Performances Magazine San Diego | San Diego Symphony, May 2025

The return to

Jacobs Music Center

MAY 2025

Scan with your smartphone to access the interactive program

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MAGAZINE

contents CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: KIMBERLY MOTOS; COURTESY OF THE SAN DIEGO MUSEUM OF ART; COURTESY OF MOONLIGHT STAGE PRODUCTIONS

P1 Program

Cast, performances, who’s who, director’s notes, donors and more.

4 In the Wings

San Diego Symphony concerts, local theater shows, and new exhibits at The San Diego Museum of Art. (Pictured: Monet’s “Haystacks at Chailly,” 1865, in SDMA’s Impressionism Across the Atlantic.)

8 Feature:

Broadway Hits Arrive at The Moonlight

Moonlight Stage Productions presents a new season of hit Broadway musicals at Moonlight Amphitheatre.

(Steven Glaudini is pictured.)

13 Dining

Our favorite food and drink picks for May, including Starlite (pictured), Leu Leu, The Remedy Lounge, Puesto and Origen.

13 8

24 Parting Thought Performances’ program platform for theater shows and concerts can be accessed from any digital device.

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MAGAZINE

PUBLISHER

Jeff Levy EDITOR

Sarah Daoust ART DIRECTOR

Carol Wakano

PRODUCTION MANAGER

Glenda Mendez

PRODUCTION ARTIST

Diana Gonzalez

CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Stephanie Saad

ADVERTISING DIRECTOR

Kerry Baggett

ACCOUNT DIRECTORS

Walter Lewis, Jean Greene, Liz Moore CIRCULATION MANAGER

Christine Noriega-Roessler BUSINESS MANAGER

Leanne Killian Riggar MARKETING/ PRODUCTION MANAGER

A

Dawn Kiko Cheng

DIGITAL MANAGER

Lorenzo Dela Rama Contact Us ADVERTISING Kerry.Baggett@ CaliforniaMediaGroup.com WEBSITE Lorenzo.DelaRama@ CaliforniaMediaGroup.com

The moment has arrived...

Join us for our grand reopening.

CIRCULATION Christine.Roessler@ CaliforniaMediaGroup.com HONORARY PRESIDENT

Ted Levy

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ANNOUNCING

THE JOAN AND IRWIN JACOBS CENTER FOR SCIENCE AND CONSERVATION Heartfelt thanks to Joan and Irwin Jacobs for their transformational gift to help establish the Jacobs Center for Science and Conservation. This generous contribution will help us modernize our research, deepen our impact, and expand our role as a scientific leader. This is more than a gift, it is an investment in the future of our region.

WE’RE HERE FOR NATURE.

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Curator of Birds and Mammals Phil Unitt with some of the museum’s PERFORMANCES MAGAZINE 3 9 million research specimens.

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IN TH E W I N G S

MUST-SEE MAY SHOWS SAN DIEGO PLAYWRIGHT Deepak Kumar brings us a heartTHEATER warming, world-premiere comedy, House of India, at The Old Globe, May 10-June 1. The play centers on Ananya, who runs a struggling restaurant, House of India, near Cleveland. Should she take her cook’s advice and introduce a trendier fusion menu to pay the bills?

Or hold on firmly to her late husband’s vision? theoldglobe.org Lamb’s Players Theatre presents just three performances of Because You’re Mine: The Music of June Carter and Johnny Cash, May 23-25, featuring music talents Caitie Grady and Charles Evans, Jr. as the legendary couple. lambsplayers.org Neil Diamond himself collaborated to help make A Beautiful Noise: The Neil Diamond Musical, presented by Broadway San Diego at the Civic Theatre, May 27-June 1. In it, we follow Diamond’s life and career path from a Brooklyn kid to an American rock icon, churning out chart topping hits such as “Sweet Caroline” and “Forever in Blue Jeans.” broadwaysd.com

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L-R: COURTESY OF LAMB’S PLAYERS THEATRE; JEREMY DANIEL

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Broadway’s A Beautiful Noise: The Neil Diamond Musical. Opposite: Lamb’s Players’ Because You’re Mine.

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IN TH E W I N G S

HIGH NOTES MAY IS BRIMMING with must-see concerts at Jacobs Music Center, presented by San Diego Symphony MUSIC as part of its esteemed Jacobs Masterworks programming. Among them: Don’t miss cellist Alisa Weilerstein performing South Korean composer Unsuk Chin’s Cello Concerto, May 10-11; along with the Symphony’s performance of Bruckner’s Symphony No. 7 in E Major. Pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet visits Jacobs Music Center May 16-17, performing his revered interpretation of Camille Saint-Saëns’ final piano concerto, Egyptian; followed by the Symphony’s rendition of Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 7, Leningrad. Renowned mezzo-soprano Karen Cargill makes her San Diego Symphony debut May 23-25—joined by the San Diego Symphony Chorus and San Diego Children’s Choir—performing Mahler’s epic Symphony No. 3. San Diego Symphony Music Director Rafael Payare conducts all three aforementioned sets of Jacobs Masterworks concerts. 750 B St., downtown, 619.235.0804, sandiegosymphony.org Above: Pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet performs at Jacobs Music Center May 16-17. Right: Frank Stella, “Flin Flon VIII,” part of American Minimal at SDMA.

PAYING HOMAGE TO the Minimalist art moveART ment of the 1960s and 1970s, The San Diego Museum of Art (SDMA) presents the landmark exhibition, American Minimal, on view through June 1. Curated by Anita Feldman, in collaboration with Jennifer Findley and John Digesare, the installation celebrates works by the likes of Minimalist artist Frank Stella, namely his 1970 painting “Flin Flon VIII,” part of his Protractor Series, featuring colorful geometric shapes; as well as a range of work from diverse media. Other spring SDMA exhibits include Young Art 2025: Nurture and Nature, through May 18—the museum’s biennial youth exhibition, showcasing works by K-12th grade artists from across San Diego and Tijuana; and Impressionism Across the Atlantic, opening May 31, featuring 40 Impressionist works from Europe and the U.S.—including Monet, Cézanne, Bonnard and more. 1450 El Prado, Balboa Park, 619.232.7931, sdmart.org

FROM LEFT: COURTESY OF HARRISON PARROTT; © 2025 FRANK STELLA / ARTISTS RIGHTS SOCIETY, NEW YORK

Essential Exhibits

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FROM LEFT: COURTESY OF HARRISON PARROTT; © 2025 FRANK STELLA / ARTISTS RIGHTS SOCIETY, NEW YORK

GET TICKETS AT: www.BroadwaySD.com

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FEATURE

A past staging of 42nd Street at Moonlight Amphitheatre

Under The Moonlight

T

HE RETURN OF warm summer nights heralds the start of another long-standing tradition in San Diego’s North County: topnotch Broadway shows under the stars at Moonlight Amphitheatre, aka The Moonlight.

Each summer, theater lovers and families from all over San Diego County make the trip to Brengle Terrace Park in Vista to enjoy popular musicals produced professionally

with full orchestra accompaniment.

Now in its 44th year, Moonlight Stage Productions will produce five musicals this season, beginning with an extended run of Grease, running April 30-May 17, offering audiences a longer opportunity to experience the classic 1950s high school musical. Following this, the program moves into summertime with performances of Waitress (June 4-21); the popular production features music from Sara Bareilles.

Next, audiences can anticipate Anastasia the Musical (July 9-26), a show created by the same Tony Award-winning team responsible for Ragtime and Once On This Island.

And then Fiddler on the Roof (Aug. 13-30) will take the stage, marking its return to the venue after more than a decade. The season concludes with The Prince of Egypt (Sept.

10-27), showcasing the musical compositions of Stephen Schwartz.

Steven Glaudini, Moonlight’s

KARLI CADEL

BROADWAY HITS HEAT UP MOONLIGHT AMPHITHEATRE IN VISTA THIS SEASON by STEPHANIE SAAD

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A New Hercule Poirot Comic Mystery!

Based in part on “Poirot Investigates”

by Agatha Christie

WORLD PREMIERE

APRIL 16-MAY 18 The twin sister of Captain Hasting’s wife, Dulcie, has been kidnapped — and Hercule Poirot rightly expects not only extortion to follow, but murder! Using elements of Agatha Christie’s “Poirot Investigates,” Steven Dietz takes us on a thrilling and dangerous trip to the snow-capped Alps where the famed Belgian detective may finally meet his match. Six actors bring to life dozens of eccentric characters and clever suspects in this diabolically funny comic mystery romp. Don’t miss it!

WRITTEN & DIRECTED BY STEVEN DIETZ

“A truly must-see show.

Epic and beautifully written.”

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Producing Artistic Director since 2013, says the company is seeing a record number of subscriptions this season, including new subscribers.

“Single tickets are also selling like crazy,” he says. “The combination of beloved classics and three premieres has gotten people really excited.”

Moonlight used to produce four musicals each summer but increased it to five in 2022, due to increased demand after the pandemic shutdown, when they were one of the only theaters to be able to reopen due to the outdoor location.

Attending a show at Moonlight is truly a unique San Diego experience, Glaudini points out. “We have incredible weather in Vista in the summer, and it stays warm at night, so to be able to sit and watch a Broadway show with a local craft beer or glass of

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COURTESY IMAGE

F E AT U R E

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A staging of Titanic at Moonlight

wine under the stars is not your typical night out.”

He says theatergoers come from Los Angeles, Riverside and Orange County, as well as San Diego. “What’s bringing them in is the selection of shows. For example, this season you won’t see Waitress or The Prince of Egypt anywhere else in our area.”

