Photo Credit: SF Symphony
Whether an off-the-wall musical escapade or a desert-island classic, it’s all here in the San Francisco Symphony’s 2023-24 season. Don’t know where to start? Here’s an insider’s guide to lead you through this fall’s exciting lineup.
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Photo Credit: SF Symphony
Something New: Music Director Esa-Pekka Salonen and the Symphony get the fun started right away in an Opening Night Gala concert that interweaves music and technology (September 22). A highlight: Anders Hillborg’s Rap Notes, where the stylings of hip-hop artist Kev Choice and freestyle artist Anthony Veneziale go up against verses generated by artificial intelligence. The technology theme continues as SF Symphony Collaborative Partner Pekka Kuusisto unveils a one-of-a-kind violin concerto by composer/developer Jesper Nordin that incorporates interactive performance technology (October 6-7).
From left to right: Rafael Payare, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Gustavo Dudamel. Photo Credit: Boris Allin
Cali-Forward: Experience the rich tapestry of the Golden State’s creative spirit at the California Festival: A Celebration of New Music (November 3-19). This two-week, statewide initiative features more than 95 organizations and ensembles, including the San Francisco Symphony. Esa-Pekka Salonen conducts three new works by composers with California ties: Jens Ibsen’s Drowned in Light (a world premiere), Salonen’s own kínēma with San Francisco Symphony Principal Clarinet Carey Bell as soloist, and Gabriella Smith’s Breathing Forests featuring organist James McVinnie. Salonen and the Symphony also showcase three works by California transplant Igor Stravinsky, including Les Noces, enriched by whimsical animated shorts crafted by artist Hillary Leben.
Photo Credit: SF Symphony
Music You Love: Indulge in the timeless allure of cherished classics and grand orchestral marvels this fall. The big B’s—Beethoven and Brahms—are out in force: Esa-Pekka Salonen pairs Beethoven’s Second Symphony and Brahms’s Variations on a Theme of Joseph Haydn in a program also featuring Symphony stalwart Emanuel Ax in a new piano concerto by Anders Hillborg (October 12-14); Music Director Laureate Michael Tilson Thomas leads Beethoven’s glorious paean to brotherhood, the Ninth Symphony, in a program that also marks the SF Symphony Chorus’ 50th anniversary (October 19, 21-22); and Gustavo Dudamel returns for Brahms’s sunny (but not too sunny) Symphony No. 2 (November 24-26). Also sure bets: A concert featuring the dream team of violinist Lisa Batiashvili, cellist Gautier Capuçon, and pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet (October 15), and a recital with pianist Daniil Trifonov (November 19).
Symphonic Stories: Immerse yourself in compelling musical narratives that are certain to thrill. Scale a mountain as Esa-Pekka Salonen conducts Richard Strauss’s An Alpine Symphony (September 29-October 1). Embark on an otherworldly astrological tour as Daniel Harding leads Holst’s The Planets (October 26-28). And hear Pictures at an Exhibition in a new light as Ludovic Morlot leads performances incorporating commissioned artwork by Bay Area artists Liz Hernández and Fernando Escartiz, inspired by Mussorgsky’s musical portraits (November 2-4).
Photo Credit: Christopher M. Howard
Festive Family Favorite: Don’t miss the annual Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) celebration, a family-friendly event featuring traditional and contemporary Latin American music conducted by Miguel Harth-Bedoya with vocalist Edna Vazquez and Casa Círculo Cultural (November 4).
Prepare to be captivated by a fall season where innovation and timeless music converge. A symphonic odyssey awaits.
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