SF Symphony Impact Report 2022-23

OPENING THE DOORS TO CREATIVE COLLABORATION

As we look back on the 2022–23 season, we can’t help but marvel in the beauty of art that comes from collaboration.

We have seen composers’ great works made greater when translated from their imagination to the talented fingers of an up-and-coming pianist. Or when the voices of artists from the surrounding community resonate inside the walls of a concert hall. We have seen that creativity is resilient—and that, through innovation, we are eternally capable of finding new ways to connect and collaborate and expand our reach beyond the concert stage.

The 2022–23 season was an opportunity to open our doors to more voices, different visions, and new audiences—to invite them into the formal and casual spaces of Davies Symphony Hall. And they invited us back into their schools and hospitals, into the digital music libraries in their phones, and into their global communities on our first international tour since 2016. Our work is made better when we see it through a broader lens. This season was a perfect window into what’s possible.

PRISCILLA B. GEESLIN Chair, Board of Governors

MATTHEW SPIVEY Chief Executive Officer

INNOVATION THROUGH COLLABORATION

Defining the third season of the San Francisco Symphony under Esa-Pekka Salonen’s leadership would be incomplete without factoring in the influences of the eight Collaborative Partners he convened in his inaugural year with the orchestra.

This season, four of the Collaborative Partners brought their own mind-expanding work to the concert and SoundBox stages. Among them, Academy Award–nominated composer and pianist Nicholas Britell, co-curated a film-centered SoundBox performance with his creative partner, Academy Award–winning filmmaker Barry Jenkins. Classical singer Julia Bullock joined Salonen and the Orchestra in the final subscription program of the 2022–23 season, performing works by two of her favorite 20th-century American composers, Margaret Bonds and George Gershwin.

COLLABORATIVE PARTNERS

Nicholas Britell, Composer and Pianist

Julia Bullock, Classical Singer and Curator

Claire Chase, Flutist, Educator, and Creator of New and Experimental Music

Bryce Dessner, Composer and Guitarist

Pekka Kuusisto, Violinist, Musical Director, and Artistic Trailblazer

Nico Muhly, Composer and Multifaceted Collaborator

Carol Reiley, AI Entrepreneur and Roboticist

esperanza spalding, Jazz Bassist, Vocalist, and Undefinable Artist

NICHOLAS BRITELL & BARRY JENKINS, APRIL 2023

JULIA BULLOCK, JUNE 2023

The second of a multiyear partnership between Esa-Pekka Salonen, the Orchestra, and acclaimed director Peter Sellars brought a deeply emotional and personal staged production of Adriana Mater by Kaija Saariaho, a longtime collaborator of Salonen and Sellars who passed away just days before the concerts.

“Peter Sellars has been my most frequent and most important collaborator in the world of theater and stage performances since we first worked together in 1992.”

—Esa-Pekka Salonen

Music Director Laureate Michael Tilson Thomas returned to the Symphony stage to conduct three weeks of musical programming including the United States premiere of a new cello concerto by celebrated film composer Danny Elfman, with Gautier Capuçon.

MEMORABLE PERFORMANCES

The San Francisco Symphony’s 2022–23 season was, once again, a demonstration of Music Director Esa-Pekka Salonen’s belief that a symphony orchestra must engage with new composers, artists, and collaborators to reimagine and reinvent the future of the artform. From young musicians’ performances of classical works to newly commissioned diverse narratives, the sound and storytelling of the Symphony is always changing, always reacting, always innovating—whether interpreting the past, present, or future.

The emotional pairing of Salonen’s music direction and Peter Sellars’s ingenious new staging of Kaija Saariaho’s opera Adriana Mater (June) became all the more poignant when Saariaho—with whom Salonen and Sellars enjoyed a decades-long creative partnership— passed away just days before the performances.

Gabriel Kahane’s emergency shelter intake form (February) showed the challenges of being unhoused in America in a new light. The piece included solo artists and community choir members from Community Music Center and Skywatchers Ensemble—some of whom had experienced housing insecurity themselves. Before the concert, local organizations shared information in the lobby, providing an opportunity for learning and support.