Himself an actor since 1996, and a director since 2002, Glaudini credits great relationships with theater licensing houses and “being in the right place at the right time” for his ability to bring hot Broadway properties to Vista. He makes a trip to New York each October to see the newest shows, and “I keep my eyes and ears open” for shows that will work well in the 2,000-seat Moonlight Amphitheatre. Last year, the company introduced a new element—an LED

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FROM THE PRESIDENT & CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER Dear friends, We welcome you to the final concerts in our first season back in our glorious new Jacobs Music Center!

What a rich and thrilling journey these last few months have been, as our wonderful orchestra and our beloved Music Director Rafael Payare, together with old friends and many new faces among our rich roster of visiting artists, have begun to open up and discover the stupendous range of sounds and vivid acoustic colors that this world-class hall is capable of.

We have heard all sorts of orchestral music this last year: in every style, from works composed a quarter of a millennium ago to pieces written within the past year; from music of overpowering force and grandeur to music of deep tenderness and intimacy; from the most popular rhythms and melodies to the most challenging and otherworldly sound-textures… and our hall has proved that it can work with our musicians to make every kind of music come alive in this beautiful building – and in our ears and hearts - in ways so vivid that many of us will hardly ever have experienced such a thing before.

We end this season with three mighty symphonies by three great composers very close to Rafael Payare’s heart, and each one very different. These final weeks will of course be a rich, expansive and sonorous celebration of how far we have come in a single season. But they are also an exciting way of looking forward to our next season, which promises a new treasure-trove of music from the most well-loved and familiar, to pieces we have never heard in San Diego before, from gorgeous visions of childhood by the French composers, Debussy and Ravel, to thrilling visions of darkness by Shostakovich and Bartók, to a concert made exclusively of three of the greatest works of Beethoven, to a festival of concerts devoted to one of the greatest composers who ever lived, Johannes Brahms.

Sincerely,

Martha A. Gilmer President and Chief Executive Officer

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MUSIC DIRECTOR

With his innate musicianship, charismatic energy, gift for communication, and irresistibly joyous spirit, Venezuelan conductor Rafael Payare is “electrifying in front of an orchestra” (Los Angeles Times). Payare conducted the San Diego Symphony (SDS) for the first time in January 2018 and was subsequently named the orchestra’s music director designate one month later, before assuming the role of music director in January 2019.

Now in the sixth season of his transformative tenure as music director of the San Diego Symphony, Payare will conduct a full roster of performances with the orchestra at the newly renovated Jacobs Music Center over the 2024-25 season, bookended by Mahler’s Second and Third Symphonies. Last season, Payare led the SDS for its first appearance in a decade at Carnegie Hall, its first performance in Tijuana in nearly 20 years, and in three programs at the inaugural California Festival.

These engagements continued his transformative tenure with the orchestra, which also included their commercial album debut with Shostakovich’s 11th Symphony, The Year 1905.

Payare’s other recent highlights include debuts at the Royal Opera House, at the Edinburgh Festival, and with the New York Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, Orchestre national de France, and Staatskapelle Berlin, with which he reunited for Turandot at the Berlin State Opera this past summer.

The 2024-25 season also marks his third as Music Director of Canada’s Orchestre symphonique de Montréal (Montreal Symphony Orchestra/OSM).

With the OSM he leads a similarly full season in

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Montreal, tours to eight European cities with pianist Daniil Trifonov, and releases his third album with the orchestra on the Pentatone label—an allSchoenberg recording to mark the composer’s 150th anniversary. The conductor rounds out his season with high profile returns to the New York Philharmonic, The Philadelphia Orchestra, and London’s Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.

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Other current positions are Principal Conductor of Virginia’s Castleton Festival, a post he has held since 2015, and Conductor Laureate of Northern Ireland’s Ulster Orchestra, where he was Principal Conductor and Music Director from 2014 to 2019, making multiple appearances at London’s BBC Proms.

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Since winning first prize at Denmark’s Malko Competition for Young Conductors in 2012, Payare has made debuts and forged longstanding relationships with many of the world’s preeminent orchestras. His U.S. collaborations include engagements with the Boston Symphony, Chicago Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, Houston Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Minnesota Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, and Pittsburgh Symphony, while his notable European appearances include dates with the Bavarian Radio Symphony, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Munich Philharmonic, NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Philharmonia Orchestra, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich, and Vienna Philharmonic, which he has led at the Vienna Konzerthaus and Musikverein, on a Baltic tour, and at Paris’s Théâtre des Champs-Élysées. n

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THE MEMBERS OF THE SAN DIEGO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA MUSIC DIRECTOR RAFAEL PAYARE VIOLIN

BASS Jeremy Kurtz-Harris Principal SOPHIE AND ARTHUR BRODY FOUNDATION CHAIR

Jeff Thayer Concertmaster DEBORAH PATE AND JOHN FORREST CHAIR

Susan Wulff Associate Principal

Wesley Precourt Associate Concertmaster

P.J. Cinque

Jisun Yang Assistant Concertmaster Alexander Palamidis Principal Second Violin Cherry Choi Tung Yeung Acting Principal Second Violin Nick Grant Principal Associate Concertmaster Emeritus Kathryn Hatmaker Acting Associate Principal Second Violin Ai Nihira Awata Jing Yan Bowcott Yumi Cho

Kenneth Liao Igor Pandurski Evan Pasternak Julia Pautz

Kevin Gobetz Samuel Hager Michael Wais Margaret Johnston+ FLUTE Rose Lombardo Principal Sarah Tuck Lily Josefsberg PICCOLO Lily Josefsberg

OBOE Sarah Skuster Principal Rodion Belousov Andrea Overturf

Yeh Shen Xiaoxuan Shi Edmund Stein Hanah Stuart John Stubbs Pei-Chun Tsai Tiffany Wee Han Xie Zou Yu Melody Ye Yuan Andrew Kwon* Sarah Schwartz* VIOLA Chi-Yuan Chen Principal KAREN AND WARREN KESSLER CHAIR Nancy Lochner Associate Principal Jason Karlyn Wanda Law

ENGLISH HORN Andrea Overturf DR. WILLIAM AND EVELYN LAMDEN ENGLISH HORN CHAIR CLARINET Sheryl Renk Principal Max Opferkuch Frank Renk

Megan Wei

Greg Ochotorena* Kyle Mendiguchia

BASS TROMBONE Kyle Mendiguchia

TUBA Aaron McCalla Principal

HARP Julie Phillips Principal

TIMPANI Ryan J. DiLisi Principal Andrew Watkins Assistant Principal

PERCUSSION Gregory Cohen Principal Erin Douglas Dowrey Andrew Watkins Eduardo Meneses*

PRINCIPAL LIBRARIAN Courtney Secoy Cohen LIBRARIAN Rachel Fields

BASS CLARINET Frank Renk

BASSOON Valentin Martchev Principal

* Long Term Substitute Musician + Staff Opera Musician

Ryan Simmons Leyla Zamora

Qing Liang Ethan Pernela

Logan Chopyk

Aaron Blick

Alicia Engley Kathryn Hatmaker

TROMBONE Kyle R. Covington Principal

The musicians of the San Diego Symphony are members of San Diego County, Local 325, American Federation of Musicians, AFL-CIO.

CONTRABASSOON Leyla Zamora

Sung-Jin Lee* Rebecca Matayoshi* CELLO Yao Zhao Principal Chia-Ling Chien Associate Principal Andrew Hayhurst John Lee Richard Levine Nathan Walhout Xian Zhuo Youna Choi* Nicole Chung* Benjamin Solomonow*

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HORN Benjamin Jaber Principal Darby Hinshaw Assistant Principal & Utility John Degnan Tricia Skye Mike McCoy* TRUMPET Christopher Smith Principal Clinton McLendon Ray Nowak

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SAN DIEGO SYMPHONY

$2

PA R T N E R WITH A PL AY ER

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The San Diego Symphony Orchestra gratefully acknowledges the generous support of the following donors for their membership in the Partner with a Player program and their profound impact on the orchestra.

Partner with a Player members enjoy the unique opportunity to personally connect with the orchestra and engage with the Symphony in meaningful ways.

Rancho Santa Fe Foundation

Jewish Community Foundation

Kar Han

Ste Chi Prin

The following listing reflects pledges and gifts entered as of January 15, 2024 San Diego Foundation

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* Deceased

Ann Xia

$100,000 AND ABOVE Raffaella and John* Belanich Rafael Payare, Music Director

Kat Qin

Joan* and Irwin Jacobs Martha Gilmer, Chief Executive Officer

Kar Jaso

$50,000 – $99,999 Karen and Kit Sickels Jeremy Kurtz-Harris, Principal Bass

Anonymous (2) San Diego Symphony Musicians

Arlene Inch John Degnan, Horn

Michele and Jules Arthur Kevin Gobetz, Bass

Hayley Janecek and Ross Caleca San Diego Symphony Musicians

Terry Atkinson San Diego Symphony Musicians

Karen and Warren Kessler Chi-Yuan Chen, Principal Viola

Karen Foster Silberman and Jeff Silberman Jisun Yang, Assistant Concertmaster

Julia R. Brown Leyla Zamora, Bassoon and Contrabassoon

Monica and Robert Oder Gregory Cohen, Principal Percussion

Gayle* and Donald Slate Wesley Precourt, Associate Concertmaster

John and Janice Cone Benjamin Jaber, Principal Horn

Linda and Shearn* Platt Ryan J. DiLisi, Principal Timpani

Dave and Phyllis Snyder Julia Pautz, Violin

Kevin and Jan Curtis Aaron McCalla, Principal Tuba

Marilyn James and Richard Phetteplace John Stubbs, Violin

Gloria and Rodney Stone P.J. Cinque, Bass

Una Davis and Jack McGrory Susan Wulff, Associate Principal Bass Drs. Martha G. and Edward Dennis San Diego Symphony Musicians Mr. and Mrs.* Brian K. Devine San Diego Symphony Musicians Phyllis and Daniel J. Epstein Sheryl Renk, Principal Clarinet Pam and Hal Fuson Courtney Cohen, Principal Librarian Elaine Galinson and Herbert Solomon Yumi Cho, Violin Carol and Richard Hertzberg Nick Grant, Principal Associate Concertmaster Emeritus

