The San Francisco Symphony is set to enthrall audiences with a series of spellbinding performances. From the timeless grace of Handel's 'Messiah' to the relentless energy of Orff’s 'Carmina Burana,' and the introspective depth of Mahler's 'Resurrection Symphony,' these events promise to be unforgettable. With that, the addition of John Adams’ contemporary piano concerto and a mesmerizing live-orchestrated screening of 'The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers' ensures that each event stands out as a cultural beacon, reflecting the artistic diversity and emotional depth resonant throughout the symphony’s grand repertoire.

Symphonic Masterpieces: A Journey Through Handel, Orff, and Mahler

In the heart of San Francisco, the Davies Symphony Hall becomes a haven for music enthusiasts and film buffs alike. Three remarkable events—Carmina Burana & Adams’ Piano Concerto, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, and Salonen Conducts Mahler 2—promise to explore the full spectrum of auditory and visual delight. From the timeless power of choral music to the intense drama of live film scoring, these performances by the San Francisco Symphony offer something extraordinary for every attendee.

A Symphony of Senses: Exploring the Magic of Music and Film at the San Francisco Symphony

San Francisco Symphony's upcoming concert series promises to be an auditory delight, showcasing a diverse range of performances that cater to varied musical tastes. From the raw intensity of Carmina Burana to the epic journey of The Lord of the Rings, and the profound spiritual exploration in Mahler's Symphony No. 2, audiences are in for an unforgettable experience. With renowned conductors and soloists like Víkingur Ólafsson and Esa-Pekka Salonen gracing the stage, these performances are set to redefine symphonic experiences this season.

A Symphony of Sound: Exploring San Francisco Symphony's Diverse Concert Series

Orff’s profane and profound pseudo-medieval cantata Carmina burana is the banger of all choral bangers: No one who has heard the opening movement “O Fortuna” even once, whether live or on a film soundtrack, could question its eternal-earworm status. Also on the program: A new piano concerto by John Adams, featuring pianist Víkingur Ólafsson and conductor David Robertson, a responsive and nuanced interpreter of Adams’s eclectic soundscapes.

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Carmina Burana & Adams’ Piano Concerto

Davies Symphony Hall

George Frideric Handel’s Messiah was an instant classic soon after its 1742 premiere and has been a holiday tradition around the world ever since. Through a dramatic series of arias, recitatives, and choruses, Handel offers a musical meditation on Christ’s birth, life, and resurrection—and his message of redemption. Stephen Stubbs leads the SF Symphony and Chorus in this perennial favorite.

Handel’s Messiah

Lights, Camera, Music!: Watch favorite films on the big screen at Davies Symphony Hall as the scores are performed live by the SF Symphony. Experience the tale of Mozart’s music, loves, and rivalries in Amadeus, the winner of eight Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Actor. Rated PG

Amadeus

Consolation and communion are this concert’s common themes. Conductor Kazuki Yamada leads the SF Symphony and Chorus in Fauré’s tenderly radiant and humane Requiem, an underrated stunner. Hailed for her sensitive and insightful interpretations, pianist Hélène Grimaud performs Ravel’s sprightly Piano Concerto in G major. In 1931, as he was finishing the concerto, Ravel explained that it was “written very much in the same spirit as [concertos by] Mozart and Saint-Saëns.”

Faure’s Requiem

Crude as a gut punch, tender as a kiss, Verdi’s Requiem translates the ancient Latin mass for the dead into the vivid and visceral idiom of Italian opera, bringing divine scripture to the streets, and vice versa. The conductor Hans von Bülow dismissed the Requiem as Verdi’s “latest opera, in ecclesiastical vestments,” but his friend Johannes Brahms disagreed: “Only a genius could have written such a work.

Salonen Conducts Verdi’s Requiem

Lights, Camera, Music!: Watch favorite films on the big screen at Davies Symphony Hall as the scores are performed live by the SF Symphony. Composer Joe Hisaishi conducts his music from Studio Ghibli films by Hayao Miyazaki live-to-picture, accompanied by favorite scenes. Rated PG-1

Music From Studio Ghibli

Mahler’s Third Symphony contains multitudes. When the monumental score was almost finished, he predicted that it would be “something the like of which the world has never yet heard! In it the whole of nature finds a voice.” As its creator, he was both god and unconscious instrument “played on by the universe.”

Salonen Conducts Mahler 3

The SF Symphony and Chorus perform the music of FINAL FANTASY led by Grammy Award-winner Arnie Roth. HD video projected onto giant screens combined with the unforgettable scores from FINAL FANTASY XIV, FINAL FANTASY VII REMAKE, and all 35+ years of games make this concert a multimedia event not to be missed.

