Experience the excitement of the SAN DIEGO SYMPHONY’S 2025-26 SEASON!
Rafael Payare | Music Director
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Stories in Music
This season, our music is rich with storytelling, spanning centuries and genres. From the stirring drama of Bartók’s Bluebeard’s to the evocative fairytale lands of Debussy’s The Joyful Isle and Ravel’s The Child and the Magical , from the power and majesty of Holst’s The to Mussorgsky’s Pictures from an Exhibition, every piece is a story waiting to be discovered.
In addition to favorite artists that you’ve heard in San Diego before, we’ll collaborate with 14 artists making their San Diego Symphony debut, and the orchestra will perform 11 works never before played by the orchestra, including John Adams’ Century , a piano concerto inspired by player pianos; Lera , inspired by the myth of the winged boy who dared to fly too close to the sun; and Adam Cool Cat, a playful and celebratory work inspired by the extraordinary life of P-22, the mountain lion that captured the heart of Los Angeles and beyond.
BROCHURE KEY
JACOBS MASTERWORKS
JAZZ @ THE JACOBS
SPECIAL CONCERTS EPIC
PIANO
Through these performances, we hope to connect with you in profound ways, creating shared experiences that linger long after the final note has been played. Music reminds us that, no matter our differences, we all share a common humanity—a truth that becomes all the more poignant when we gather to listen together.
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FRIDAY, OCTOBER 3 | 7:30 PM
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 5 | 2 PM
FRENCH FAIRYTALES: RAVEL AND DEBUSSY
Rafael Payare, conductor
Isabel Leonard, L'enfant
Liv Redpath, Le feu/la princesse/le rossignol
San Diego Symphony Chorus
San Diego Children's Choir
Gerard McBurney, director
DEBUSSY The Joyful Isle
DEBUSSY (orch. Caplet) The Box of Toys
RAVEL The Child and the Magical Spells: a lyric fantasy in two scenes
A theatrical celebration of the light and enchantment of France and French music, beginning with Debussy’s evocation of a journey to a mysterious island of love, and his witty and charming ballet score for children about the adventures of a box of toys. The program ends with a colorful and delightful semi-staging of Ravel’s immortal and much-loved comic fantasy about a naughty child whose toys come to life to punish him, featuring Isabel Lenard who won a GRAMMY award for her recording of this work.
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 11 | 7:30 PM SUNDAY, OCTOBER 12 | 2 PM
ROMANTIC VISIONS: SCHUMANN’S SYMPHONY NO. 2
Rafael Payare, conductor
Javier Perianes, piano
CHABRIER España, Rhapsody for orchestra
JIMMY LÓPEZ Ephemerae, Concerto for Piano and Orchestra
SCHUMANN Symphony No. 2
A lush new piano concerto, written by San Diego Symphony’s Composer-in-Residence, Jimmy López, for soloist Javier Perianes is filled with echoes of Latin melodies and dance rhythms. The program continues with Schumann’s magnificent Symphony No. 2, composed at dizzying speed after the composer’s recovery from an illness, and shot through with an exuberant love of life and energetic overflowing melodies.
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 17 | 7:30 PM SATURDAY, OCTOBER 18 | 7:30 PM
MUSIC OF THE HEAVENS: HOLST’S PLANETS
Gemma New, conductor
Geneva Lewis, violin
Women of the San Diego Master Chorale
LERA AUERBACH Icarus for Orchestra
VAUGHAN WILLIAMS The Lark Ascending
HOLST The Planets
A concert about the skies above us, beginning with Lera Auerbach’s cinematic description of Icarus who flew too close to the sun, followed by Ralph Vaughan Williams’ most popular piece, The Lark Ascending, a miniature violin concerto in which the soloist represents a tiny skylark on a spring day, flying into the heavens in cascades of folk-inspired melody. The concert ends with Gustav Holst’s spectacular orchestral suite The Planets, describing seven planets of ancient astrology, each with their own mysterious properties which shape our character.
Geneva Lewis
Javier Perianes
Isabel Leonard
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SUNDAY, OCTOBER 19 | 7 PM
THE KING’S SINGERS
The King's Singers have represented the gold standard in a cappella singing on the world's greatest stages for over fifty years. They are renowned for their unrivaled technique, versatility and skill in performance, and for their consummate musicianship, drawing both on the group's rich heritage and its pioneering spirit to create an extraordinary wealth of original works and unique collaborations.