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KAREN AND WARREN KESSLER CHAIR

Marie G. Raftery and Robert A. Rubenstein, M.D. Eddie Maneses, Percussionist Jaqueline and Jean-Luc Robert San Diego Symphony Musicians Elena Romanowsky Edmund Stein, Violin Penny and Louis Rosso Andrew Watkins, Assistant Principal Timpani

PENNY AND LOUIS ROSSO CHAIR

Colette Carson Royston and Ivor Royston Yeh Shen, Violin Jean and Gary Shekhter San Diego Symphony Musicians

SOPHIE AND ARTHUR BRODY FOUNDATION CHAIR

Lise Fam Ros

Kel Mic Xia

$15

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Elo Alic

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Jayne and Bill Turpin Max Opferkuch, Clarinet

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Leslie and Joe Waters Ethan Pernela, Viola

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Sue and Bill* Weber Jing Yan Bowcott, Violin

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Kathryn A. and James E. Whistler Rachel Fields, Librarian

Joy You

Cole and Judy Willoughby Christopher Smith, Principal Trumpet

Jill G Fran

Mitchell Woodbury Valentin Martchev, Principal Bassoon

Jan Zou

Sarah and Marc Zeitlin Cherry Choi Tung Yeung, Associate Principal Second Violin

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$25,000 – $49,999 Anonymous San Diego Symphony Musicians

Suzanne and Lawrence Hess San Diego Symphony Musicians

Allison and Robert Price San Diego Symphony Musicians

Annette and Daniel Bradbury Yao Zhao, Principal Cello

Linda Hervey San Diego Symphony Musicians

Nicole A. and Benjamin G. Clay San Diego Symphony Musicians

Helen and Sig Kupka Lily Josefsberg, Piccolo/Flute

Carol Randolph, Ph. D and Robert Caplan Pei-Chun Tsai, Violin

Karen and Donald Cohn Hanah Stuart, Violin

Carol and George Lattimer Rodion Belousov, Oboe

Stephanie and Richard Coutts Chia-Ling Chien, Associate Principal Cello

Lisa and Gary Levine, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Igor Pandurski, Violin

Ann Davies Xian Zhuo, Cello

Sandy and Arthur* Levinson Kyle Covington, Principal Trombone

Kathleen Seely Davis Qing Liang, Viola

Eileen Mason Julie Smith Phillips, Principal Harp

Karin and Gary Eastham Jason Karlyn, Viola

Anne and Andy McCammon Richard Levine, Cello

Lisette and Mick Farrell/Farrell Family Foundation Rose Lombardo, Principal Flute

Deborah Pate and John Forrest Jeff Thayer, Concertmaster

Kelly Greenleaf and Michael Magerman Xiaoxuan Shi, Violin

DEBORAH PATE AND JOHN FORREST CHAIR

Joetta Ragland San Diego Symphony Musicians

Sally and Steve Rogers Kyle Mendiguchia, Trombone Jeanette Stevens Kathryn Hatmaker, Violin Elizabeth and Joseph* Taft Wanda Law, Viola Sandra Timmons and Richard Sandstrom Sarah Skuster, Principal Oboe University of San Diego San Diego Symphony Musicians Sheryl and Harvey White Alexander Palamidis, Principal Second Violin The Zygowicz Family (John, Judy, and Michelle) Nancy Lochner, Associate Principal Viola

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$15,000 – $24,999 Anonymous San Diego Symphony Musicians Eloise and Warren* Batts Alicia Engley, Violin Diane and Norman Blumenthal Aaron Blick, Bass Dr. Anthony Boganey Logan Chopyk, Trombone Ana de Vedia San Diego Symphony Musicians Hon. James Emerson Kenneth Liao, Violin Joyce Gattas, Ph.D. and Jay Jeffcoat Youna Choi, Cello

Judith C. Harris* and Robert Singer, M. D. San Diego Symphony Musicians Jo Ann Kilty Tricia Skye, Horn Dr. William and Evelyn Lamden Andrea Overturf, Oboe

Dr. WILLIAM AND EVELYN LAMDEN CHAIR

Carol Lazier and James Merritt Sarah Tuck, Flute Marshall Littman, M.D. Nicole Chung, Cello

Stephen M. Silverman Ai Nihira Awata, Violin Linda and Raymond* Thomas R.V. Thomas Family Fund Ray Nowak, Trumpet Julie & Stephen Tierney San Diego Symphony Musicians Isabelle and Mel* Wasserman Andrew Hayhurst, Cello

Rena Minisi and Rich Paul Ryan Simmons, Bassoon

et

Jill Gormley and Laurie Lipman Frank Renk, Bass Clarinet

Val and Ron Ontell Darby Hinshaw, Assistant Principal & Utility Horn

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Janet and Wil Gorrie Zou Yu, Violin

Jane and Jon Pollock Evan Pasternak, Section Violin

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Cathy Robinson San Diego Symphony Musicians

For more information, or to join, please contact Vice President of Institutional Advancement, Sheri Broedlow at (619) 615-3910 or sbroedlow@sandiegosymphony.org.

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THE SAN DIEGO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA PROUDLY PRESENTS

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The Beethoven Society is designed to raise consistent, critical funding for artistic, educational and community programs. Members pledge multi-year support and commit to annual gifts of $50,000 and higher, designated for projects ranging from classical and jazz concerts to education and military programs.

The Symphony and its Board of Directors are pleased to thank the following for their leadership and to acknowledge them as Members of The Beethoven Society.

For information about supporting the San Diego Symphony Orchestra through membership in The Beethoven Society, please call Sheri Broedlow at (619) 615-3910.

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*E JOAN* AND IRWIN JACOBS

$5 MILLION

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and above

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MICHELE AND JULES ARTHUR

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SAN DIEGO SYMPHONY BOARDS BOARD OF DIRECTORS David R. Snyder, Esq. Chair of the Board* Harold W. Fuson Jr. Immediate Past Chair* Colette Carson Royston Vice Chair* Una Davis Vice Chair* David Bialis Treasurer* Linda Platt Secretary*

Michele Arthur Tim Barelli Lisa Behun* Steve G. Bjorg Anthony C. Boganey, M.D., FACS Annette Bradbury Benjamin G. Clay Kathleen Davis* Martha G. Dennis, Ph.D. Phyllis Epstein* Karen Foster Silberman Janet Gorrie

Dr. Nancy Hong* Arlene Inch Jerri-Ann Jacobs Warren O. Kessler, M.D.* Kris Kopensky Deborah Pate Sherron Schuster Marivi Shivers Gloria Stone Frank Vizcarra Mitchell R. Woodbury*

Anne Francis Ratner (1911-2011)

Herbert Solomon

Lawrence B. Robinson (d. 2021)

Mitchell R. Woodbury

*EXECUTIVE COMMIT TEE MEMBER

HONORARY LIFETIME DIRECTORS Dr. Irwin M. Jacobs Joan K. Jacobs (1933-2024) Warren O. Kessler, M.D.

FOUNDATION BOARD OF DIRECTORS Warren O. Kessler, M.D. Chair

Eunice Bragais

David R. Snyder, Esq. Vice Chair

Harold W. Fuson Jr.

Sandy Levinson Secretary Mitchell R. Woodbury Treasurer

Robert Caplan, Esq. Martha Gilmer Susan Mallory Jeremy Pearl Gretchen Shaffer Mark Stuart

PAST BOARD CHAIRS 2021-23 Harold W. Fuson Jr. 2018-21 David R. Snyder, Esq. 2015-18 Warren O. Kessler, M.D. 2014-15 Shearn H. Platt 2011-14 Evelyn Olson Lamden 2009-11 Mitchell R. Woodbury 2008-09 Theresa J. Drew 2007-08 Steven R. Penhall 2005-07 Mitchell R. Woodbury 2004-05 Craig A. Schloss, Esq. 2003-04 John R. Queen 2001-03 Harold B. Dokmo Jr. 2000-01 Ben G. Clay 1998-00 Sandra Pay 1995-96 Elsie V. Weston

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1994-95 Thomas Morgan 1993-94 David Dorne, Esq. 1989-93 Warren O. Kessler, M.D. 1988-89 Elsie V. Weston 1986-88 Herbert J. Solomon 1984-86 M.B. “Det” Merryman 1982-84 Louis F. Cumming 1980-82 David E. Porter 1978-80 Paul L. Stevens 1976-78 Laurie H. Waddy 1974-76 William N. Jenkins, Esq. 1971-74 L. Thomas Halverstadt 1970-71 Simon Reznikoff 1969-70 Robert J. Sullivan 1968-69 Arthur S. Johnson

1966-68 Michael Ibs Gonzalez, Esq. 1964-66 Philip M. Klauber 1963-64 Oliver B. James Jr. 1961-63 J. Dallas Clark 1960-61 Fielder K. Lutes 1959-60 Dr. G. Burch Mehlin 1956-58 Admiral Wilder D. Baker 1953-56 Mrs. Fred G. Goss 1952-53 Donald A. Stewart 1940-42 Donald B. Smith 1938-39 Mrs. William H. Porterfield 1934-37 Mrs. Marshall O. Terry 1930-33 Mouney C. Pfefferkorn 1928-29 Willett S. Dorland 1927 Ed H. Clay

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PROGRAM SMETANA Overture and Three Dances from The Bartered Bride Overture Polka Furiant Dance of the Comedians

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TAKASHI YOSHIMATSU Soprano Saxophone Concerto, Albireo Mode Topaz Sapphire -INTERMISSION-

SATURDAY, MAY 3 7:30PM SUNDAY, MAY 4 2PM Jacobs Music Center 2025 JACOBS MASTERWORKS

CZECH MASTERPIECES AND A SAXOPHONE CONCERTO

DVOŘÁK Symphony No. 8 in G Major, Op. 88 Allegro con brio Adagio Allegretto grazioso Allegro ma non troppo

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Ruth Reinhardt, conductor Steven Banks, saxophone San Diego Symphony Orchestra

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ARTIST BIOS | CZECH MASTERPIECES AND A SAXOPHONE CONCERTO

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

RUTH REINHARDT

German conductor Ruth Reinhardt is building a reputation for her keen musical intelligence, programmatic imagination, and elegant performances.