Her Story, a work by Julia Wolfe co-commissioned by the SF Symphony, pays tribute to women’s historical and ongoing struggle for equal rights, representation, and access to democracy through 10 women’s voices.

The San Francisco Chronicle described a performance of Busoni’s rarely heard Piano Concerto by 2022–23 Artist-in-Residence Igor Levit as a “once-in-a-lifetime experience.”

“That’s the most important thing— the surprise.”

—Esa Pekka Salonen

Her Story, sponsored by Solomon B. Cera and Toby Fischer Cera, was supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts and commissioned by the San Francisco Symphony with the generous support of the Ralph I. Dorfman Commissioning Fund.

Adriana Mater, a part of The Barbro and Bernard Osher Staged Production Fund, was made possible by a generous gift from Barbro and Bernard Osher

4 New Orchestra Members

4 World Premieres

7 Commissioned or Co-Commissioned Works

30 Premieres

164 Performances

ESA-PEKKA SALONEN, JENNY WONG, & PETER SELLARS, JUNE 2023

HER STORY, MAY 2023

JULIA WOLFE, MAY 2023

IGOR LEVIT, JUNE 2023

RAINER EUDEIKIS (PHILIP S. BOONE CHAIR) IS THE SYMPHONY’S FIRST NEW PRINCIPAL CELLIST IN 46 YEARS.

EMERGENCY SHELTER INTAKE FORM, FEBRUARY 2023

2022–23 CELEBRATIONS

Our annual celebrations aim to bring the community together through a marriage of music, culture, and philanthropy.

The starlight-themed Opening Night Gala, co-chaired by Navid Armstrong and Jeremy Gallaher, and the All San Francisco Concert perfectly embodied the Symphony’s ethos of collaboration within the city of San Francisco with an adaptation of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, featuring Mendelssohn’s complete incidental music and actors from the African American Shakespeare Company, as well as members across the wider arts and culture community.

The beloved Deck the Hall holiday tradition made an exuberant return to Davies Symphony Hall in 2022 after a three-year hiatus. In addition to the concert program celebrating a merry mix of cultural traditions, Deck the Hall Community Day once again invited children from local public schools and community nonprofit organizations to a free and festive performance—a first experience with live orchestral music for many students.

Deck the Hall was made possible through the generous support from the Louise M. Davies Foundation and Bank of America

Our inclusive annual event and banquet celebrates the turning of time observed by many Asian cultures. Korean Canadian conductor Earl Lee directed the 2023 Lunar New Year: Year of the Rabbit concert, presented in partnership with the San Francisco Arts Commission, with modern works by Asian composers illustrating both community and history. Among them, selections from Zhou Tien’s Transcend, telling the story of Chinese railroad workers, in commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the Transcontinental Railroad. The Lunar New Year Concert and Banquet was co-chaired by Tiffany Chang and Thao Dodson.

ORCHESTRATING THE FUTURE

Core to shaping our vision for a modern orchestra is welcoming new faces to the stage, facilitating a space for them to express themselves as artists, and expanding the SF Symphony community.

The Emerging Black Composers Project delivered on a key promise of its mission this season when the Orchestra performed the world premiere of the project’s first commissioned work, Push, by Trevor Weston, its inaugural winner.

Launched in 2020, the Emerging Black Composers Project, in partnership with the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, is a 10-year commitment to spotlight early-career Black American composers and their works.

Winners of the project’s annual prize receive a generous commissioning fee and year-long artistic mentorship and workshops, culminating in the performance of their work onstage at Davies Symphony Hall.

In 2022, Jens Ibsen, a Ghanaian-born multidisciplinary artist, became the second winner of the Emerging Black Composers Project prize, which has since been renamed the Michael Morgan Prize after the program’s late co-founder. Ibsen’s work premiered during the SF Symphony’s 2023–24 season.

The Emerging Black Composers Project is made possible by Michèle and Laurence Corash.

