San Francisco Symphony Announced 2024–25 Season Of Concerts 

In the 2024–25 season, the San Francisco Symphony will present 10 chamber music concerts highlighting Symphony musicians, 10 Great Performers Series programs featuring world-class solo artists and visiting ensembles, and four Shenson Spotlight Series recitals highlighting ascendant artists in their Davies Symphony Hall debuts. For detailed concert listings, please refer to the 2024–25 Season Calendar or visit sfsymphony.org/calendar.

Chamber Music Series

Programmed and performed by Symphony musicians, the San Francisco Symphony's 2024–25 Chamber Music Series presents 10 performances throughout the season at Davies Symphony Hall and the Legion of Honor. The September 29 program at Davies Symphony Hall includes Kinan Azmeh's Café Damas for Violin, Viola, and Bass; Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Quintet for Piano and Winds, K.452; Florent Schmitt's Sonatine en Trio for Flute, Clarinet, and Piano; and Robert Schumann's Piano Quartet, Opus 47. On November 10, Symphony musicians perform a program featuring works by Johann Sebastian Bach, Maurice Ravel, Richard Strauss, and Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. The January 26 concert includes pieces by Arnold Bax, Benjamin Britten, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, and Camille Saint-Saëns.

Chamber music at Davies Symphony Hall continues on March 16 with Symphony musicians performing works by Gustav Mahler and Franz Schubert alongside Jeremiah Siochi's Duo for Harp and Percussion. On April 27, Symphony musicians perform pieces by Giovanni Bottesini, Bohuslav Martinů, Sergei Prokofiev, and Paul Schoenfield. The series wraps up on June 15 with a program including Anton Arensky's Cello Quartet, Johannes Brahms' String Quartet No. 3, Aleksey Igudesman's Latin Suite for Two Violas, and Caroline Shaw's Entr'acte.

The 2024–25 Legion of Honor Chamber Series returns with four concerts featuring SF Symphony Concertmaster Alexander Barantschik, former Symphony cellist Peter Wyrick, and guest pianist Anton Nel. On October 27, the trio performs Johann Sebastian Bach's Sonata in A major for Violin and Harpsichord, BWV 1015; Bach's Sonata No. 3 in G minor for Viola da gamba (Cello) and Harpsichord, BWV 1029; and Franz Schubert's Piano Trio No. 2 in E-flat major, D.929. On December 1, the program includes Ludwig van Beethoven's Violin Sonata No. 1 in D major, Opus 12, no.1; Cello Sonata No. 1 in F major, Opus 5, no.1; and Piano Trio in E-flat major, Opus 70, no.2. On March 23, the trio plays Bach's Italian Concerto, BWV 971; Johannes Brahms's Piano Trio No. 3 in C minor; and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Piano Trio No. 3 in B-flat major, K.502. On June 2, the concert features Frank Bridge's Phantasie for Piano Trio; Joseph Haydn's Piano Trio in G major, Hob.XV:25; and Felix Mendelssohn's Piano Trio No. 2 in C minor, Opus 66.

The acclaimed Legion of Honor Chamber Series was launched in 2002 when the Fine Arts Museums honored Alexander Barantschik with an exclusive loan of a legendary Guarnerius del Gesù violin. The “David” Guarnerius del Gesu violin dates to 1742 and was once owned by the virtuoso Ferdinand David. It was bequeathed to the Fine Arts Museums by famed violinist Jascha Heifetz upon his death in 1987, with the stipulation that it be “played on special occasions by worthy performers.” Barantschik performs on this violin at all chamber concerts. This season marks 22 years of San Francisco Symphony's partnership with the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. 

See the complete Chamber Music Series schedule here.

Great Performers Series

The San Francisco Symphony's 2024–25 Great Performers Series presents 10 programs featuring world-class artists in solo recitals and ensemble performances at Davies Symphony Hall throughout the season. 

The Great Performers Series kicks off on October 27 with pianist Emanuel Ax playing Ludwig van Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 13, Opus 27, no.1, Quasi una Fantasia and Piano Sonata No. 14, Opus 27, no.2, Moonlight; John Corigliano's Fantasia on an Ostinato; Robert Schumann's Arabeske in C major, Opus 18 and Fantasy in C major, Opus 17. On November 10, violinist Itzhak Perlman returns to Davies Symphony Hall with an all-star lineup of collaborators including Emanuel Ax, pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet, and the Juilliard String Quartet. The performance includes Ernest Chausson's Concert for Violin, Piano, and String Quartet, Opus 21; Jean-Marie Leclair's Sonata for Two Violins in E minor, Opus 3, no.5; and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Piano Quartet No. 2 in E-flat major, K.493. 