Ruth is the newly appointed Music Director of the Rhode Island Philharmonic, beginning in the 2025–26 season. This season, she conducts orchestras across four continents, including debuts with the Seoul Philharmonic, Hong Kong Philharmonic, and the São Paulo State Symphony Orchestra. In the U.S., she will make debuts with the St. Louis and Charlotte symphonies and return to Milwaukee and San Diego.

Programmatically, Reinhardt’s interests have led her toward contemporary repertoire, with significant emphasis on women composers of the late 20th and early 21st centuries. She brings new names and fresh faces to many orchestras, including Grażyna Bacewicz, Kaija Saariaho, and Dai Fujikura. Parallel programming can be complementary or contrasting, from core composers of the symphonic canon, e.g. Brahms, Rachmaninoff, Dvorak, to the classic moderns such as Lutosławski, Bartok, Stravinsky, and Hindemith.

Reinhardt has made important debuts with the New York Philharmonic, Cleveland Orchestra, and the symphony orchestras of San Francisco, Detroit, Houston, Baltimore, Milwaukee, and Seattle. In Europe, she’s appeared with the Orchestre National de France, Frankfurt Radio Symphony, and Tonkünstler Orchestra, among many others.

Ruth Reinhardt received her master’s degree from the Juilliard School of Music in New York and was a Dudamel Fellow of the Los Angeles Philharmonic (2017-2018), conducting fellow at both the Seattle Symphony (20152016) and Tanglewood Music Center (2015), and a Taki Concordia associate conducting fellow (2015-2017). n

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STEVEN BANKS

As a performer and composer, saxophonist Steven Banks is striving to bring his instrument to the heart of the classical music world. He is driven to programme and write music that directly addresses aspects of the human experience and is a devoted and intentional supporter of diverse voices in the future of concert music.

In 2024-25, Banks appears with orchestras including The Cleveland Orchestra, Pittsburgh Symphony, and the Seattle Symphony. He has debuted with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the National Symphony Orchestra (Washington) and has worked with conductors including Manfred Honeck, Stéphane Denève, Xian Zhang and Rafal Payare.

In July 2025, he performs the world premiere of Joan Tower’s new saxophone concerto at the Colorado Festival with Peter Oundjian. Over the past two seasons, he has been premiering ‘Diaspora’, the new saxophone concerto

by Billy Childs with the 10 commissioning partners, led by Young Concert Artists. In May 2024, Banks performed the world premiere of Augusta Read Thomas’ new concerto ‘Haemosu’s Celestial Chariot Ride’ with the Sejong Soloists at Carnegie’s Zankel Hall.

Banks was the first saxophonist to be awarded both the Avery Fisher Career Grant and the First Prize at the Young Concert Artists International Auditions. He serves as Saxophone and Chamber Music Faculty and Artist-in Residence at the Cleveland Institute of Music, founding the saxophone programme having been appointed as the first saxophone teacher at conservatory level. Banks holds Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music and Northwestern University Bienen School of Music, respectively. n

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PROGRAM NOTES | CZECH MASTERPIECES AND A SAXOPHONE CONCERTO

ABOUT THE MUSIC Overture and Three Dances from The Bartered Bride BEDŘICH SMETANA

Born March 2, 1824, Litomyšl Died May 12, 1884, Prague APPROXIMATE PERFORMANCE TIME 18 MINUTES Smetana’s The Bartered Bride has always been considered the great “Czech” opera, and for many reasons: Smetana was a devout Czech nationalist who used such forms as the polka and furiant in the opera, the story has a Czech setting and is full of Czech characters, costumes and customs, and it was one of the first operas with a libretto in Czech. Smetana began work in 1863, and The Bartered Bride was originally produced in 1866. It is a love story set in a Czech village, and – like all operas – its plot is quite complex. The Bartered Bride tells of the young lovers Marenka and Jenik, but the course of their love does not run smooth. Marenka’s parents want her to marry a rich husband, and they bring in a marriage broker to find such a match. As part of the complex negotiations, Jenik appears to sell his “rights” to Marenka and nearly destroys his chances, but at the end he is able to contrive things so that all the confusions are sorted out and he and Marenka can be married. The Czech title of the opera – Prodaná Nevěsta – actually translates into English as “The Sold Bride” (which is exactly what Jenik does), but that title sounds so flat that the more euphonious – and alliterative – Bartered Bride has become the accepted English translation. The opera was a success from its first performance, but it did not make it to the United States until 43 years later: Gustav Mahler led the first American production (in German) at the Metropolitan Opera on February 19, 1909.

While the opera is rarely performed in the United States, its overture has become a favorite in the concert hall. Smetana marks it Vivacissimo (“Very fast”): it begins like a rocket and never lets up over its six-minute span – even its brief lyric episodes seem to be rushing ahead breathlessly. The overture opens with a great flourish, full of characteristic syncopations, and then races into a blistering fugato for the strings. All this energy builds to a great climactic theme whose accents fall on the third rather than the first beat of each measure, and that rhythm will saturate the overture. Smetana brings back his various themes – the opening flourish, the fugato, the climactic theme – as the overture proceeds, and finally this music races without any let-up right through its exciting close.

circus has arrived and is setting up on the village green. The troupe features a Circus Master, the dancer Esmerelda, an “Indian,” and – best of all – a grizzly bear from America. The circus comedians (acrobats) dance before the villagers to suggest the attractions available at the circus that evening, and their dance takes the form an of skočná, a very fast Czech folk-dance in 2/4. It gets off to a blazing start in a rush of sixteenth-notes, and this will return throughout; in between, Smetana offers a series of attractive tunes, built on short phrases and repeated. n

Soprano Saxophone Concerto, Albireo Mode TAKASHI YOSHIMATSU

Born March 18, 1953, Yoyogi, Japan APPROXIMATE PERFORMANCE TIME 25 MINUTES The path to composing was not direct for Takashi Yoshimatsu.

As a young man, he was attracted to many different kinds of music – rock, classical, jazz among them – and he played keyboards in rock bands. Yoshimatsu wanted to compose, but he found himself uncomfortable with formal academic training and essentially taught himself how to compose.

He began as a serialist but rejected that strict method and embraced what he has called “the new lyricism.” Yoshimatsu was the official composer of Chandos Records for some years, and he has composed six symphonies, more than a dozen concertos for varied instruments, other orchestral works, and shorter pieces for keyboard and for traditional Japanese instruments. He has also made arrangements of music by Emerson, Lake and Palmer and other rock groups.

Yoshimatsu was approached by the Japanese saxophonist Nobuya Sugawa, who asked him to compose a concerto for soprano saxophone and orchestra. Yoshimatsu was not enthusiastic. He had already written a concerto for alto saxophone titled Cyber-Bird for Sugawa, and he felt that he had said the things he wanted to say on the saxophone. But Sugawa persisted, and Yoshimatsu found himself attracted to the sound of the soprano saxophone. He composed the new concerto in 2004-05, and it was first performed in Osaka on April 29, 2005 by Nobuya Sugawa and the Kansai Philharmonic.

The Polka comes from the very end of Act I. The setting is the village green, and Kecal – the marriage broker – announces that he’s found a rich husband for Marenka. She protests that she has already surrendered her heart to someone else, and the battle lines are drawn. The act ends as the stage is crowded with young people who dance this Polka. After a brief introduction, the Polka begins – rather delicately – and grows in power and speed as it proceeds, and this music brings Act I to its conclusion.

The new concerto has a nickname that reflects its inspiration.

Albireo is the name of a double Beta star in the constellation Cygnus. It is not clear whether those two stars form a true double star or if they only appear to be from our angle on Earth, but what is clear is that they make an extraordinarily beautiful pair in the night sky: one is a deep blue, and the other is a rich golden color. In that contrast of color and character, Yoshimatsu found the inspiration for his concerto, saying “Albireo Mode symbolizes the character of the soprano sax, which is two-fold, combining both coolness and heat, both beauty and depth. That is why I named the cool and beautiful first part ‘Topaz,’ and the hot and deep second part ‘Sapphire.’”

The Furiant comes from the beginning of Act II. Set in a tavern, this act begins with a chorus in praise of beer, and soon Kecal and Jenik are sparring about what really drives the world: is it money or love? This brief Furiant concludes the drinking song.