TREVOR WESTON & ESA-PEKKA SALONEN, SEPTEMBER 2022

2022–23 SHENSON SPOTLIGHT SERIES

Created to facilitate more opportunities for young musicians—and introduce audiences to captivating up-and-coming talent—the Shenson Spotlight Series hosts four one-hour solo recitals each season on the Symphony stage. Its goal: to foster a pipeline of talent for the future of orchestral music.

Violinist Randall Goosby embodies the full spirit of the Shenson Spotlight Series, following his debut solo recital in April 2022, with performances of Florence Price’s Violin Concerto No. 2 to open the 2022–23 season.

Sterling Elliott, cellist

Johan Dalene, violinist

Alexander Malofeev, pianist

Bomsori, violinist

RANDALL GOOSBY

OUTSIDE THE BOX

“It displays an open-mindedness that is embodied in an innovative model of artistic direction …”

—From Le Monde’s review of SoundBox (reported in San Francisco Classical Voice)

In its ninth season, our immersive, alternative SoundBox series continued to challenge the boundaries of conventional orchestral performance. The unique, intimate backstage venue at Davies Symphony Hall was host to five curated programs, each mixing the signature SoundBox ingredients—experimental music, artistic lighting, and stirring video projections—into unique and unpredictable performances.

This season, three of the SoundBox shows were curated by our Collaborative Partners, including Nico Muhly’s Codes, which also received billing on the Symphony’s European Tour (see page 22)—the first time taking this unique musical showcase on the road.

SoundBox is supported by The Barbro and Bernard Osher SoundBox Fund. Major support for the 2022–23 SoundBox season was provided by Trine Sorensen & Michael Jacobson Codes was supported by the Paul L. and Phyllis Wattis Endowment for New Music.

2022–23 SOUNDBOX SERIES

Lineage

Curated by composer Reena Esmail and featuring soprano Hila Plitmann

Subliminal Shapes

Curated by composer and pianist Conrad Tao

Convergence

Collaborative Partner

Pekka Kuusisto and Swedish composer-inventor Jesper Nordin presented a show traversing time and traditions, punctuated with Nordic accents.

Codes

Curated by Collaborative Partner

Nico Muhly featuring pianist Yuja Wang

Performance/Conversation with Nicholas Britell & Barry Jenkins

A journey through the musical and visionary partnership of composer and Collaborative Partner

Nicholas Britell and award-winning film director Barry Jenkins.

DECADES OF EDUCATION & ENRICHMENT

The 2022–23 season marked many milestones for the San Francisco Symphony’s education programs. For the first time since the pandemic, we reopened the doors of Davies Symphony Hall to our city’s public elementary school students in longstanding partnership with the San Francisco Unified School District. The irreplicable experience of seeing a curated live music performance inside the concert hall is a critical part of our Fisher Family Adventures in Music (AIM) program, which celebrated its 35th birthday. It is the longest-running program of its kind in the country, and is just one part in our commitment to sparking a curiosity and a love of music among San Francisco’s youth—a relationship that begins with AIM in first grade and carries all the way through middle school and high school with our Music and Mentors program.

Donor support provides critical resources for the thousands of SFUSD elementary students who participate in Adventures in Music every year, helping to create positive outcomes for children that transcend music.

The internationally recognized San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra, made up of more than 100 musicians ages 12–21, played five concerts, culminating in a special 40th anniversary performance on May 21, 2023.

800+ in-school performances every year (Adventures in Music)

Nearly

27,000 students (grades 1–12) reached by our music programs annually

40th anniversary season of the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra—one of the finest in the world

IN THE COMMUNITY

The Symphony thrives on partnership and collaboration, and we’re proud to work with the most creative, innovative groups and individuals shaping the Bay Area today. We aim to serve, enrich, and reflect our community, with year-round events and programs that are dynamic, diverse, and accessible to all, regardless of income.

ALL SAN FRANCISCO CONCERT

This 44-year strong tradition celebrates the people who work tirelessly to make the Bay Area a more just and equitable place. Led by an advisory committee of respected nonprofit and community leaders, this program invites employees of local nonprofits, social service, and grassroots organizations to attend a performance of a special San Francisco Symphony concert at a subsidized ticket price of $12.

