In light of the recent announcement regarding Esa-Pekka’s decision to conclude his tenure as Music Director following the culmination of his five-year contract in June 2025, CEO Matthew Spivey and Board Chair Priscilla Geeslin have released a statement regarding the orchestra. In a statement, the orchestra said, “In recent years, we have strived to be as transparent as possible about {…}
Following Esa-Pekka Salonen’s announcement that he was leaving the San Francisco Symphony next season, Musicians of the San Francisco Symphony have released an open letter urging the Board of Governors to take steps to retain Salonen as Music Director and to reverse planned cuts to programming, touring, and education, which threaten the Symphony’s status as a world-class institution. The Musicians {…}
The San Francisco Symphony has announced its 2024-25 season. Here is a rundown of the vocal performances on offer. Joe Hisaishi conducts a concert of music from the films of Hayao Miyazaki. The concert will feature the participation of the San Francisco Symphony Chorus. Performance Dates: Sept. 5 – 8, 2024 Esa-Pekka Salonen conducts Verdi’s Requiem with Leah Hawkins, Karen Cargill, {…}
(source: San Francisco Symphony Official Website) The musicians and management of the San Francisco Symphony have ratified a two-year contract. The contract was ratified on Oct. 1, 2023, ending a labor struggle that began in November 2022 and since then teh San Francisco Symphony has been working without a contract. The new contract extends through November 2024. In a statement {…}
The San Francisco Symphony has announced its 2023-24 season. For this article, our focus will be solely on vocal performances. It all kicks off with a performance of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 conducted by Michael Tilson Thomas. Soloists include Dashon Burton, Ben Bliss, and Tamara Mumford. The program also features Olly Wilson’s “Shango Memory.” Performance Dates: Oct. 19 – 22, {…}
The San Francisco Symphony is set to present Stravinsky’s “Oedipus Rex” and “Symphony of Psalms” on June 10-12, 2022. The showcase will be conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen and staged by Peter Sellars, in the first of a four-year collaboration during which the director will mount four large-scale productions between 2022-25. “This particular combination of two major Stravinsky pieces premiered in {…}
The San Francisco Symphony has announced its 2022-23 season and will feature numerous vocal performances. Here is a look at the vocal performances of the season. Golda Schultz and Michelle DeYoung will perform Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 with Esa-Pekka Salonen conducting. A work by Trevor Weston will have its world premiere. Performance Dates: Sept. 29-Oct. 2, 2022 Esa-Pekka Salonen {…}
(Credit: San Francisco Symphony) San Francisco Symphony Choral Director Ragnar Bohlin has announced he will resign from his post due to the vaccine mandate policies instituted by both the company and the city of San Francisco. Bohlin, whose term concludes at the end of the month, ending a 14-year tenure, has been outspoken against COVID vaccines on his Facebook page. Before {…}
Till Janczukowicz, Founder and CEO of the leading streaming service for classical music, IDAGIO, announced the appointment of John Kieser as Director of Partnerships. Kieser was the Executive Vice President and Provost of the New World Symphony for the past five years and will continue to work with that organization as Executive Vice President of Media. In his new role, {…}
The San Francisco Symphony has announced the cancelation of its 2020-21 season. The orchestra also announced that new digital programming for January–June 2021 will be announced at a later date and that if live concerts in Davies Symphony Hall become possible, the San Francisco Symphony will announce new performances accordingly. “By canceling these performances, we are able to turn our {…}
The San Francisco Symphony has canceled the fall portion of its 2020-21 season. The company announced that due to COVID-19, the orchestra “has been guided by a belief that we must ‘plan for the worst while hoping for the better.’ However, in accordance with guidelines from the State of California and City of San Francisco, we have made the difficult {…}