Distant Worlds: Music From Final Fantasy

Experience the magic of FINAL FANTASY like never before with the San Francisco Symphony and Chorus! This extraordinary concert event, led by Grammy Award-winning conductor Arnie Roth, brings to life the unforgettable scores from the iconic FINAL FANTASY series, including music from FINAL FANTASY XIV and FINAL FANTASY VII REMAKE, as well as highlights from all 35 years of the franchise. As the music fills Davies Symphony Hall, attendees will be immersed in a stunning visual experience, with HD video projections on giant screens that elevate the performance into a multimedia spectacle. Scheduled for two nights only, on Friday, May 31, 2024, and Saturday, June 1, 2024, both at 7:30 PM, this is a must-see event for fans of the series and symphonic music alike. Don't miss your chance to be part of this unforgettable journey through the world of FINAL FANTASY.

Music from Final Fantasy

Experience the epic grandeur of "Gladiator" like never before at the Davies Symphony Hall, where the San Francisco Symphony brings the film's powerful score to life. This special event, featuring live orchestral accompaniment, allows you to relive the five-time Academy Award-winning masterpiece in an immersive setting. Under the baton of conductor Justin Freer, both the San Francisco Symphony and Chorus will perform Hans Zimmer and Lisa Gerrard’s iconic score, synchronizing the stirring music with Ridley Scott's visually stunning film displayed on the big screen.

This unique cinematic and musical collaboration is scheduled for two evenings: Wednesday, May 22, 2024, and Thursday, May 23, 2024, both performances starting at 7:30 PM at the Davies Symphony Hall, located at 201 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco, CA. This event promises to be an unforgettable journey back to ancient Rome, enhanced by the live performance of the film's powerful score, offering a new way to experience the classic tale of honor, vengeance, and redemption.

For those requiring assistance with purchasing tickets, especially patrons with disabilities, the box office is ready to help at 415-864-6000. Don't miss this extraordinary blend of film and music, a testament to the enduring power of storytelling through the arts.

Gladiator Live

Based on medieval German poetry, Carmina burana has it all: rhythmic and brooding choruses, lusty drinking songs, ballads cursing fickle lovers, and gleaming paeans to love. Celebrating its 50th anniversary this season, the San Francisco Symphony Chorus stars in this exhilarating showpiece—arguably the most iconic choral work of the twentieth century.

Carmina burana

Charlie Brown, Snoopy, and the entire Peanuts gang are back at Davies Symphony Hall to bring this television classic to life! With live actors, an animated backdrop, and Vince Guaraldi’s timeless music performed live by the SF Symphony, this is a beloved holiday performance you won’t want to miss.

A Charlie Brown Christmas—live!

Handel offers a musical meditation on Christ’s birth, life, and resurrection—and his message of redemption. An instant classic.

Handel's Messiah

George Frideric Handel’s Messiah was an instant classic soon after its 1742 premiere and has been a holiday tradition around the world ever since. Through a dramatic series of arias, recitatives, and choruses, Handel offers a musical meditation on Christ’s birth, life, and resurrection—and his message of redemption. Jonathan Cohen leads the SF Symphony and Chorus in this perennial favorite.

Rising young composer Gabriella Smith conjure the spaces and sounds of California, responding to landscapes both urban and rural, geographical and metaphysical. Igor Stravinsky depicts a festive, folk-inflected Slavic wedding in his ballet Les Noces, augmented by Steven Stucky’s orchestration and artist Hillary Leben's vivid new animated shorts. Stravinsky’s Octet for Winds and Brass, a uniquely scored neoclassical work, was inspired by a late-night dream.

California Festival: From the Edge

Vaughan Williams’ plaintive English pastoralism sets the stage for Holst’s otherworldly astrological tour.

Harding Conducts the Planets

Benjamin Britten delves into the hallucinatory verses of Arthur Rimbaud with youthful enthusiasm in the song cycle Les Illuminations, a rare foray into the French language for a composer renowned for his contributions to English music. Alongside Britten’s cycle is a much-loved work by an Englishman of an earlier generation: Gustav Holst’s The Planets launches the pastoral tradition into the extraterrestrial realm, conjuring up the star signs with otherworldly sounds and a wordless offstage choir.

The Planets

Beethoven unfurls a grand paean to brotherhood, and we can’t help but be moved.

MTT Conducts Beethoven 9

SF Symphony Collaborative Partner and classical singer Julia Bullock joins Esa-Pekka Salonen and the Orchestra for a program that sings the American story in works by George Gershwin and Margaret Bonds. Reena Esmail’s Black Iris takes its title from the eponymous Georgia O'Keeffe painting and grapples with the recent #metoo movement. The program closes with Maurice Ravel’s ravishing Daphnis et Chloé, telling the story of two lovers and their wildly adventurous lives. 

