Illustration: Unfurl by Makiko Harris (SF Symphony Youth Orchestra Alumna, 2009-11)

Music Study Program: 2021-22 Speaker Series

November 9 | December 14 | January 4 | March 15


 11:00am-12:00pm

The Mid-Peninsula League invites you to this engaging four-part virtual series featuring speaker Scott Foglesong, where we’ll explore thought-provoking and informative topics across the SF Symphony’s 2021-22 season. These one-hour sessions take place Tuesdays at 11am, and viewers are welcome to stay for optional discussions afterwards.

$30 for each session.

November 9: Beethoven and the Orchestra


In this session we’ll take a survey of Ludwig van Beethoven’s (ample) orchestral music, followed by a closer look at Beethoven’s treatment of the orchestra—practices that were to become a bedrock throughout the 19th century.

tuesday, November 9

December 14: 
Music about Something


Some compositions are wholly abstract, but others are informed by stories, images, myths, historical events, or even philosophical ideas. We’ll look at a good sampling from this season’s SF Symphony concerts, with some attention to contemporary works.

Tuesday, December 14

January 4: 
Prometheus 
and Myth


The Prometheus legend, and its mythological base, has formed the basis of a goodly number of fine compositions. We’ll consider the legend and some of those compositions, including one by the SF Symphony’s Music Director Esa-Pekka Salonen.

Tuesday, January 4 

March 15: 
Brahms and 
the Voice


When we think of Johannes Brahms, we tend to think orchestral and chamber music. But he wrote a lot of choral music, including music for chorus and orchestra. We’ll look at some of those works—especially those featured on this season’s SF Symphony concerts.

Tuesday, March 15

Scott Foglesong is Chair of Musicianship and Music Theory at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where he has been a faculty member since 1978. Mr. Foglesong is on the faculty of the Fall Freshman Program at the University of California at Berkeley and the Fromm Institute for Lifelong Learning at USF. A Contributing Writer to the San Francisco Symphony’s program book, he also serves as Program Annotator for the California Symphony and he was previously program annotator for Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, Las Vegas Philharmonic, and the New Hampshire Music Festival. As a pianist, Mr. Foglesong has appeared with the Francesco Trio, Chanticleer, and members of the San Francisco Symphony. He was trained at the Peabody Conservatory, where he studied piano with Elizabeth Katzenellenbogen. At the San Francisco Conservatory, he studied piano with Nathan Schwartz, harpsichord with Laurette Goldberg, and theory with Sol Joseph and John Adams.

To order by phone, call Tunisha Williams-Lowe at 415.503.5351.

Proceeds benefit the San Francisco Symphony’s myriad artistic, community, and education programs.

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