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By Eman Isadiar |
Conductor and music director Michael Tilson Thomas unveils San Francisco Symphony's 2009-2010 season. (Photo courtesy of San Francisco Symphony) |
The 2009-2010 season will open on September 9 with pianist Lang Lang, followed by a three-week festival exploring the music of Gustav Mahler and others with artistic ties to the composer. Segments of the festival will be filmed for future episodes of the symphony’s signature educational series Keeping Score. Selected Mahler works will also be performed on tour in New York and in Lucerne, Switzerland, while SFS Media plans to release a new album with Mahler’s Symphony of a Thousand recorded live at Davies Hall in November 2008.
Other important season highlights include new Keeping Score episodes featuring music by Berlioz, Shostakovich and Ives to be broadcast on KQED in the fall, new residency projects with cellist Yo-Yo Ma and composer George Benjamin, and a star-studded roster of guest artists from violinist Itzhak Perlman to baritone Thomas Hampson. San Francisco Symphony will also host performances by the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Berlin Philharmonic, Gewandhaus Orchestra and Mariinsky Orchestra.
No Artistic Budget Cuts
Executive director Brent Assink announced that the symphony has sealed a new four-year collective bargaining agreement with the musicians, extending well past the symphony's 100th anniversary. He also added that the accompanying digital media agreement will enable the symphony to cultivate its audience base through technology.
With regard to economic conditions Board president John Goldman emphasized that, while the symphony’s endowment has been deeply impacted by the present crisis, the symphony’s board of governors is committed to maintaining the organization’s unsurpassed artistic excellence. He pointed out that, beginning in the fourth quarter of 2008, the board has taken significant measures to reduce the symphony’s administrative costs, and will continue to find new ways to weather the current economy. He insisted that none of these efforts will include a reduction to the artistic budget in any way, shape or form.
When asked if touring presented a significant drain on resources, Goldman replied that national and international concert tours are a great way to uphold the symphony’s image as a world-class orchestra. He added that the board is diligent to ensure that touring frequency and costs are sustainable over the long term.
Tilson Thomas the Pianist
Ending the conference on a musical note, Michael Tilson Thomas said that he has felt a new surge of inspiration to practice the piano. He added that he plans to appear as the soloist in Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 23 in January 2010, which he jokingly hoped would not be a “suicide performance.”
Tilson Thomas also spoke about his rediscovery of Schubert through the composer’s vast repertoire of four-hand piano music. He added that he often gets so absorbed in the music that he attempts to simultaneously play both parts alone.
For additional information about the San Francisco Symphony, visit sfsymphony.org or call (415) 864-6000.
Eman Isadiar teaches piano at the Peninsula Conservatory and writes about music in the San Francisco Bay Area.
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