Dance of the Comedians takes place in Act III. A small traveling

And so the work falls into two sharply contrasted movements, each about eleven minutes long. Albireo Mode is not a concerto in the classical sense, a form based on conflict and resolution. Instead, it is a two-part rhapsody in which the saxophonist plays virtually throughout. The orchestra

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PROGRAM NOTES | CZECH MASTERPIECES AND A SAXOPHONE CONCERTO sometimes rises up to play a dynamic role, but for much of the time it provides a subtle accompaniment, shimmering, gentle and usually subdued.

At the beginning of Topaz, Yoshimatsu marks the tempo Andante tranquillo, and while the tempo will vary throughout the movement, the sense of tranquility remains central. The solo part is beautifully written for the soprano saxophone.

The instrument plays across its entire range. It can by turns be playful or lyrical, and it sings throughout – this is the kind of writing that reminds us how expressive an instrument the saxophone can be. Yoshimatsu offers his soloist a brief cadenza just before the close.

After that calm, the second part, Sapphire, does not suddenly explode with golden energy. But it quickly comes to life with the soloist’s long opening melody, full of jazz-like glissandos, leaps and trills, and gradually the energy level builds. If we felt the saxophone’s lyric character in the first movement, here we feel its agility and virtuosity. A chamber music-like central episode leads to a grand, swirling climax and then a spectacular cadenza for the soloist, full of strident fluttertonguing and a range of unexpected sounds. The orchestra returns, and the soprano saxophone sings the concerto’s long and peaceful descent into silence. TWO NOTES: For those interested in this music, Nobuya Sugawa has recorded it with the BBC Philharmonic, and that recording is readily available.

Those interested in the star that inspired this music should go to the internet, which has some breathtaking photos of the two stars that make up Albireo. n

Symphony No. 8 in G Major, Op. 88 ANTONÍN DVOŘÁK

Born September 8, 1841, Muhlhausen, Bohemia Died May 1, 1904, Prague APPROXIMATE PERFORMANCE TIME 34 MINUTES

G minor, and this will be only the first of many harmonic surprises. It is also a gorgeous beginning, with the cellos singing their long wistful melody. But – another surprise: this theme will have little to do with the actual progress of the first movement. We soon arrive at what appears to be the true first subject, a flute theme of an almost pastoral innocence (commentators appear unable to resist describing this theme as “birdlike”), and suddenly we have slipped into G Major. Dvořák develops these themes across the span of the opening movement, and the cellos’ somber opening melody returns at key moments: quietly to begin the development and then blazed out triumphantly by the trumpets at the stirring climax.

The Adagio begins with dark and halting string phrases, while its middle section flows easily on a relaxed woodwind tune in which some have heard the sound of cimbalon and a village band. A violin solo leads to a surprisingly violent climax before the movement falls away to its quiet close.

The Allegretto grazioso opens with a soaring waltz that dances nimbly along its 3/8 meter; the charming center section also dances in 3/8 time, but its dotted rhythms produce a distinctive lilt. The movement rushes on chattering woodwinds right up to the close, where it concludes suddenly with a hushed string chord.

The finale is a variation movement – sort of. It opens with a stinging trumpet fanfare, but this fanfare was an afterthought on Dvořák’s part, added after the rest of the movement was complete. Cellos announce the noble central theme, and a series of variations follow, including a spirited episode for solo flute. But suddenly the variations vanish: Dvořák throws in an exotic Turkish march full of rhythmic energy, a completely separate episode that rises to a great climax based on the ringing trumpet fanfare from the opening. Gradually things calm down, and the variations resume as if this turbulent storm had never blown through.

Near the end comes some lovely writing for strings, and a raucous, joyous coda – itself one final variation of the main theme – propels this symphony to a rousing close. n Program notes by Eric Bromberger

The summer of 1889 was an unusually happy and productive time for Dvořák. At age 48, he found himself a successful composer with a large and devoted family. Earlier that year, his opera The Jacobin had been premiered, and now he took his family to their summer retreat at Vysoka in the countryside south of Prague. There, amid the rolling fields and forests of his homeland, Dvořák could escape the pressures of the concert season, enjoy the company of his wife and children, and indulge one of his favorite pastimes – raising pigeons.

Dvořák also composed a great deal in these months, and he worked very fast – music seemed to pour out of him that summer. On August 25 he made the first sketches for a new symphony, and the orchestration was completed on November 8 – from the time Dvořák sat down before a sheet of blank paper to the completion of the full score, only 75 days had passed. Dvořák himself led the triumphant premiere of his Eighth Symphony in Prague on February 2, 1890.

Dvořák’s biographer Otakar Šourek has noted that the composer himself felt that in the Eighth Symphony he was trying to write “a work different from his other symphonies, with individual thoughts worked out in a new way.” We feel this from the first instant. “Symphony in G Major,” says the title page, but the beginning is firmly in the “wrong” key of S A N DI EGO SY M PHON Y M AY 2 02 5

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PROGRAM UNSUK CHIN Cello Concerto I Aniri II III IV

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BRUCKNER Symphony No. 7 in E Major Allegro moderato Adagio: Sehr feierlich und sehr langsam Scherzo: Sehr schnell Finale: Bewegt, doch nicht schnell

SATURDAY, MAY 10 7:30PM SUNDAY, MAY 11 2PM

Total Program Duration: Approximately 1 Hour, 55 mins (includes one 20 minute intermission).

Jacobs Music Center 2025 JACOBS MASTERWORKS

WEILERSTEIN AND PAYARE PERFORM CHIN AND BRUCKNER

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Rafael Payare, conductor Alisa Weilerstein, cello San Diego Symphony Orchestra

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ARTIST BIOS | WEILERSTEIN AND PAYARE PERFORM CHIN AND BRUCKNER

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

ALISA WEILERSTEIN

Alisa Weilerstein is one of the foremost cellists of our time. Known for her consummate artistry, emotional investment, and rare interpretive depth, she was recognized with a MacArthur “genius grant” Fellowship in 2011. Today her career is truly global in scope, taking her to the most prestigious international venues for solo recitals, chamber concerts, and concerto collaborations.

With her multi-season solo cello project, “FRAGMENTS,” Weilerstein aims to reimagine the concert experience.

Comprising six programs, each an hour long, the series sees her weave together the 36 movements of Bach’s solo cello suites with 27 new commissions in a multisensory production by Elkhanah Pulitzer. In the 2024-25 season, she premieres FRAGMENTS 3 at San Diego’s Jacobs Music Center, gives the New York premieres of FRAGMENTS 2 and 3 at New York’s Carnegie Hall, and performs the complete cycle at Charleston’s Spoleto Festival USA. Weilerstein regularly appears alongside preeminent conductors with the world’s major orchestras. Versatile across the cello repertoire’s full breadth, she is a leading exponent of its greatest classics and an ardent proponent of contemporary music, who has premiered important new concertos by Pascal Dusapin, Matthias Pintscher, and Joan Tower. In 2024-25, she brings to life three more concertos, premiering Thomas Larcher’s with the New York Philharmonic and Bavarian Radio Symphony, Richard Blackford’s with the Czech Philharmonic, and Gabriela Ortiz’s with Gustavo Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic at L.A.’s Walt Disney Concert Hall, Bogotá’s Teatro Mayor, and Carnegie Hall.

Her other 2024-25 highlights include season-opening concerts with the San Diego and Kansas City Symphonies; returns to the Berlin Philharmonic, Leipzig Gewandhaus, and Royal Concertgebouw Orchestras; and duo recitals with Inon Barnatan at Stanford University and in Boston’s Celebrity Series.

As an authority on Bach’s music for unaccompanied cello, in spring 2020 Weilerstein released a best-selling recording of his solo suites for Pentatone, streamed them in her innovative #36DaysOfBach project, and deconstructed his beloved G-major prelude in a Vox.com video, now viewed more than 2.2 million times. Her discography also includes charttopping albums and the winner of BBC Music’s “Recording of the Year” award.

Diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at nine years old, Weilerstein is a staunch advocate for the T1D community. She lives with her husband, Venezuelan conductor Rafael Payare, and their two young children.

RAFAEL PAYARE

See bio on page P2.

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PROGRAM NOTES | WEILERSTEIN AND PAYARE PERFORM CHIN AND BRUCKNER

ABOUT THE MUSIC Cello Concerto UNSUK CHIN

Born July 14, 1961, Seoul APPROXIMATE PERFORMANCE TIME 30 MINUTES Unsuk Chin studied first in her native Seoul and then moved to Hamburg, where she studied with Gyorgy Ligeti from 1985 until 1988. Since 1988 Chin has been based in Berlin, and her music has been widely performed in Europe, North America, and Asia. She has shown a particular interest in electronic music and worked for some time with Pierre Boulez’s Ensemble Intercontemporain in Paris. But she has also written for traditional ensembles, and she has been especially drawn to writing for soloist and orchestra: among her works are concertos for piano, violin (two), cello and clarinet, as well as a double concerto for piano and percussion and a concerto for sheng and orchestra. (A sheng is a very old Chinese reed instrument.) These works have been widely performed, and her Violin Concerto No. 1 won the Grawemeyer Award as the outstanding classical composition of 2004.

Chin has stated that she wrote her early concertos simply as abstract music, but now when she writes a concerto, she is inspired by a particular performer and writes the concerto with that performer’s skills in mind. Chin composed her Cello Concerto specifically for the German cellist Alban Gebhardt, who gave the premiere in London in 2009. Chin was not completely satisfied with the piece at that time, and she revised it in 2013; Gebhardt gave the premiere of that version in Munich in 2013.

Chin’s Cello Concerto is extraordinarily difficult for the soloist, and she has made clear that those difficulties are intentional and that she sees the relationship between the soloist and orchestra in an entirely new way in this concerto: “While in the concertos for violin and piano, in the Double Concerto, and in my new sheng concerto I was seeking to merge the solo instrument and the orchestra into a single virtuoso super-instrument, here it’s all about the competitive tension between the soloist and the orchestra.

