and Beloved Artists

Transformative Music and Performances

From Mahler’s staggering Resurrection Symphony to inventively staged performances of Prokofiev’s music for Romeo and Juliet and special one-nightonly performances by Yo-Yo Ma, Lang Lang, Seth Parker Woods and others, this is a glorious season with blockbuster, not-to-be-missed concerts!

February 3, 2023

JACOBS MUSIC CENTER: GRAND OPENING NIGHT

Special Event California Festival 2023

Saturday, Nov 4, 2023

Rafael Payare, conductor

Steven Banks, saxophone

Liv Redpath, soprano

Texu Kim: Welcome Home!! Fanfare for Jacobs Music Center (World Premiere, SDS Commission)

R. Strauss: Till Eulenspiegel's Merry Pranks

Billy Childs: Saxophone Concerto (West Coast Premiere, SDS Co-commission)

Mozart: Exsultate jubilate

Debussy: La mer

Music Director Rafael Payare and the Symphony celebrate the Orchestra’s return to Jacobs Music Center in a program that showcases the musicians and the exceptional new aural and visual experience of the venue. The kaleidoscopic program begins with Texu Kim’s new fanfare for Jacobs Music Center. The Symphony continues its exploration of Strauss’s epic tone poems with audience favorite Till Eulenspiegel’s Merry Pranks followed by a dazzling Billy Childs West Coast Premiere co-commissioned by the San Diego Symphony, with the charismatic style of soloist Steven Banks. The second half of the program explores Mozart’s festive Exsultate jubilate, where opera sensation Liv Redpath takes center stage, and concludes with the dreamy serenity of Debussy’s illustrious La mer. See page 23 for details about the Gala.

RESURRECTION AND RENEWAL: MAHLER’S SYMPHONY NO. 2 CALIFORNIA FESTIVAL 2023

Saturday, Nov 11 & Sunday, Nov 12, 2023

Rafael Payare, conductor

Angela Meade, soprano

Anna Larsson, mezzo-soprano

San Diego Symphony Festival Choir

Carlos Simon: New Work (SDS Commission)

Mahler: Symphony No. 2 in C minor, "Resurrection"

Experience the grandeur of the “new” Jacobs Music Center as Music Director Rafael Payare and the Orchestra present Mahler’s towering Symphony No. 2, “Resurrection.” Distinguished soloists Angela Meade and Anna Larsson join the Symphony’s continued exploration of Mahler. The program opens with a San Diego Symphony commission from renowned American composer Carlos Simon.

This performance is part of the California Festival. For more information, see page 11.

STRAVINSKY’S RITE OF SPRING CALIFORNIA FESTIVAL 2023

Friday, Nov 17 & Saturday, Nov 18, 2023

Rafael Payare, conductor

Bartók: The Miraculous Mandarin Suite

Villa-Lobos: Bachianas Brasileiras No. 7

Vladimir Tarnopolsky: Danse Macabre (World Premiere, SDS Commission)

Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring

Experience an evening featuring Stravinsky’s whirling The Rite of Spring, which still astounds audiences more than a century after its riotous Parisian premiere in 1913. The spectacular work shocked the world with its vivid depictions of ritual dances in pagan Russia—a perfect pairing for the world premiere of Vladimir Tarnopolsky’s Danse Macabre. Music Director Rafael Payare sets the tone for the performance with Béla Bartók’s dark and mysterious Miraculous Mandarin Suite, and Villa-Lobos' influences of Bach melded with Brazilian folk elements on display in his Bachianas Brasileiras.

This performance is part of the California Festival. For more information, see page 11.