Esa-Pekka Salonen & Julia Bullock

The San Francisco Symphony welcomes renowned pianist Igor Levit for a multi-week concert residency. Levit became a household name in 2020 when he presented a daily concert online from his home for fifty consecutive days, offering music, hope, and connection during the pandemic.

Igor Levit Plays Busoni

Kaija Saariaho’s intensely moving opera Adriana Mater explores the relationship between a mother and her son as they navigate a world rumbling with the threat of violence. Esa-Pekka Salonen and director Peter Sellars helm this semi-staged production.

Kaija Saariaho's Adriana Mater

Join us in 2022-23 for a season of vibrant musical experiences and a multitude of creative perspectives.

Britten's War Requiem

Join us in 2022-23 for a season of vibrant musical experiences.

Music for the Royal Fireworks

MTT & Jean-Yves Thibaudet

The San Francisco Symphony writes: George Frideric Handel’s Messiah was an instant classic soon after its 1742 premiere and has been a holiday tradition around the world ever since. Through a dramatic series of arias, recitatives, and choruses, Handel offers a musical meditation on Christ’s birth, life, and resurrection—and his message of redemption. Masaaki Suzuki leads the SF Symphony and Chorus in this perennial favorite. 

The San Francisco Symphony writes: Xian Zhang leads Ludwig van Beethoven’s enduring Ninth Symphony, which celebrates the bonds of humanity and the glory of the creator in its triumphant “Ode to Joy.” Before that, discover Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s Ballade, displaying the depth and maturity of a young composer poised for greatness, and Michael Abels’ Emerge, which tells the story of musicians returning to their art and rediscovering the joy of making music together.

Beethoven 9

Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 2, Resurrection, evokes the divine glory of eternal life attained only through the suffering of the mortal world. Its lyrical slow movement and heart-pounding finale introduce two vocal soloists, here embodied by soprano Golda Schultz and mezzo-soprano Michelle DeYoung. Opening the program, Trevor Weston, inaugural winner of the Emerging Black Composers Project, unveils a new orchestral work, led by Esa-Pekka Salonen in its world premiere.

Salonen Conducts Mahler 2

Esa-Pekka Salonen has said “ritual is at the very heart of Stravinsky’s craft.” With the austere and incantatory Oedipus Rex, Stravinsky brings to life a classic Greek myth of power, deception, and heartbreak in a voice that is only his. The Symphony of Psalms turns to an altogether different ritual, cloaking three familiar religious texts in a mantle of drama and timelessness. Salonen and the Orchestra are joined by a cast of stellar vocalists, the SF Symphony Chorus, and legendary director Peter Sellars for this staged event.

Stravinsky's Oedipus Rex

Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Sixth Symphony, nicknamed Pathétique to describe the emotional turmoil evoked by its lush orchestral writing, anchors this program led by conductor Nathalie Stutzmann. Listen as the music twists its way through moments of touching tenderness and overwhelming passion before arriving at a deeply introspective final movement that has floored audiences since the work’s premiere in 1893. The program opens with three choral works by Johannes Brahms inspired by Classical mythology and featuring the SF Symphony Chorus.

Stutzmann Conducts Tchaikovsky 6 - Open Rehearsal

The Grammy Award-winning SF Symphony Chorus takes on Carl Orff’s exhilarating showpiece, Carmina burana. Arguably the most iconic choral work of the twentieth century, its unforgettable opening, “O Fortuna,” has become a pop culture phenomenon. Based on medieval German poetry, Carmina burana has it all: rhythmic and brooding choruses, lusty drinking songs, ballads cursing fickle lovers, and gleaming paeans to love.
The San Francisco Symphony does not appear in this performance

SF Symphony Chorus: Carmina Burana

Lights, Camera, Music!: Watch favorite films on the big screen at Davies Symphony Hall as the scores are performed live by the SF Symphony.


The Lord of The Rings: The Fellowship of The Ring

Lights, Camera, Music!: Watch favorite films on the big screen at Davies Symphony Hall as the scores are performed live by the SF Symphony. The second installment of Peter Jackson’s fantasy-adventure saga finds the Fellowship of the Ring facing new challenges in their quest to destroy the One Ring. Rated PG-13

The Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers

At the euphoric climax of Maestro, Bradley Cooper channels Leonard Bernstein conducting Mahler’s Second Symphony. The Resurrection still matters because it moves us, and it moves us because it grapples with the Big Questions: Do our lives matter? Why must we suffer? Will we be healed? Reinforcing this theme of spiritual transcendence, Mahler wrote his own text for the finale: “Rise again…What you have conquered, will bear you to God!”

San Francisco Symphony Chorus

8 - 10 May, 2025

The Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers

12 - 14 Jun, 2025

Salonen Conducts Mahler 2

16 - 19 Jan, 2025

Carmina Burana & Adams’ Piano Concerto

6 - 7 Dec, 2024

Handel’s Messiah

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San Francisco Symphony Chorus