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 29 | 7:30 PM
ALISA WEILERSTEIN: FRAGMENTS 4
Alisa Weilerstein, cello
In FRAGMENTS 4, the fourth installment of this groundbreaking performance series for solo cello performed by Alisa Weilerstein, new works are woven together with Johann Sebastian Bach’s fourth cello suite, responsive lighting and scenic architecture, inviting audiences into an immersive, multi sensory experience.
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 7 | 7:30 PM SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 8 | 7:30 PM
WHERE THE SHINING TRUMPETS BLOW: PAYARE LEADS BRUCKNER NO. 4
Rafael Payare, conductor
Matthias Goerne, baritone
MAHLER Selections from The Boy’s Magical Horn (Des Knaben Wunderhorn)
BRUCKNER Symphony No. 4, “Romantic”
Few literary works in the 19th century were as significant as The Boy’s Magic Horn (Des Knaben Wunderhorn), a magical mix of everyday experience and the bizarre. Mahler used these texts as the basis for his own creation, evoking the lives and feelings of ordinary people in extraordinary times.
Bruckner’s spacious symphonies are filled with images of the countryside and high mountains. His Symphony No. 4 “Romantic” is especially loved for its magnificent writing for the horns, using these instruments to suggest wild huntsmen riding across a landscape.
Rafael Payare
Alisa Weilerstein
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 14 | 7:30 PM SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 15 | 7:30 PM
TALES OF ENCHANTMENT: HADELICH PLAYS SIBELIUS
Rafael Payare, conductor
Augustin Hadelich, violin
MENDELSSOHN The Hebrides (Fingal’s Cave)
SIBELIUS Violin Concerto
SCHUBERT Symphony No. 9, “The Great”
From Schubert to Sibelius, Romantic composers were fascinated by the strange and the exotic. Mendelssohn traveled to the remote Atlantic islands of Scotland where he was inspired to write his Hebrides overture, mimicking the sound of the sea and the wailing of ancient bagpipes. In his violin concerto, Sibelius caught the incantations of Finnish folk music and the wailing of wind in the northern forests. Schubert’s last and greatest symphony is one of the central works of Western classical music.
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 16 | 6 PM
DAVINA AND THE VAGABONDS
Davina Sowers and the Vagabonds have created a stir on the national music scene with their high-energy live shows, level A musicianship, sharp-dressed professionalism, and Sowers’ commanding stage presence. With influences ranging from Fats Domino and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band to Aretha Franklin and Tom Waits, the band is converting audiences one show at a time.
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 21 | 11 AM SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 22 | 7:30 PM
INVOCATIONS TO THE SPIRITS: BEETHOVEN PIANO CONCERTO NO. 4
Anja Bihlmaier, conductor
Steven Osborne, piano
OLLY WILSON Shango Memory
BEETHOVEN Piano Concerto No. 4
SIBELIUS Symphony No. 1
Music can suggest our deepest feelings of spiritual awe. In this program, three composers capture the human yearning for understanding. The great African American composer Olly Wilson drew on his roots in jazz and his ancestors to suggest the terrifying power of Shango, the ancient Yoruba god of thunder and lightning. In the slow movement of his Fourth Piano Concerto, Beethoven calls to mind the Greek divinity Orpheus who tamed wild beasts with the beauty of his music. Sibelius’ First Symphony plunges deep into the imaginary mythology of prehistoric Finland.
Augustin Hadelick
Davina Sowers
Steven Osborne
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SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 29 | 7:30 PM
JAZZ @ AT THE JACOBS JOHN COLTRANE:
BLUE TRAIN
BLUE TRAIN
john coltrane
Brian Levy, tenor saxophone
Gilbert Castellanos, trumpet
Andre Hayward, trombone
Mike Gurrola, bass
Additional artists to be announced
Pre-Show: Young Lions Jazz Conservatory All-Stars, jazz band
Gilbert Castellanos, Brian Levy, Andre Hayward, Mike Gurrola bring John Coltrane’s Blue Train to life. Coltrane wrote all but one of the compositions on the album - rare at the album’s time of release. *The San Diego Symphony Orchestra does not appear on this concert.
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 6 | 7:30 PM
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 7 | 2 PM
DRAMA AND PATHOS: GOOSBY PLAYS TCHAIKOVSKY VIOLIN CONCERTO
Kahchun Wong, conductor Randall Goosby, violin
UNSUK CHIN suddenly with power (subito con forza)
TCHAIKOVSKY Violin Concerto MUSSORGSKY (orch. Ravel)
Pictures from an Exhibition
Korean composer Unsuk Chin’s subito con forza provides a thrilling opening mixing savage drama with sweet melodies. Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto was written in only a few days in an unstoppable flow of passion and inspiration, while Mussorgsky’s Pictures from an Exhibition (orchestrated by Maurice Ravel) mourns the tragic death of an artist friend; the music rages against the cruelty of his fate, remembers the sweetness of shared experiences, and fills us all with hope.