On February 9, pianist Seong-Jin Cho plays a solo recital featuring the complete piano solo works of Maurice Ravel. On February 26, violinist Joshua Bell leads the Academy of St Martin in the Fields in a performance also featuring musicians from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. The program includes J.S. Bach's Concerto for Two Violins in D minor, featuring Bell and an SFCM student selected by him; Joseph Haydn's Symphony No. 29; and Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade.

Yuja Wang and Víkingur Ólafsson present a wide-ranging duo piano recital on March 2, including John Adams's Hallelujah Junction; Luciano Berio's Wasserklavier; Dave Brubeck's Fugue from Points on Jazz; György Ligeti's In zart fliessender Bewegung, from Three Pieces for Two Pianos; Thomas Ades's arrangement of Conlon Nancarrow's Study No. 6; Arvo Pärt's Hymn to a Great City; Sergei Rachmaninoff's Symphonic Dances, Opus 45; and Franz Schubert's Fantasia in F minor, D.940.

The Israel Philharmonic, led by conductor Lahav Shani, performs Tzvi Avni's Prayer; Leonard Bernstein's Halil, Max Bruch's Kol Nidrei, and Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 5 on March 23. Violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter, accompanied by her longtime collaborator, pianist Lambert Orkis, plays Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Violin Sonata in F major, K.376; Ottorino Respighi's Violin Sonata in B minor; Franz Schubert's Fantasy in C major for Violin and Piano, D.934; and Clara Schumann's Three Romances for Violin and Piano, Opus 22 on April 6. Pianist Evgeny Kissin plays a solo recital featuring Ludwig van Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 7 in D major, Opus 10, no.3; Frédéric Chopin's Nocturnes in G minor, Opus 15, no.3, E-flat major, Opus 55, no.2, and E minor, Opus 72, no.1, along with the Polonaise in A major, Opus 40, no.1; Dmitri Shostakovich's Piano Sonata No. 2 in B minor; and selections from Shostakovich's 24 Preludes and Fugues, Opus 87 on April 20. 

On May 20, pianists Michael Feinstein and Jean-Yves Thibaudet perform their innovative program Two Pianos: Who Could Ask for Anything More?, exploring the musical world of George Gershwin, with the San Francisco Symphony. The Great Performers Series closes June 1 with a duo recital featuring cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason and pianist Isata Kanneh-Mason performing Gabriel Fauré's Cello Sonata No. 1 in D minor, a new work by Natalie Klouda, Felix Mendelssohn's Cello Sonata No. 1 in B-flat major, and Francis Poulenc's Cello Sonata.

See the complete Great Performers Series schedule here or visit sfsymphony.org/gps.  

Shenson Spotlight Series

The San Francisco Symphony's Shenson Spotlight Series, now in its fourth season, features ascendant artists in their Davies Symphony Hall debuts. 

On February 19, violinist Tessa Lark performs with pianist Amy Yang. Lark's debut commercial recording was Sky, a bluegrass-inspired violin concerto written for her by Michael Torke and performed with the Albany Symphony Orchestra, which was then nominated for a Grammy for Best Classical Instrumental Solo in 2020. Her newest album, The Stradgrass Sessions, was released in spring 2023. Yang is the Associate Dean of Piano Studies and Artistic Initiatives at the Curtis Institute of Music, and she balances an active career as soloist, chamber musician, and pedagogue.

On April 9, pianist Martin James Bartlett performs a solo recital. He was the inaugural recipient of the Prix Serdang in 2022, a Swiss prize curated by Rudolf Buchbinder in recognition of the achievements of a promising young pianist while forging an international solo career. In the 2023–24 season, Bartlett debuted with the European Union Youth Orchestra at the Grafenegg Festival, Stockholm Philharmonic at the Merano Festival, and the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra. 

On May 21, pianist Tony Siqi Yun plays a solo recital. In 2019, he won First Prize and a Gold Medal performing Tchaikovsky's First Piano Concerto at the inaugural China International Music Competition. In the 2024–25 season, Yun debuts with the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra, Colorado Springs Philharmonic, and the Nashville Symphony. 

On June 4, double bassist Xavier Foley performs with pianist Kelly Lin. Foley is a first prize winner of the 2016 YCA Susan Wadsworth International Auditions, winner of the 2014 Sphinx Competition, and a 2018 Recipient of the Avery Fisher Career Grant. During the 2023–24 season, he toured throughout North America with the Sphinx Virtuosi playing his new concerto, “Galaxy” Concertante, commissioned by Sphinx Virtuosi, New World Symphony, and Carnegie Hall. Lin is a collaborative pianist at the Juilliard School, Mannes/New School, Manhattan School of Music, and Columbia University, and has won national competitions and awards for piano, violin, viola, and erhu in Taiwan. 

See the complete Shenson Spotlight Series schedule here. 

Tickets for concerts at Davies Symphony Hall can be purchased  via sfsymphony.org or by calling the San Francisco Symphony Box Office at 415.864.6000.

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