Chamayou Performs Liszt’s Totentanz

Music Director Esa-Pekka Salonen and the San Francisco Symphony journey through Hector Berlioz’s phantasmic Symphonie fantastique, Franz Liszt’s devilish Totentanz with pianist Bertrand Chamayou, and Modest Mussorgsky’s supernatural Night on Bald Mountain.

Yuja Wang Performs the World Premiere of Lindberg’s Third Piano Concerto

Plus Nielsen’s sun-drenched Helios Overture and Bartók’s Concerto for Orchestra.

Stravinsky, Sibelius, and Kidane

Igor Stravinsky’s explosive ballet score, The Firebird, along with Jean Sibelius’s cosmic Luonnotar with soprano Golda Schultz, and the United States premiere of Daniel Kidane’s SF Symphony commission, Sun Poem.

Mahler 2 and a World Premiere by Trevor Weston

Season Premiere: Esa-Pekka Salonen conducts the SF Symphony in Gustav Mahler’s glorious Symphony No. 2 with vocalists Golda Schultz and Michelle DeYoung and the world premiere of Push by Trevor Weston.

Esa-Pekka Salonen to leave San Francisco Symphony, citing dispute with orchestra’s board

“I do not share the same goals for the future of the institution as the board of governors does,” Salonen said in a statement.

Follow Live: Grammy 2024 Winners

Follow live on Sunday, February 4, as music’s biggest awards are given out!

Grammy 2024 Nominees Announced

Peruse the hopefuls for classical, jazz, soundtrack, and more!

Little Traveling Music, Please

Wanderers, farewells, and sightseeing; people are always on the go. This week, Bill calls up, “A Little Traveling Music, Please” from the pens of Handel, Smetana, Duke Ellington, and more. Reflections from such travels infuse themselves into their works, as we will discover throughout the week. We will hear selections from Beethoven’s Les Adieux, Schubert’s Die Schöne Mullerin, and Haydn’s …

Ólafsson plays Adams

Vikingur Ólafsson plays John Adams’ Must the Devil Have All the Good Tunes? under the baton of music director Esa-Pekka Salonen.

Dudamel Conducts Mozart & Mahler

Los Angeles Philharmonic’s charismatic music director Gustavo Dudamel visits Northern California to lead the SF Symphony in music by Mozart and Mahler.

Josefowicz Plays Stravinsky

Music director Esa-Pekka Salonen conducts the SF Symphony and violinist Leila Josefowicz in music by Stravinsky and Ogonek.

Elgin Symphony Orchestra Names New Music Director

The orchestra’s 2022-2023 season saw seven finalists for its music director position presiding over once concert each.

Demarre McGill

Chicago-born flutist Demarre McGill joins music director Esa-Pekka Salonen and the SF Symphony to perform Notturno by the orchestra’s former music director, Michael Tilson Thomas.

Salonen & Bronfman

Esa-Pekka Salonen leads works by Richard Strauss, Ludwig van Beethoven, and Anders Hillborg in a recital featuring pianist Yefim Bronfman.

Pekka Kuusisto

Music director Esa-Pekka Salonen leads the SF Symphony and guest artist Pekka Kuusisto, violin in music by Ludwig van Beethoven, Bryce Dessner, and Franz Schubert.

Jeremy Denk & Claire Chase

Music director Esa-Pekka Salonen leads the SF Symphony and guest artists Jeremy Denk, piano, and Claire Chase, flute in music by Claude Debussy, Olivier Messiaen, and Kaija Saariaho.

Music by Kendall, Chin, Beethoven

Season Premiere: Music director Esa-Pekka Salonen conducts the San Francisco Symphony in works by Hannah Kendall, Unsuk Chin, and Ludwig van Beethoven.

Tilson Thomas resigns from New World Symphony, lessens work

The 77-year-old had surgery last August for the tumor. He has conducted 20 concerts since then with the New York Philharmonic, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and the San Francisco Symphony.

Conductor Michael Tilson Thomas has surgery for brain tumor

The 76-year-old conductor had surgery at the University of California, San Francisco Medical Center, and that the operation was successful.

There Were Penguins in the Opera House

Corky Siegel – the internationally acclaimed harmonica virtuoso, pianist, singer, composer, and musical alchemist whose signature blend of blues and classical has captivated audiences for over fifty years – wants to invite you into his living room.

Sally Field, ‘Sesame Street’ to receive Kennedy Center award

San Francisco Symphony music director Michael Tilson Thomas is among the awardees. Asked why he felt he was chosen for the award, Tilson Thomas laughed and said, “I guess I’ve just been around a long time!”…

Conductor Michael Tilson Thomas has heart operation

Tilson Thomas is recovering following a successful operation at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio.

CSO Musicians Call for Continued Negotiations Amid Ongoing Strike

The musicians of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra publicly called for management to return to the table to resolve the labor dispute now in its seventh week, the longest in the orchestra’s history.

CSO musicians reject latest proposal, strike continues

The Chicago Symphony Orchestra strike will persist, as the musicians’ union rejected management’s latest proposal late Monday night.

Chicago Symphony Orchestra Musicians take to the picket line

Picketing began yesterday on the sidewalks outside the entrances to Symphony Center in the Loop, as the musicians of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra marched off their first full day on strike.