SATURDAY, JANUARY 10 | 6 PM
GORDON GOODWIN’S BIG PHAT BAND
Gordon Goodwin’s Big Phat Band is an 18-piece jazz orchestra led by that combines the big band swing of the 1930s and 1940s with funk and jazz fusion. Goodwin is a gifted and creative pianist, an explosive and ‘haul ass’, ‘kick butt,’ sax player, an arranger of absolutely no limit of musical styles and composer.
*The San Diego Symphony Orchestra does not appear on this concert.
Randall Goosby
SATURDAY, JANUARY 17 | 7:30 PM SUNDAY, JANUARY 18 | 2 PM
HEROIC MONUMENTS: DVOŘÁK SYMPHONY NO. 7
Thomas Guggeis, conductor Marc-André Hamelin, piano
BRAHMS Piano Concerto No. 1
DVOŘÁK Symphony No. 7
Music and memory have always been close companions. Brahms’ First Piano Concerto, a work of symphonic vastness, was written out of his burning grief at the early death of his mentor Robert Schumann. Dvořák’s Seventh Symphony sprang from his intense longing for the freedom and independence of his native Bohemia (now the Czech Republic), and his desire to commemorate those who sacrificed so much in the cause of their country.
SATURDAY, JANUARY 24 | 7:30 PM
SUNDAY, JANUARY 25 | 2 PM
TRAGEDY AND TRIUMPH: SHOSTAKOVICH SYMPHONY NO. 8
Rafael Payare, conductor
BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 1
SHOSTAKOVICH Symphony No. 8
SATURDAY, JANUARY 31 | 7:30 PM
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 1 | 2 PM
MUSIC OF THE NIGHT: MAHLER SYMPHONY NO. 7
Rafael Payare, conductor
MAHLER Symphony No. 7
Beethoven’s exhilarating First Symphony was written in the last years of the 18th century, when Napoleon was seizing control of France and setting out to conquer Austria and Italy. The music breathes the air of earth-shaking public events and an intense optimism for the future. Shostakovich composed his Eighth Symphony in the depths of World War II. This dramatic music traverses every kind of human feeling from dark tragedy and struggle, through bitter satire and conflict, to a vision of a new world of transcendent beauty.
One of the greatest orchestral composers of all time, Mahler wrote symphonies which “sum up the whole history of music”. Rafael Payare is a renowned champion of Mahler. The Seventh Symphony, a cathedral of sound, moves from an eerie opening inspired by a trip across an alpine lake at night, through central movements filled with the ghosts of nocturnal dreams and experiences, to an ending like a colossal and heroic dawn in which all humanity seems to be celebrating.
RafaelPayare, conductor
“Exuding a podium manner of extreme, yet unforced, exuberance... Mr. Payare puts a high premium on bringing joy to concert audiences.”
- Wall Street Journal
Marc-André Hamelin
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 14 | 7:30 PM
SONGS FOR LOVERS:
The music of Chet Baker, Sarah Vaughan, Clifford Brown, Charlie Parker, and Dinah Washington
Charles McPherson, saxophone
Gilbert Castellanos, trumpet
Melissa Morgan, vocals
Willie Jones III, drums
Additional artists to be announced
Pre-Show: Young Lions Jazz Conservatory All-Stars, jazz band
Spend Valentine’s Day with loved ones and the music of Chet Baker, Sarah Vaughan, Clifford Brown, Charlie Parker, and Dinah Washington.
*The San Diego Symphony Orchestra does not appear on this concert.
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 15 | 2 PM
YEFIM BRONFMAN IN RECITAL
Internationally recognized as one of today’s most acclaimed and admired pianists, Yefim Bronfman stands among a handful of artists regularly sought by festivals, orchestras, conductors and recital series. His commanding technique, power and exceptional lyrical gifts are consistently acknowledged by the press and audiences alike. Join him for a matinee of piano favorites in this intimate recital.
*The San Diego Symphony Orchestra does not appear on this concert.