The “aura” of the cello was the initial nucleus and forms the basis of the music, so the whole structure of the piece is thus “carried” by the cello. However, the orchestra responds to it in an antagonistic way. This antagonism is much stronger than in traditional Classical-Romantic concertos; one could even speak of a “psychological warfare” between soloist and orchestra. In my cello writing, I often ask the soloist to disguise the nature of the instrument so the perception can be blurred. I try to explore the boundaries of the cello’s expressivity and to broaden the definition of “expression.” Therefore I also use special playing techniques and call for unusual timbres, including noises and rasping sounds. For me, this actually serves the expressivity by suggesting new meanings. The unique artistry of Alban Gerhardt inspired me immensely.”

The Cello Concerto is in four movements that span about half an hour. The final three movements have no titles, but the first has an unusual title, Ansiri, that tells us something about the structure of the piece. In Korean traditional music there is a form known as p’ansori, which has been described as a solo

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opera. It consists of two performers, a vocalist who either speaks (ansiri) or sings (sori) and a percussionist. The ansiri can perform many functions, including setting the scene, narrating the action, and so on, and we may take the first movement of the concerto as an introduction and guide to what will follow.

The four movements may be outlined briefly, but such a summary will not give a sense of the extraordinary range of color, sound and rhythm in this music, or of the virtuosity required of both soloist and orchestra. The concerto opens very delicately, with the cello’s long line accompanied only by two harps. The rest of the orchestra enters, and soon a level of violence intrudes on this delicacy as the tempo speeds ahead. There is a glinting, flittering quality to the writing for cello here as it sails above the orchestra’s sometimes violent accompaniment. Near the end Chin offers the soloist a cadenza before the movement reaches a climax marked sextuple forte, then instantly fades to a close marked sextuple piano.

The second movement is the concerto’s scherzo. It opens with the cello accompanied only by percussion, and it goes at a blistering pace. In its central episode, the cello sings a gentle, high melody above the rushing orchestra, and along the way Chin instructs that the playing should be “As fast as possible.” The movement ends on an abrupt upward sweep of sound.

The third movement is the concerto’s “slow” movement. At the opening, the cello is accompanied only by woodwinds, and Chin specifies that they are to play each note “with a breath noise.” The movement is built on the cello’s long and sustained melody, which is accompanied by quiet harmonics from the strings and a subtle use of percussion. Soon, though, matters grow conflicted, the soloist is given complex double-stopped passages, and the music rises to a strident climax before falling away to its quiet close.

The final movement can be violent, and one is reminded here of Chin’s statement that she aimed for “a competitive tension” in this concerto. The soloist races ahead while the orchestra delivers a series of great smashes of sound, as if it were trying to trap and destroy the scurrying soloist, whose part has a perpetual motion-like rush. Matters slow for the central episode, where the cello’s lyric line is accompanied by glissando strings, but quickly we return to the explosiveness of the opening. The very ending brings a surprise: after all this music’s turbulence, gradually the orchestra drops out until only the soloist is playing, and it is on the cello’s solitary sustained B that this concerto fades delicately into silence. n

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It is a revealing and painful truth that when Anton Bruckner achieved his first real public success with the premiere of his Seventh Symphony in 1884, he was 60 years old. Bruckner had composed his Sixth Symphony during the years 1879-81, but

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Symphony No. 7 in E Major ANTON BRUCKNER

Born September 4, 1824, Ansfelden Died October 11, 1896, Vienna APPROXIMATE PERFORMANCE TIME 1 HOUR, 4 MINUTES

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PROGRAM NOTES | WEILERSTEIN AND PAYARE PERFORM CHIN AND BRUCKNER

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so great was the resistance to his music that he heard only the middle two movements of that symphony performed during his lifetime. Yet within two weeks of finishing the Sixth, Bruckner was already at work on his Seventh, which required two years of work: it was completed on September 5, 1883.

Conductors had been reluctant to take Bruckner’s music before audiences, but the great Arthur Nikisch was won over when he saw the score to the Seventh and led the premiere in Leipzig on December 30, 1884. A critic at that concert offered a poignant portrait of an astonished composer called repeatedly onto the stage to acknowledge the waves of applause: “One could see from the trembling of his lips and the sparkling moisture in his eyes how difficult it was for the old gentleman to suppress the deep emotion that he felt.

His homely, honest countenance beamed with a warm inner happiness such as can appear only on the face of one who is too good-hearted to give way to bitterness even under the weight of most crushing circumstances. Having heard his music, and now seeing him in person, we asked ourselves in amazement, ‘How is it possible that he could remain so long unknown to us?’”

violin sections in octaves, arrives like a flood of sunshine into this somber landscape, its unexpected F-sharp Major tonality sounding particularly fresh in this context. Bruckner simply alternates these two theme-groups, varying them on each reappearance. The music rises to a spectacular climax on the third statement of the opening section, and in this episode Bruckner quotes the music he used in his own Te Deum to set the words “Non confundar in eternam” (“Let me never be confounded [in my faith]”): its memorial meaning in this context is clear. At the tremendous climax of this movement, the music moves into yet another unexpected key – C Major (which sounds positively radiant here) – and at this point there may (or may not) come the famous cymbal clash. In a symphony remarkably free of the textual squabbles that confuse Bruckner’s other symphonies, this is the one point of dispute. Did Bruckner mean for this climax to be marked by a tremendous cymbal smash – or was he acceding here to the suggestions of Nikisch and others? Most conductors today include the cymbal smash (the only appearance of that instrument in the symphony), but its authenticity remains in question. The Adagio concludes with a moving coda that Bruckner wrote after hearing of Wagner’s death on February 22, 1883. He always referred to this as his “funeral music for the Master,” and its solemn conclusion invariably leaves audiences in rapt silence.

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From the moment of that triumphant premiere, the Seventh Symphony has remained the most popular of Bruckner’s symphonies, and for good reason. From the luminous beauty of its opening to the ringing splendor of its conclusion an hour later, this is one of Bruckner’s most melodic, exciting and moving works. The opening of the Allegro moderato is among the most magic moments in music: over murmuring violins, cellos rise from out of the depths to soar with the noble opening subject. This truly is a Bruckner theme: it takes over a minute to unfold completely, it is already brushing through unexpected tonalities as it is stated for the first time, and within its span are several component ideas that will figure importantly in the development. Yet there is much more material to come: the second subject unfolds gracefully in the woodwinds (in B Major), and moments later the third – a dancing figure for strings – arrives in B minor.

Over the twenty-minute span of the opening movement, Bruckner will treat these themes in quite original ways: they appear in inversion, at moments they are combined, and they will reappear in totally unexpected keys. Bruckner also blurs the clear outlines of the classical symphony: themes do not return in the “correct” sequence or key. And Bruckner simply collapses the distinction between development and recapitulation: we reach the climax of this movement almost unaware of the mastery by which we have arrived. The opening theme, which dominates this movement like a range of snow-capped peaks, now rises from out of the mists and – finally in the “correct” key of E Major – drives the movement to its resounding close.

Program notes by Eric Bromberger

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Bruckner worked very slowly, and the first movement took well over a year to compose. On January 22, 1883, nearly eighteen months after he began work on the symphony, Bruckner began the second movement. He knew that Wagner, his idol and supporter, was in ill health, and on that same day Bruckner wrote to the conductor Felxi Mottl: “One day I came home and felt very sad. The thought had crossed my mind that before long the Master would die, and then the C-sharp minor theme of the Adagio came to me.” Deeply moved, Bruckner wrote the Adagio as a sort of premonition of Wagner’s death: he marks it “Very solemn and very slow” and adds four Wagner tubas to the scoring (they will reappear in the final movement). Their characteristically rich, dark sound is perfect for the grieving opening theme, which once again unfolds over a long span. The singing second subject, for the

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Out of the silence, the Scherzo bursts to life with welcome good humor. Over ostinato string figures, solo trumpet sounds the main theme, inevitably compared to the crowing of a cock. Marked “Very fast,” this movement is in straightforward scherzo form: a figure for solo timpani derived from the rhythm of the trumpet tune leads the way into the agreeable trio section, which Bruckner marks gesangvoll: “songful.” The repeat of the scherzo section is – as in every Bruckner symphony – literal.

A surprise (and a good one) awaits at the opening of the finale: the violins’ dancing opening theme is clearly derived from the luminous cello theme that opened the symphony.

There are moments of impressive gravity and power in this movement – the chorale-like second subject (over pizzicato accompaniment) and a thunderous restatement of the opening theme – but the almost playful spirit of the movement’s opening is never far away. Again, Bruckner’s treatment of form is quite free, and the symphony drives to a splendid climax. The dancing opening theme gradually re-assumes its original form from the first movement, and – pushed along by brass salvos derived from the opening of the last movement – the symphony thunders to a shining close.

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UPCOMING MOVIES IN CONCERT AT THE RADY SHELL AT JACOBS PARK

MARVEL STUDIOS’ INFINITY SAGA CONCERT EXPERIENCE

July 17 | 7:30PM

Thiago Tiberio, conductor San Diego Symphony Orchestra A new film concert that takes fans on an epic on-screen cinematic journey covering twenty-three films in one momentous concert event. Revisit the earliest days of Iron Man, Captain America and Thor as they discover their place in the Marvel Cinematic Universe – each accompanied by their own unforgettable heroic music.

Recapture the thrill as Earth’s mightiest heroes join forces for the first time, opening the door to the next wave of Avengers, backed by a live orchestra.

