Edwin Outwater conducting
Music of John Williams

Flying Theme from E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial

Yoda’s Theme from Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back

Hedwig’s Theme from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

Across the Stars, from Star Wars: Attack of the Clones

The Duel, from The Adventures of Tintin

Suite from Far and Away

Theme from Jurassic Park

March from Raiders of the Lost Ark

With Malice Toward None, from Lincoln

Imperial March from Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back

Theme from Jaws

Leia’s Theme from Star Wars: A New Hope

Main Title from Star Wars: A New Hope

This program will be performed without intermission.

ARTISTS

A truly visionary conductor, Edwin Outwater regularly works with orchestras and institutions throughout the world, producing, curating, and conducting unique concert experiences. He is equally adept at interpreting canonical works, and he regularly premieres new commissions and connects audiences with repertoire beyond the mainstream.  

Recent guest conducting highlights include the New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, New World Symphony, and the orchestras of Baltimore, Chicago, Seattle, Toronto, Victoria, and the Kitchener‐Waterloo Symphony, where he currently holds the position of Music Director Laureate. In April 2020, Mr. Outwater was appointed Music Director of San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where he began his tenure in September 2020. International appearances include performances with the Tokyo Metropolitan Orchestra, Tokyo Symphony, Brussels Philharmonic, BBCNOW, New Zealand Symphony, Adelaide Symphony, Malmö Symphony, Mexico City Philharmonic, and the Hong Kong Sinfonietta.

Mr. Outwater’s recent curations include “Sound Health,” a collaboration with soprano Renée Fleming, the Kennedy Center, and the National Institutes of Health; and a jazz version of Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition, with Wynton Marsalis, the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, and the Chicago Symphony. He also appeared with the Orchestra of Saint Luke’s at Carnegie Hall in a concert for families featuring a world premiere of composer Caroline Shaw, narrated by actor John Lithgow.

Recent highlights of Mr. Outwater’s twenty-year association with the San Francisco Symphony include a hugely successful collaboration between the Orchestra, Mr. Outwater, and legendary metal band Metallica at San Francisco’s new Chase Center arena. He also regularly conducts and curates the Symphony’s SoundBox series and Holiday Gaiety, an LGBTQ holiday concert he created with drag performer Peaches Christ.

The San Francisco Symphony is widely considered to be among the most artistically adventurous and innovative arts institutions in the United States, celebrated for its artistic excellence, creative performance concepts, active touring, award-winning recordings, and standard-setting education programs. In the 2020–21 season, the San Francisco Symphony welcomed conductor and composer Esa-Pekka Salonen as its twelfth Music Director, embarking on a new vision for the present and future of the orchestral landscape. This exciting artistic future builds on the remarkable 25-year tenure of Michael Tilson Thomas as the San Francisco Symphony’s Music Director. Tilson Thomas continues his rich relationship with the Symphony as its first Music Director Laureate. In their inaugural season together, Esa-Pekka Salonen and the San Francisco Symphony introduced a groundbreaking artistic leadership model anchored by eight Collaborative Partners from a variety of cultural disciplines: Nicholas Britell, Julia Bullock, Claire Chase, Bryce Dessner, Pekka Kuusisto, Nico Muhly, Carol Reiley, and Esperanza Spalding. This group of visionary artists, thinkers, and doers continues to join with Salonen and the San Francisco Symphony to chart a new course of experimentation by collaborating on new ideas, breaking conventional rules, and creating unique and powerful experiences. February 2021 saw the launch of SFSymphony+, the San Francisco Symphony’s on-demand video streaming service. Learn more about the musicians of the San Francisco Symphony here.