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 21 | 7:30 PM
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 22 | 2 PM
STORMS AND FIREWORKS: TCHAIKOVSKY SYMPHONY NO. 6 “PATH É TIQUE”
Nicholas Carter, conductor
Benjamin Grosvenor, piano
BRITTEN Four Sea Interludes from Peter Grimes
RAVEL Piano Concerto
TCHAIKOVSKY Symphony No. 6, “Pathétique”
Three of the best-loved pieces in the symphonic repertoire come together in this concert. Britten’s Sea Interludes depicts the changing colors and the terrifying storms of the North Sea between the UK and Germany. Ravel’s beloved G Major Piano Concerto echoes American jazz in the outer movements, and tributes Bach and Mozart in its central movement. The concert ends with one of the best known of all symphonies, Tchaikovsky’s Sixth, “Pathétique,” in response to the music’s mixture of drama and heartfelt melodies.
“The Jacobs (Music Center) is a place made for excitement.” - Los
Angeles Times
Benjamin Grosvenor
Yefim Bronfman
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 28 | 7:30 PM
BRAHMS FESTIVAL:
SYMPHONIES 1 & 2
Rafael Payare, conductor
BRAHMS Symphony No. 1
BRAHMS Symphony No. 2
FRIDAY, MARCH 6 | 7:30 PM
BRAHMS FESTIVAL: VIOLIN CONCERTO AND SYMPHONY NO. 4
Rafael Payare, conductor
Leonidas Kavakos, violin
BRAHMS Violin Concerto
BRAHMS Symphony No. 4
Brahms Festival
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 27 | 7:30 PM
BRAHMS FESTIVAL: A GERMAN REQUIEM
Rafael Payare, conductor
Julie Boulianne, soprano
Michael Sumuel, bass-baritone
San Diego Symphony Chorus
Andrew Megill, advisor & chorus master
BRAHMS A German Requiem (Ein deutsches Requiem)
SUNDAY, MARCH 1 | 2 PM
BRAHMS FESTIVAL: A GERMAN REQUIEM
Rafael Payare, conductor
Julie Boulianne, soprano
Michael Sumuel, bass-baritone
San Diego Symphony Chorus
Andrew Megill, advisor & chorus master
BRAHMS A German Requiem (Ein deutsches Requiem)
SATURDAY, MARCH 7 | 7:30 PM
BRAHMS FESTIVAL: SYMPHONY NO. 3 & VIOLIN CONCERTO
Rafael Payare, conductor
Leonidas Kavakos, violin
BRAHMS Symphony No. 3
BRAHMS Violin Concerto
Julie Boulianne
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TIME OUT THE DAVE
BRUBECK QUARTET
SATURDAY, APRIL 4 | 7:30 PM JAZZ @ THE JACOBS THE DAVE BRUBECK QUARTET: TIME OUT
Josh Nelson, piano
Nicole McCabe, alto saxophone
Luca Alemanno, bass
Joe LaBarbera, drums
Additional artists to be announced
Pre-Show: Young Lions Jazz Conservatory All-Stars, jazz band
Dave Brubeck Quartet’s Time Out broke records and conventions alike, becoming the first jazz album to sell a million copies. Join a quartet of jazz greats for an evening featuring this remarkable album.
*The San Diego Symphony Orchestra does not appear on this concert.
FRIDAY, APRIL 10 | 7:30 PM
SATURDAY, APRIL 11 | 7:30 PM
JOURNEYS TO CALIFORNIA: RACHMANINOFF SYMPHONY NO. 3
Robert Spano, conductor Conrad Tao, piano
ADAM SCHOENBERG Cool Cat JOHN ADAMS Century Rolls RACHMANINOFF Symphony No. 3
Music by three composers who call California home. Massachusetts-born Adam Schoenberg melds popular idioms into energetic pieces. Cool Cat is a fanfare that celebrates the life of P-22, the mountain lion who lived for a decade in the hills above Los Angeles. John Adams wrote his piano concerto Century Rolls in the 1990s as a celebration of American player-piano recordings. Rachmaninoff was a huge admirer of American music and in the last movement of his Third Symphony we can hear the influence of Hollywood film-music.
"The blend of the old and the new might serve as a metaphor for our classical music world – the traditional re-invented for a new age."
