SF Symphony will once again feature a suite of guest conductors as it searches for a music director
The San Francisco Symphony will showcase Bay Area performing artists, premieres and commissions, along with cross-disciplinary collaborations in dance, puppetry and video — while continuing its search for a music director — during its 115th season starting this year.
CEO Matthew Spivey announced the lineup Thursday for a new season that will feature 26 guest conductors sharing the baton. The company has been without a music director and with guest conductors at the podium since Esa-Pekka Salonen stepped down from his post at the end of the 2024-25 season. A spokesperson for San Francisco Symphony said the company’s search committee — made up of six orchestra members and three members each from the staff and Board of Directors — has been meeting frequently and that there has been a lot of interest in, and several strong candidates for, the music director position. Michael Gandlmayr, the company’s senior director of artistic planning, said that lessons have been learned from the experience of having no music director during the current season. “When planning a season with a music director, you’ll often see clear throughlines in the programs the music director conducts, such as a focus on a specific composer or other large-scale and resource-intensive productions,” he said. “Everything else is left to guest conductors, and often I find those weeks can feel separate from the rest of the season. In building this season without a music director we had a challenge and an opportunity to create a more cohesive whole with around 25 guest conductors, each with their own artistic agendas.” Bay Area performing artists will play prominent roles next season,which runs from Sept. 8, 2026 to June 27, 2027, including well-known local fixtures. Gandlmayr said that tapping into regional talent in the curation of programs for local audiences is a priority for the company, and that the artists performing next season are emblematic of the Bay Area. Ex // Top Stories Lurie leads effort to cut transfer tax to spur housing and economy Proponents say The City’s current scheme has depressed economic activity; others say it has provided needed funding For what — and for whom — is SF's public art? As private displays prevail and public programs suffer, societal divisions grow SF joins West Coast book club with Takei graphic novel The San Francisco Public Library has teamed up with dozens of libraries in three states for One Coast, One Book “We want to make sure we’re rooted in the Bay Area and collaborating with our artistic community,” he said. “Take John Adams, for example, who was an innovative pioneer in new music, or Gabriella Smith, who is a devoted environmentalist. Artists are shaped by their surroundings, so it’s natural that their own artistic output holds elements of the Bay Area.” The company will also continue to honor local social service and neighborhood organizations in its 47th All San Francisco Concert, with Giancarlo Guerrero conducting a program yet-to-be-announced. The concert on Sept. 25 will again be staged the evening following the opening night gala concert, which features Guerrero and star violinist Hilary Hahn in a program that includes Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto. Adams’ “The Rock You Stand On,” which debuts during the composer’s 80th birthday year, is one of two West Coast premieres that include Joe Hisaishi’s commissioned piece Concerto for Orchestra in a performance he will conduct. In addition to Smith’s opus, other commissioned works include a new work by Reena Esmail with Hahn and the German baritone Matthias Goerne as part of the Great Performer Series. Other artists who will figure prominently in the Great Performer Series include pianists Emanuel Ax, Seong-Jin Cho, Hélène Grimaud, Evgeny Kissin and Yuja Wang; violinist Itzhak Perlman; cellist Alisa Weilerstein and pianist Inon Barnatan; Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal conducted by Rafael Payare with violinist Leonidas Kavakos; and violinist Lisa Batiashvili, cellist Gautier Capuçon and pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet in a trio performance. Additionally, the company has commissioned two works that will be making their world premieres: a new work by the fifth Emerging Black Composers Project winner Kyle Rivera and a new concerto for harp and orchestra by Rene Orth in a concert that will be conducted by Salonen and will mark his return to Davies Symphony Hall. “ has developed a strong track record of identifying and uplifting emerging talent,” Gandlmayr said of the program run in collaboration with the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. “And Rene Orth writes vividly for the orchestra and has a great imagination, so this unique combination of instruments should make for a memorable premiere.” The production featuring Alonzo King LINES Ballet is one of three cross-disciplinary collaborations the company will present including: Janni Younge’s staged production of Stravinsky’s “The Firebird” with larger-than-life puppets set to contemporary South African dance; and Adams’ “The Dharma at Big Sur,” a composition that Deborah O’Grady envisions through photography and videos that highlight California’s mystical landscapes. “Of these three projects, it’s notable that two are completely homegrown and are a celebration of Bay Area artists — Alonzo King LINES Ballet, Deborah O’Grady and John Adams,” Gandlmayr said. “It’s also notable how these two productions feel like natural evolutions of past collaborations. We’ve received great feedback from audiences about past cross-disciplinary performances, and it’s an exciting thing for audiences when they can feel that what they’re experiencing has never been experienced before.”
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