BARBIE THE MOVIE: IN CONCERT

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DISNEY’S THE LION KING IN CONCERT

July 19 | 7:30PM

Thiago Tiberio, conductor San Diego Symphony Orchestra The original 1994 animated film features unforgettable music by a notable team of Oscar® and GRAMMY® winners, including superstar Elton John, lyricist Tim Rice, and composer Hans Zimmer, plus African vocal and choir arrangements by GRAMMY®-winning South African producer and composer Lebo M (“Rhythm of the Pride Lands”).

JURASSIC PARK IN CONCERT

August 22 | 7:30PM

August 23 | 7:30PM

Macy Schmidt, conductor San Diego Symphony Orchestra Dance the night away with Barbie The Movie: In Concert! The record-shattering, full-length feature film will be accompanied by a live orchestra, performing both the score and the beloved pop songs from the iconic soundtrack.

Scott Terrell, conductor San Diego Symphony Orchestra The action-packed adventure pits man against prehistoric predators in the ultimate battle for survival. Featuring visually stunning imagery and groundbreaking special effects, this epic film is sheer movie magic 65 million years in the making. The San Diego Symphony Orchestra performs John Williams’ iconic score live to picture.

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SYMPHONY SUMMER PARTNERS

The San Diego Symphony Orchestra expresses sincere gratitude to the following donors for their generous contributions to the Symphony Summer Partners program. Our Summer Partners are a dedicated group of civicminded music-lovers who are committed to enriching our community through providing free music education and community engagement programs.

The following listing reflects pledges and gifts entered as of April 1, 2025.

$50,000 Les J. Silver and Andrea Rothschild-Silver Brooke and Dan* Koehler

$25,000 Shirley Estes

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$15,000 Anonymous Gisele Bonitz The Boros Family Gordon Brodfuehrer Cohn Restaurant Group/ David Cohn Anne and Steve Furgal Georgia Griffiths and Colleen Kendall Linda and Tom Lang

Lynn and Sue Miller Pamela and Stephen Quinn Cathy Robinson Chris and Kris Seeger Gayle and Philip Tauber Tim and Jean Valentine Margarita and Philip Wilkinson Lisa and Michael Witz

*Deceased

BECOME A SYMPHONY SUMMER PARTNER! Becoming a Summer Partner of the San Diego Symphony affords you a unique opportunity to enhance your concert-going experience and support the inclusive and diverse programming that The Rady Shell at Jacobs Park has become known for.

Your support as a Summer Partner is a commitment to the betterment of San Diego and the cultural excellence of our region.

For more information, or to join, please contact Vice President of Institutional Advancement, Sheri Broedlow at (619) 615-3910 or sbroedlow@sandiegosymphony.org.

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MUSICIAN SPOTLIGHT

JOHN DEGNAN • FRENCH HORN 1. Tell us about your journey to the San Diego Symphony

I was extremely fortunate to grow up in an area with very strong music and arts programs in West Palm Beach, Florida. I began playing French horn in the 4th grade and then attended the magnet middle and high schools for the arts. From there I went on to double major in French horn performance and Political Science at Vanderbilt University. During COVID, however, I found myself drawn further into music, practicing constantly which gave me structure and connected me to others at such a unique and difficult time in the world. This was when I decided that I wanted to pursue music as a career.

I went on to pursue my Master’s of Music degree at Rice University where I kept a photo of The Rady Shell as the background photo on my phone as inspiration throughout the professional audition process. I had always wanted to live in California, and I really admired the direction the San Diego Symphony Orchestra was heading in. I was very fortunate enough to win the position of Second Horn here in 2023, my “dream job.”

2. What is your favorite San Diego Symphony memory so far?

My favorite memory is probably our performance at Carnegie Hall during our 2023 tour. This was one of my first performances with the San Diego Symphony Orchestra, and my first tour, but what really made it special was that all my family from the East Coast was able to attend the concert. They rarely get to see me perform live, and I am so grateful that I was able to share this special moment with them.

3. How do you like to spend your free time when not performing?

When I’m not performing, I enjoy exploring all that America’s finest city has to offer with my fiancée, Isabella. We love going to all the different beaches and trying out local cafes and eateries (some personal favorites being Necessity Coffee, Bahn Thai, El Zarape, and Mothership).

4. What musical work are you looking most forward to performing in the remainder of the season?

I am most looking forward to performing Mahler’s 3rd symphony with the San Diego Symphony Chorus. My fiancée is a member of the chorus and I’m so happy to be able to share the stage with her together, doing what we love to do best. Moreover, this season has been very special as we opened the season and the renovated Jacobs Music Center with Mahler’s 2nd symphony. And now I look forward to bookending this historic season with Mahler again.

5. What is an interesting fact about yourself that you’d like to share?

I love doing anything that allows me to take advantage of the beautiful San Diego climate. Recently I have been enjoying running, biking, and surfing. I also enjoy reading, playing board games and honing my barista skills in pursuit of making the perfect home espresso.

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THE RADY SHELL AT JACOBS PARK™

2025 CONRAD PREBYS SUMMER SEASON JUN 5 Ludacris with Childish Major and DJ Infamous* JUN 7 Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue with JJ Grey & Mofro and Dumpstaphunk* JUN20 Classic Albums Live: David Bowie’s The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust* JUN 27 Opening Night with the San Diego Symphony Orchestra ymphony Orchestra JUN 28 Music of the Knights with the San Diego S JUN 29 Dolly Parton’s Threads: My Songs in Symphony JUL 4 4th of July: America in Song with the San Diego Symphony Orchestra JUL 5 The Music of ABBA with Rajaton and the San Diego Symphony Orchestra JUL 6 Earth, Wind & Fire* JUL 11 Top Gun: Maverick in Concert with the San Diego Symphony Orchestra JUL 12 Alison Krauss & Union Station feat. Jerry Douglas with special guest Willie Watson* JUL 13 Beethoven by the Bay JUL 17 Marvel Studios’ Infinity Saga Concert Experience JUL 18 Maoli: Last Sip of Summer Tour* JUL 19 Disney’s The Lion King in Concert JUL 29 Beck with the San Diego Symphony Orchestra JIL 31 Maren Morris*

To see our entire season 2025-26 concert list, visit our website or scan the QR code to the right!

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PROGRAM SAINT-SAËNS Piano Concerto No. 5 in F Major, Op. 103, Egyptian Allegro animato Andante Molto allegro

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-INTERMISSION-

SHOSTAKOVICH Symphony No. 7 in C Major, Op. 60, Leningrad Allegretto Moderato - Poco allegretto Adagio Allegro non troppo

FRIDAY, MAY 16 7:30PM SATURDAY, MAY 17 7:30PM

Total Program Duration: Approximately 2 Hours, 5 mins (includes one 20 minute intermission).

Jacobs Music Center 2025 JACOBS MASTERWORKS

ELEGANT TO EPIC: SAINT-SAËNS AND SHOSTAKOVICH

Spoken word introduction to the Shostakovich presented by Gerard McBurney and Rosina Reynolds

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Rafael Payare, conductor Jean-Yves Thibaudet, piano San Diego Symphony Orchestra

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Sponsored by:

Ap has d’O Ge one Car inc rec solo Wit

Scan this QR code with your smartphone or text SDS to 55741 to access the interactive version of the program.

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ARTIST BIO | ELEGANT TO EPIC: SAINT-SAËNS AND SHOSTAKOVICH

ABOUT THE ARTIST JEAN-YVES THIBAUDET

Thibaudet opens the 2024/25 season with Gershwin’s Piano Concerto in F at the Colorado Symphony; he later brings the piece to the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre national du Capitole de Toulouse, and Los Angeles Philharmonic.

He performs another signature piece, Saint-Saëns’s Piano Concerto No.5, with the National Symphony Orchestra of Taiwan, NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra, Pacific, Kansas City, and San Diego Symphonies, Macao Orchestra, and Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France.

A major contemporary exponent of Khachaturian’s Piano Concerto, Thibaudet performs the piece with the National Symphony Orchestra, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, and Tonhalle orchestras.

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In Seoul, with the KBS Symphony Orchestra, he returns to Scriabin’s Prometheus: The Poem of Fire, which he performed last season in a synesthetic presentation with olfactory cues created by Mathilde Laurent of Cartier. He also appears as soloist on Liszt’s Piano Concerto No.2, with the Boston Symphony Orchestra; Leonard Bernstein’s Symphony No.2, Age of Anxiety, with Shanghai Symphony Orchestra; and Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G with the New Jersey Symphony and Palm Beach Symphony orchestras. Other season highlights include world premiere performances of two new works: Benjamin Attahir’s doubleconcerto Hanoï Songs, with the Seattle Symphony, and Manu Martin’s Cosmic Rhapsody, with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra; and the return of his program with Michael Feinstein, Two Pianos: Who Could Ask for Anything More? in Rome and San Francisco.

In addition to his orchestral dates, Thibaudet takes part in the Itzhak Perlman and Friends tour across California and a tour of Asia with longtime collaborator Gautier Capuçon. While visiting the Boston Symphony Orchestra, he will play chamber music with members of the orchestra. He also continues his multi-season focus on Debussy’s Préludes, performing both books in their entirety at recitals across the United States; last season saw a reissue of his seminal 1996 recording of the Préludes on limited-edition vinyl with design by Vivienne Westwood.