ELLEN MAGNIN NEWMAN AWARD

Presented during the All San Francisco Concert in honor of its founder and San Francisco Symphony Life Governor Ellen Magnin Newman, this award—which includes a grant—recognizes one outstanding community-based arts organization every year. Organizations are nominated and selected by the All San Francisco Committee, and by Ellen Magnin Newman, as honorary chair, for their service to the city’s families and individuals, for contributions that strengthen the city’s cultural fabric, and for efforts to create a more just and equitable society for all who live here. The 2022 Ellen Magnin Newman Award recipient was the Ruth Williams Opera House

MUSIC IN THE WARDS

Since 2016, we have had the privilege of performing concerts, both in person and virtually, to inspire the patients, families, doctors, nurses, and staff of UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital through our Music in the Wards program. Through hour-long small ensemble performances that combine music and conversation, Symphony musicians aim to uplift families facing incredible challenges—providing a moment of beauty and connection through a universal love of music.

“Our women have been enjoying the concerts more than I could ever explain … You have fi lled their world with so much immeasurable joy. Thank you!”

—Sheila Von Driska, Five Keys Home Free

12,000

The number of free Symphony tickets provided to essential workers, educators, and other hardworking members of the community with the Symphony’s Free Community Ticket Program. Many nonprofits distribute the tickets as a token of gratitude for their regular volunteers.

“We hope that this event inspires a deep appreciation of what life can offer us through music, art, and community.”

—Martha Rodríguez-Salazar, longtime Día de los Muertos curator

COMMUNITY CHAMBER CONCERTS

We are excited to bring ensembles of Symphony musicians to diverse communities and nonprofit spaces across the Bay Area. During the 2022–23 season, the Symphony performed intimate chamber concerts in the Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts, San Francisco Public Library, San Francisco Botanical Garden, Tenderloin Family Housing, SF SafeHouse’s Hope Center, and more. We absorb 100% of the costs of these performances—these vital organizations simply invite music lovers, and we take care of the rest.

DÍA DE LOS MUERTOS

In partnership with San Francisco Arts Commission, the SF Symphony commemorates the contributions of the Bay Area’s Latinx community with the biggest celebration around the Day of the Dead. The 2022–23 theme: Honoring the sacred rites and rituals of many indigenous cultures that have shaped the Mesoamerican tradition we know today. Beginning in October through November, local artists transform the lobbies of Davies Symphony Hall with art installations and interactive altars honoring the circle of life and death, and family-friendly activities invite all to participate. The success of this program, which celebrated its 15th year in the 2022–23 season, relies on multiple partners including these longtime collaborators: Martha Rodríguez-Salazar, who has curated the community concert festivities since their inception in 2008.

Casa Círculo Cultural, a collaborator for more than 12 years, is a local grassroots multidisciplinary arts nonprofit dedicated to programming that reflects the experience of Latinx communities in the Bay Area and promotes leadership development for the whole family.

THANKS TO OUR VOLUNTEERS

Their work behind the scenes helps make the Symphony shine.

1,000+

The number of service and membership volunteers who supported the San Francisco Symphony in the 2022–23 season.

31,000

Hours contributed by volunteers serving as ushers, providing office assistance, helping with fundraising and community events, and more.

50

Years since the Volunteer Council was founded. The Council oversees the Symphony’s seven different Volunteer Leagues around the Bay Area. Part philanthropy, part fellowship, all volunteer work, each League has its own signature event and meets regularly to support fundraising, audience development, and community engagement, as well as enjoy benefits such as musician and speaker programs.

ADVOCATING FOR THE ARTS

We believe support for San Francisco’s diverse artist communities is key to rebuilding the city’s economic vitality and its reputation as a world-class destination for culture.

The San Francisco Symphony has been a champion of the arts for more than a century. Together with our esteemed partner organizations, we fight for arts education and funding for civic art programs, and we advocate for working artists everywhere.

