San Francisco Symphony Radio Broadcasts

From Davies Symphony Hall the San Francisco Symphony Radio Broadcasts begin Monday, March 29th.

Since its beginning in 1911, the San Francisco Symphony has been known for innovative programs that offer a spectrum of traditional repertory and new music. Today, the Orchestra's artistic vitality, recordings, and groundbreaking multimedia educational projects, carry its impact throughout American musical life.

At a time when America's major orchestras are struggling to define their missions and maintain audiences, the San Francisco Symphony under Michael Tilson Thomas is an exception.

— The New York Times

Acclaimed for its artistic excellence and innovation, the San Francisco Symphony has a long and prestigious history. The most gifted musicians in the world grace our stage, and together with their award-winning Chorus and Youth Orchestra, the San Francisco Symphony continues to offer music lovers adventure and excitement. The San Francisco Symphony sets the highest possible standard for excellence in musical performance at home and around the world. Enriching, serving, and shaping cultural life throughout the spectrum of the Bay Area. The San Francisco Symphony's concerts are heard locally, nationally, and overseas. National broadcasts in over three hundred outlets reach millions of people weekly, and the Orchestra is also heard internationally in Europe and Asia.

Can every conductor be Michael Tilson Thomas? Obviously not! But every conductor can learn from him the value of bringing a sense of adventure back to the concert hall.

— The Toronto Star

The San Francisco Symphony has grown in stature and acclaim under such distinguished music directors as Henry Hadley, Alfred Hertz, the legendary Pierre Monteux, Josef Krips, Seiji Ozawa, Edo de Waart and Herbert Blomstedt, who continues as Conductor. Current Music Director Michael Tilson Thomas assumed the post in 1995. Together, he and the San Francisco Symphony have formed a musical partnership hailed as "one of the most inspiring and adventurous in the country." Maestro Tilson Thomas and the Orchestra have also been praised by the critics for their musicianship, for their innovative programming, for bringing the works of American composers to the fore, and for bringing new audiences into Davies Symphony Hall.

"In most places, and certainly in London, the presence of many of the (American Mavericks Festival) composers — from Charles Ives to John Adams to Steve Reich — would have emptied halls. But the audiences in San Francisco have been large, varied, attentive, and enthusiastic. Something quite special, perhaps even revolutionary, is going on.

— The Times (London)

The San Francisco Symphony has toured extensively to Europe, Asia and throughout the United States. It has won some of the world's most prestigious recording awards, including eleven Grammy Awards, Japan's Record Academy Award, France's Grand Prix du Disque, and Britain's Gramophone Award.

The San Francisco Symphony, led since 1995 by the brilliant and musically restless Michael Tilson Thomas, gave the kind of performance that proves yet again that the best is the enemy of the better.

— The Washington Post

Broadcast Schedule >