By Lina Broydo
San Francisco Symphony Bids Farewell to Maestro Esa-Pekka Salonen
Beloved and admired by the audiences as well as the musicians Esa-Pecca Salonen’s tenure as SF Symphony Music Director culminates in June 2025 following the completion of his five-year contract. In his fifth and final season as Music Director, Esa-Pekka Salonen conducts the Orchestra in 12 programs, including an Opening Gala performance with Lang Lang; SF Symphony’s annual All San Francisco Concert; a continued exploration of Stravinsky’s works; performances of major compositions by Beethoven, Brahms, Debussy, Sibelius, Strauss, Verdi, and more; as well as three world premiere performances as Salonen conducts the San Francisco Symphony and Chorus in Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 in his final program as Music Director, June 12–14, 2025.
Salonen will maintain an ongoing partnership with the San Francisco Symphony through regular guest conducting appearances and collaborations. 2024–25 season features four conductors and 14 soloists making their Orchestral Series debuts, as well as anticipated return performances from classical music luminaries featuring Emanuel Ax, Seong-Jin Cho, Sheku Kanneh-Mason & Isata Kanneh-Mason, Evgeny Kissin, Anne-Sophie Mutter, Jean-Yves Thibaudet & Michael Feinstein, Yuja Wang & Víkingur Ólafsson, Joshua Bell and Academy of St Martin in the Fields; Itzhak Perlman and friends; and the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra.
It is not goodbye Esa-Pekka Salonen, it is au revoir!
Information
sfsymphony.org
Photos courtesy of SF Symphony
International Ballet Stars Pirouette to San Francisco’s Swan Lake
April 30 – May 5, 2024
This should be amazing, exciting, memorable and not to be missed as guest stars Natalia Osipova (The Royal Ballet. Born in Moscow, Osipova trained at the Bolshoi Ballet Academy and joined the Bolshoi Ballet in 2004, and was promoted to principal in 2010), Daniel Camargo (American Ballet Theatre. Born in Sorocaba, Brazil, Camargo joined the John Cranko School in Stuttgart, Germany in 2005, studying under the Russian teacher Peter Pestov) and Jacopo Tissi (Dutch National Ballet.
Jacopo Tissi studied at the Scala Theatre Academy where he was taught by Maurizio Vanadia and Leonid Nikonov.
After graduating with honors in 2014, he joined the Vienna State Opera Ballet under the direction of Manuel Legris), join in San Francisco Ballet’s Swan Lake Encore! and who will partner with SF Ballet principal dancers in the iconic roles of Odette-Odile and Prince Siegfried.
Artistic Director Tamara Rojo says, “I am thrilled to welcome these Stars to San Francisco, a city that loves ballet, and I can’t wait for them to share our stage and their world renown artistry with our wonderful company and audience.”
Choreographed by the brilliant Helgi Tomasson to the music of Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, it is a classic ballet for all to see, marvel and enjoy! This is as good as it gets!
Since its founding in 1933 and as the oldest professional ballet company in the United States, the Ballet has been an innovator in the artform and an originator of beloved cultural traditions, from staging the first American production of Swan Lake to bringing an annual holiday Nutcracker to U.S. audiences.
Information
sfballet.org
Photos courtesy of SF Ballet
“Irving Penn: Photography” Fascinate and Reflect the Eras in Our Life
On view through July 21, 2024 at the de Young Museum in San Francisco
In his work during his 70-year career and known mainly as an award winning fashion photographer, master portraitist and still-life maestro, Irving Penn whose eye for capturing the life and styles of haute couture in the 20th century, explored style trends outside of the fashion industry. Personally related to the era of the 60ths my favorite and my personal interest in this striking exhibit was related to the fascinating photos captured by Penn in San Francisco.
In 1967, Penn proposed to the editors of Look Magazine a story focused on the countercultural movements that were coalescing in California, particularly around the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood of San Francisco during the Summer of Love. Penn’s portraits of West Coast residents, including Hells Angels, rock bands, and hippie families, were published in the January 1968 issue of Look in an essay titled “The Incredibles.”
For Look, Penn traveled to California to document what were described by the feature writer as “people . . . [for whom] a lifestyle becomes a statement about the world and, in essence, a work of art.” Penn placed his subjects in a neutral environment — similar to the ones he used for his 1950 studies of Paris couture and his Small Trades series—renting what he described as “a space on the second floor of a vast barn of a building in Sausalito.”
Take a stroll through this unusually surprising exhibit beautifully presented by the de Young Museum’s stylists and their talented production team. Were they reminiscing about their own 60th era in San Francisco as I was or just dreaming they were? Happy Birthday to the de Young Museum! Since first opening its doors on March 23, 1895, the museum has grown to one of the most visited art museums in the United States and has played a significant role in connecting millions of visitors with local and global art for the past 129 years.
Information
deyoung.famsf.org
Photos courtesy of de Young Museum
“Queen”
Now on view through March 31, 2024 at Lucie Stern Theatre in Palo Alto
What if all the bees abandoned their queen? In this high-stakes environmental drama, best friends Sanam and Ariel – PhD candidates from India and the U.S. – research the collapse of bee colonies worldwide, dreaming they themselves might collapse the glass ceiling of academia.
When a flaw emerges in their research, their friendship, careers, and even an arranged marriage are at risk.
With ecological disaster on the horizon, should they withdraw their findings or compromise them to protect the planet?
Hurry to see this superbly acted play written by San Jose native Madhuri Shekar before this queen flies away to the theaters in London, New York or Paris…
Well, why not?
Information
theatreworks.org
Photos courtesy of TheatreWorks