While the Symphony has always been a magnet for the Bay Area’s most innovative performing artists, the past few years have shown us we can never take our local arts community for granted, spurring us to become even more outspoken as a leader in arts advocacy.

We are a proud partner of San Francisco Arts Alliance, a group of nonprofit arts and culture organizations— including San Francisco Opera, Children’s Creativity Museum, SOMArts, and more—united around the belief that the arts are a fundamental yet undervalued building block of civic life. Together, we advocate for legislative issues impacting the arts and culture community on local, state, and federal levels.

IN 2022–23 THE SAN FRANCISCO SYMPHONY WAS PROUD TO PARTNER WITH San Francisco Arts Alliance

Bay Area Arts Together

Association of California Symphony Orchestras (ACSO)

Californians for the Arts

League of American Orchestras

A HIGH-TECH PARTNERSHIP

Nearly a decade ago, Esa-Pekka Salonen—already recognized for his adoption of technology in the creation of classical music—was featured in a series of commercials for the Apple iPad. So, it was a full-circle moment in March 2023 when Apple announced a new partnership with the orchestra he now leads.

The San Francisco Symphony became one of 10 leading ensembles to partner with Apple on the launch of Apple Music Classical, a streaming app built uniquely for classical music. Since then, we have released exclusive content and recordings, and even hosted a live performance at the San Francisco Apple store.

A best-in-class digital listening experience, the Symphony’s musical releases on Apple Music Classical employ cutting-edge spatial audio technology, designed to sound as if the music is coming from all around you.

150

Albums featuring the San Francisco Symphony available for streaming

The recording of Igor Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring , captured in the 2022–23 season and released exclusively on Apple Music Classical, earned the San Francisco Symphony a 2024 Grammy Award nomination.

2023 EUROPEAN TOUR

In its first international tour since 2016—and the Orchestra’s first tour with Music Director Esa-Pekka Salonen—the San Francisco Symphony took its spirit of innovation and collaboration to Europe in March 2023. During the weeklong trip, the Orchestra set down for multi-day visits in Paris and Hamburg, in addition to one night in Luxembourg, allowing the musicians to cultivate relationships with local cultural organizations and audiences in each city.

More short residencies than tour stops, the appearances deepened existing relationships. For instance, Paris has been a sister city to San Francisco since 1997; the two cities had recently recommitted to collaborate on new musical works, concert experiences, and exchanges— by renewing the cultural accord both between Paris and San Francisco, and between the Paris Philharmonie and San Francisco Symphony.

The tour brought a curated mix of concerts. In addition to traditional works, there was a multidisciplinary performance of Marcos Balter’s Pan, spearheaded by San Francisco Symphony Collaborative Partner and flutist Claire Chase. As in the San Francisco performance, Chase and members of the Orchestra performed alongside an ensemble of local amateur musicians. The tour also marked the first international SoundBox performances, curated by Collaborative Partner Nico Muhly, sharing this experimental concert series with the world.

“I prefer acting as a cultural ambassador rather than just playing a concert and going on to the next place, and I wish to have an impact on the city’s cultural life.”

—Esa-Pekka Salonen

The performance of Pan was supported by the Paul L. and Phyllis Wattis Endowment for New Music.

CLAIRE CHASE

KATIE KADARAUCH & YUJA WANG (PARIS), MARCH 10

PHILHARMONIE DE PARIS, MARCH 9–12

PHILHARMONIE DE LUXEMBOURG, MARCH 13

ELBPHILHARMONIE HAMBURG, MARCH 15–17

THANK YOU

The greatest collaboration of all is with you—our donors, audiences, volunteers, partners, guest artists, and supporters. Together with our passionate musicians, members of the Board of Governors, and staff of the San Francisco Symphony, we are realizing our collective vision of what a modern orchestra can be.

We are grateful for your unwavering support. We look forward to our continued work together to be a shining example of what’s possible when a community comes together through music.

Cover artwork from an elementary student who attended a performance at the SF Symphony and participated in the Symphony’s Visual Arts Project.