A “Head Start” for the SFS 2024–25 Season

Jenny Wong conducting an SFS performance of Carmina burana in May of 2022 (photograph by Stefan Cohen, courtesy of SFS)

The 2024–25 Season of the San Francisco Symphony (SFS) will begin earlier than usual. By this I mean the first performance will take place prior to the annual Opening Night Gala. More specifically, that event will be preceded by the first in a series of five concerts, which will feature the SFS Chorus led by Director Jenny Wong, along with an impressive lineup of vocal soloists. These will all be included in different subscriptions; and, of course, tickets will also be available for individual performances. Specifics are as follows:

Thursday, September 19, Friday, September 20, and Saturday, September 21, 7:30 p.m.: The “pre-season” concert will be devoted entirely to the setting of the Requiem Mass by Giuseppe Verdi, which will conducted by Music Director Esa-Pekka Salonen and feature four vocal soloists: soprano Leah Hawkins, mezzo Karen Cargill, tenor Mario Chang, and bass Eric Owens. [updated 8/29, 4 p.m.: Owens has regretfully withdrawn for personal reasons; he will be replaced by bass Peixin Chin. It has also been announced that the program will begin with three short works by Gordon Getty. The first of these will be the concert premiere of the Intermezzo from his 2021 opera based on James Hilton’s novella Goodbye, Mr. Chips. The San Francisco Symphony Chorus for the world premiere of “St. Christopher.” The final selection will be the first SFS performance of Getty’s setting of his own poem, “The Old Man in the Snow.”]

Friday, November 15, and Saturday, November 16, 7:30 p.m., and Sunday, November 17, 2 p.m.: The second half of this program will be devoted entirely to Gabriel Fauré’s Requiem setting. The conductor will be Kazuki Yamada, and the vocal soloists will be soprano Liv Redpath and baritone Michael Sumuel. It will be complemented, during the first half of the program, by Maurice Ravel’s G major piano concerto with soloist Hélène Grimaud. The “overture” for the program will be Dai Fujikura’s “Entwine.”

Friday, December 6, and Saturday, December 7, 7:30 p.m.: This will be the annual seasonal performance of George Frideric Handel’s HWV 56 oratorio Messiah. The conductor will be Stephen Stubbs. As usual, there will be four vocal soloists: soprano Amanda Forsythe, countertenor John Holiday, tenor Aaron Sheehan, and baritone Douglas Williams.

Thursday, January 16, and Saturday, January 18, 7:30 p.m., and Sunday, January 19, 2 p.m.: David Robertson will conduct the performance of Carl Orff’s secular cantata Carmina burana. The vocal soloists will be soprano Susanna Phillips, tenor Arnold Livingston Geis, and baritone Will Liverman. This will serve as the second half of the program, whose first half will be devoted entirely to the world premiere of “After the Fall,” John Adams’ piano concerto composed on an SFS commission. The piano soloist will be Víkingur Ólafsson.

Thursday, June 12, Friday, June 13, and Saturday, June 14, 7:30 p.m.: As was the case this year, the season will include with a symphony by Gustav Mahler conducted by Salonen. This time it will be the second symphony, sometimes given the subtitle “Resurrection,” which refers to a poem included in the sung text. The vocal soloists will be soprano Heidi Stober and mezzo Sasha Cooke.

Each of the above dates is hyperlinked to an SFS Web page through which readers can be informed about ticket prices and availability, as well as support for online purchases. All tickets may also be purchased at the Davies Symphony Hall Box Office. The entrance is on the south side of MTT Way (formerly Grove Street), located between Franklin Street and Van Ness Avenue.