SFP Announces 2023–24 Season

Following up on the announcement of the 2023–24 season of the San Francisco Symphony on Tuesday of last week, San Francisco Performances (SFP) announced its 2023–24 season yesterday morning, exactly one week later! This will be its 44th season, which will begin this coming September 29 and run through May 3, 2024. Once again, a Web page has been created, listing all the performance dates, each specifying (in parentheses) the venue and the series under which the event will be presented.

One of those series will again take place on six Saturday mornings, beginning at 10 a.m. As in the past this series will be presented by the members of the Alexander String Quartet (ASQ) joined by Music Historian-in-Residence Robert Greenberg. The title of this series will be Music as a Mirror of Our World: The String Quartet from 1905 to 1946. The selections to be performed will be roughly in chronological order, and each program will account for a single geographic venue.

As in the past, the concert performances will include the PIVOT Festival, which will be in its ninth year. Once again, the Festival will consist of three consecutive evenings of performances on January 24, 25, and 26. The curator will be Gabriel Kahane, who will be the pianist for all three of the programs. On the first program he will perform with the Attacca Quartet, followed by a performance with the vocal ensemble Roomful of Teeth on the second program. The final concert will be an “all hands” program with both Attacca and Roomful participating.

Pianist Jonathan Biss, who will curate next seasons SFP Piano Series (photograph by Benjamin Ealovega, courtesy of SFP)

The other series will be familiar to SFP audiences:

• The Shenson Chamber Series
• Art of Song
• Piano
• Guitar
• Great Artists and Ensembles

As in the past, the Guitar Series will be presented in association with the OMNI Foundation for the Performing Arts. The Piano Series will be somewhat different, consisting of three recitals all performed by Jonathan Biss. Biss has given the series his own unique title Echoes of Schubert. Each program will conclude with one of Franz Schubert’s last three piano sonatas: D. 958 in C minor, D. 959 in A major, and D. 960 in B-flat major. These will be preceded by the first, second, and third of the four impromptus collected as D. 935. What is most interesting is that each program will begin with a new composition. The contributing composers will be Tyson Gholston Davis, Alvin Singleton, and Tyshawn Sorey; and the titles for these pieces have not yet been announced.

The annual gala will mark the beginning of the new season on September 29. It will serve as a celebration of the 35th anniversary of the ASQ’s service as the SFP Quartet-in-Residence. Those attending the entire gala evening will have priority in selecting seats for the program that ASQ will prepare for this occasion. In the past any remaining seats will be available for sale to the general public.

As usual, there will be a brochure for the entire season, both physical and digital. As in the past, those specifics will be discussed on this site through the usual series-by-series articles. Subscriptions will go on sale on April 11. On that date a Web page will be created for online purchases, and subscriptions will also be available for ordering by calling 415-677-0325.