- Gramphone
Conrad Tao
SATURDAY, APRIL 18 | 7:30 PM
SUNDAY, APRIL 19 | 2 PM
FLITER PLAYS CHOPIN
Anna Sułkowska-Migoń, conductor
Ingrid Fliter, piano
KILAR Orawa
CHOPIN Piano Concerto No. 2
BORODIN Symphony No. 2
BORODIN “Polovtsian Dances” from Prince Igor
This program features music from the shifting borderlands between Europe and Asia. Polish film-composer Wojciech Kilar’s Orawa celebrates the mountain fiddle players of Southern Poland. Borodin’s “Polovtsian Dances” conjure up the wild dancing of ancient nomadic tribespeople in Southern Russia. Both Chopin’s Second Piano Concerto and Borodin’s tuneful Second Symphony evoke the uproarious and warlike merrymaking of medieval knights-in-armor, with their ancient bards and strange-sounding folk-instruments.
FRIDAY, APRIL 24 | 7:30 PM
SATURDAY, APRIL 25 | 7:30 PM
A FEAST OF BEETHOVEN
Trevor Pinnock, conductor
Alexandra Dovgan, piano
BEETHOVEN: Coriolan Overture
BEETHOVEN Piano Concerto No. 5, “Emperor"
BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 7
Trevor Pinnock, one of the great masters of Baroque and Classical music in our age, and Alexandra Dovgan, a young pianist but already celebrated across the world for the majesty and beauty of her playing, join the Orchestra for an all-Beethoven program. After the tragic grandeur of the Coriolan Overture come two of Beethoven’s greatest masterpieces: the “Emperor” Concerto and the Seventh Symphony, both pieces of overwhelming power and invention.
Alexandra Dovgan
Ingrid Fliter
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SATURDAY, MAY 9 | 7:30 PM
SUNDAY, MAY 10 | 2 PM FROM THE DEPTHS TO THE HEIGHTS: EIN HELDENLEBEN
Rafael Payare, conductor Alisa Weilerstein, cello
GABRIELA ORTIZ Dzonot
R. STRAUSS Ein Heldenleben
The legendary Mexican composer Gabriela Ortiz writes music of visceral energy and melodic sweetness. Her new cello concerto Dzonot, specially written for our very own Alisa Weilerstein, is inspired by the ‘cenotes,’ vast limestone sinkholes in Mexico which are like underground worlds all their own, with their own rivers, lakes, and plant and animal life.
This new work is paired with one of the most famous, sumptuous and outrageous orchestral scores of all time, Richard Strauss’ Ein Heldenleben (A Hero’s Life).
FRIDAY, MAY 15 | 7:30 PM
SATURDAY, MAY 16 | 7:30 PM
FOLK AURAS: THAYER PLAYS BERG VIOLIN CONCERTO
Rafael Payare, conductor
Jef Thayer, violin
JIMMY LÓPEZ Perú Negro
BERG Violin Concerto
MENDELSSOHN Symphony No. 3, “Scottish”
Three works inspired in very different ways by folk music and the mix of different cultures. Jimmy López’s Perú Negro (Black Peru) draws on the composer’s Afro-Peruvian roots. Alban Berg’s last completed work, his Violin Concerto, was written in memory of Manon, a daughter of Alma Mahler and Walter Gropius who had died at the age of 18. And Mendelssohn’s “Scottish” Symphony was inspired by his trip to Scotland where the young Berliner was overwhelmed by the feeling of a haunting and ancient culture.
Alisa Weilerstein
FRIDAY, MAY 22 | 7:30 PM
SUNDAY, MAY 24 | 2 PM
ALSO SPRACH ZARATHUSTRA & BLUEBEARD’S CASTLE
Rafael Payare, conductor
Karen Cargill, mezzo-soprano
Christopher Purves, baritone
Gerard McBurney, director
STRAUSS Also sprach Zarathustra
BARTÓK Bluebeard’s Castle
Our season ends with two of the most spectacular and orchestrally overwhelming scores from the late romantic period. Richard Strauss’ epic tone-poem by Nietzsche’s account of the deep meditations of the half-mythical Persian hermit-philosopher Zoroaster. Bartók’s dramatic woman who marries a mysterious aristocrat and discovers that he has terrible secrets kept behind locked doors.
Ticket buyers will have their choice of pre-paid parking options, including a range of prices all within one, two or three blocks from Jacobs Music Center.
Plus, experience delectable offerings from KNEAD Artisan Bakery, located right next to the Jacobs Music Center, KNEAD Artisan Bakery will have offerings before and at intermission, including sandwiches, bistro boxes and desserts. And, inside the new Jacobs Music Center, enjoy offerings provided by the University Club atop Symphony Towers.
Plenty of convenient parking options available!
“San Diego Symphony finally has a venue that permits it to sound like the world-class orchestra they’ve been...”
- San Diego Union Tribune
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STEP 1: Select four concerts from pages 4–17
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