Valse

April 25–27 Gimeno leads the Orchestra in Dmitri Shostakovich’s Funeral March from The Great Citizen; William Walton’s Viola Concerto, featuring SF Symphony Principal Viola Jonathan Vinocour; and Sergei Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 3

May 10–12 Gardolińska makes her Orchestral Series Debut conducting Grażyna Bacewicz’s Overture; Edward Elgar’s Cello Concerto, featuring Pablo Ferrández in his Orchestral Series Debut; and Felix Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 3, Scottish

May 16–18 Ryan Bancroft, in his Orchestral Series Debut, conducts the World Premiere of Unsuk Chin’s Alaraph ‘Ritus des Herzschlags’; Henri Vieuxtemps’ Violin Concerto No. 5, featuring Joshua Bell; Kevin Puts’ Earth; and Claude Debussy’s La Mer