A prolific recording artist, Thibaudet has appeared on more than 70 albums and six film scores; his extensive catalogue has received two Grammy nominations, two ECHO Awards, the Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik, the Diapason d’Or, the CHOC du Monde de la Musique, the Edison Prize, and Gramophone awards. Recent recordings include Gershwin Rhapsody, a collection of Gershwin pieces recorded with Michael Feinstein, including four newly-discovered ones; Night After Night, a celebration of James Newton Howard’s scores for the films of M. Night Shyamalan; and Carte Blanche, a collection of deeply personal solo piano pieces never before recorded by the pianist. Other highlights include a 2017 recording of Bernstein’s Age of Anxiety with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and Marin Alsop; recordings of the complete solo piano music of Debussy and Satie; Grammy-nominated recordings of Ravel’s complete solo piano works and Saint-Saëns’s Piano Concerti Nos.2&5; the jazz albums Reflections on Duke and Conversations With Bill Evans; and Aria–Opera Without Words, which features arias transcribed for solo piano by Thibaudet himself.

Thibaudet has also had an impact on the worlds of fashion, film, and philanthropy. He was soloist on Aaron Zigman’s score for Wakefield; this was the first time the composer had allowed a pianist other than himself to perform his film work. He was also soloist in Dario Marianelli’s award-winning scores for the films Atonement (which won an Oscar for Best Original Score) and Pride and Prejudice, as well as Alexandre Desplat’s soundtracks for Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close and Wes Anderson’s The French Dispatch. He had a cameo in Bruce Beresford’s film on Alma Mahler, Bride of the Wind, and his playing is showcased throughout. In 2004 he served as president of the prestigious charity auction at the Hospices de Beaune. His concert wardrobe is designed by Dame Vivienne Westwood. n

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PROGRAM NOTES | ELEGANT TO EPIC: SAINT-SAËNS AND SHOSTAKOVICH

ABOUT THE MUSIC Piano Concerto No. 5 in F Major, Op. 103, Egyptian CAMILLE SAINT-SAËNS

Born October 9, 1835, Paris Died December 16, 1921, Algiers APPROXIMATE PERFORMANCE TIME 32 MINUTES Saint-Saëns loved to travel, and his many trips took him throughout Europe – from Portugal to Russia, from Scandinavia to the Mediterranean – and he also crossed the Atlantic to visit both North and South America. (In fact, Saint-Saëns made it all the way to California in 1915 to help celebrate the Panama-Pacific Exposition.) But there was one locale that he loved above all others: North Africa. Saint-Saëns made repeated trips to this region, drawn in particular to the exotic qualities of the African nations that bordered the Mediterranean (it was on one of these trips that he died at the age of 86). His many North African journeys influenced his music: Saint-Saëns composed a Suite algérienne, a work for piano and orchestra that he titled Africa, and the present piano concerto, which was inspired by a trip to the Nile and which bears the nickname “Egyptian.”

Early in 1896 Saint-Saëns made an extended visit to Egypt, and as part of that trip he took a boat ride up the Nile. It was while he was staying in Luxor, site of the ancient city of Thebes, that he composed his Piano Concerto No. 5, and Saint-Saëns himself was aware that the region had helped shape this concerto. He later wrote: “The second part, in effect, takes us on a journey to the East and even, in the F sharp passage to the Far East. The G Major passage is a Nubian love song which I heard sung by the boatmen on the Nile as I went down the river in a dahabieh.” Saint-Saëns was soloist at the premiere of the Piano Concerto No. 5, which took place in the Salle Pleyel in Paris on June 2, 1896.

The concerto is in the expected three movements, all of them full of the polish, graceful spirits and idiomatic writing that mark Saint-Saëns’ music. The Allegro animato contrasts two quite different themes, both introduced by the piano: a flowing chordal melody and a somewhat more expressive second subject, marked Un poco rubato and set in D minor.

The movement develops in sonata form, builds to a climax, and falls away to a quiet close on the second theme.

The central Andante is the movement that earned this concerto the nickname “Egyptian.” An attack for full orchestra gets the movement off to a surprisingly fierce start, and this is followed by pulsing rhythms in the strings. The episode in G Major is the love-song Saint-Saëns heard sung by the Nile boatmen, and he said that the chirping grace-notes in the violins were the sound of crickets and frogs he heard along the banks of the Nile.

The finale, marked Molto allegro, gets off to a propulsive, driving start. Saint-Saëns said that this concerto depicted a “sea-voyage,” and many have heard the rumble of a ship’s propellers at the beginning of this movement. This finale is deft and light-hearted music (though it requires some very brilliant piano-playing to bring it off), and the music dances gracefully right up to its vigorous concluding chords. n

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Symphony No. 7 in C Major, Op. 60, Leningrad DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH

Born September 25, 1906, St. Petersburg Died August 9, 1975, Moscow APPROXIMATE PERFORMANCE TIME 1 HOUR, 14 MINUTES On June 21, 1941, Hitler unleashed Operation Barbarossa – the invasion of Russia – and specified to his generals that it would “have to be conducted with unprecedented, unmerciful and unrelenting harshness.” In this he was as good as his word – over the next four years twenty million Russians would be killed. Shostakovich heard the news that Saturday afternoon while on his way to a soccer double-header, and his life was transformed along with his nation’s. When his attempt to enlist in the army was rejected, he contributed to the war effort by writing patriotic songs and marches and joined the firefighting brigade at the Leningrad Conservatory. They did not have long to wait – the Germans began shelling Leningrad on September 1, and that siege, one of the most horrifying in history, would last almost three years and kill nearly a million residents of the city.

Even before Nazi shells began to fall on the city, Shostakovich had set out on a vast musical project – on July 19 he began a symphony written in response to the invasion. It would be the longest of his fifteen symphonies, the most famous, and the most notorious. He completed the huge first movement on August 29 as the German army approached, had the second done on September 17, and completed the third twelve days later, on the 29th. By this time, Leningrad had been completely cut off, and Shostakovich and his wife and children were flown over enemy lines to Moscow on October 1. Along with many other Soviet artists, they were then evacuated to Kyubishev, 600 miles east of Moscow, and it was there that he completed his Seventh Symphony on December 27. A few weeks after the premiere, which took place in Kyubishev on March 5, 1942, Shostakovich called the war the struggle “between culture and barbarity, between light and darkness” and dedicated the Seventh Symphony “to our struggle with fascism, to our coming victory over the enemy, and to my native city, Leningrad.”

The Leningrad Symphony, as the Seventh inevitably became known, spans nearly eighty minutes. The massive opening movement is what we automatically think of at the mention of the Leningrad Symphony – it gives the symphony its distinctive character, as well as its notoriety. Shostakovich described the opening of the movement as a depiction “of the happy, peaceful life of people sure of themselves and their future. This is the simple, peaceful life lived before the war . . .” The powerful opening in C Major establishes a heroic character, while the violins’ lyric second subject and the exposition’s closing theme – imaginatively assigned to a solitary piccolo – offer fleeting glimpses of a peaceful life now gone forever. It is into this almost pastoral world that war suddenly intrudes, and here Shostakovich makes a striking choice. In place of the expected development of his opening material, invaders arrive, not as cataclysmic horror but as a faint presence on the most distant horizon. Over a faint snare drum tattoo (marked triple piano), strings pluck out a jaunty little tune, almost banal in its simplicity. The sting comes in its tail: its closing phrase is from Danilo’s Da geh’ ich zu Maxim’s, from Franz Lehar’s The Merry Widow, one of S A N D IEGO SY MPH ON Y M AY 2 02 5

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Over the incessant snare drum rhythm, this little tune repeats and repeats, growing louder as the enemy approaches and developing a swagger along the way. After twelve repetitions, this theme – now of steamroller-like proportions – is assaulted by a mighty “Russian”-sounding theme, and a noisy musical battle erupts. The charge has always been that Shostakovich lifted the idea for this episode from Ravel’s Bolero, and while in a structural sense that may be accurate, the true musical father of this movement is Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture, where music associated with another invader from Western Europe – Napoleon’s France – is confronted in a musical battle by Russian music and defeated. At the climax of the first movement Shostakovich reintroduces his heroic opening theme, and there follows what might be described as a “battered” recapitulation. Solo bassoon sings a long threnody on the violins’ second subject – what had sounded so peaceful half an hour before is now spare and grim. The movement concludes in near-silence as fragments of the invader theme lie shattered in the ditch.

The Moderato (poco Allegretto) is a scherzo in ternary form. Second violins announce a tart little dance, full of i ronic turns, and the strident central episode, which moves into 3/8 and C-sharp minor, rides along the piercing sound of solo woodwinds. Shostakovich accompanies the return of his opening dance with some wonderful sounds, generated by two flutes and alto flute, which pulse quietly behind the dance.

The spare wind chorale that opens the Adagio alternates with a cadenza-like recitative for violins, and this in turn is followed by a lyric idea for flute. This last offers some of the most appealing music in the symphony, but it is rudely shouldered aside as the music accelerates into a raucous, troubled central section. Shostakovich recalls his opening material briefly before proceeding directly into the finale.

pulled from military units, with some players even called back from the trenches at the front to participate. The symphony was performed over sixty times in its first season, unheard of for any symphony, before or since – this music had become the cultural symbol of the struggle against Hitler and the Nazis.

Inevitably, a reaction set in. English critic Ernest Newman contributed a memorable barb, saying that if one “wished to locate this symphony on the musical map, he should look along the seventieth degree of longitude and the last degree of platitude,” and Bartók – perhaps unwisely – sneered at the invader theme in his Concerto for Orchestra.

After its excessive popularity, the Leningrad Symphony virtually dropped out of sight in the years after the war.

What sense are we to make of the Shostakovich Seventh Symphony, over eighty years after its premiere? The conditions that gave rise to its creation have long since faded into history, and this symphony – perhaps too loud, too long, and too obvious – might have been expected to vanish along with them. Yet the Leningrad Symphony has re-established itself to some degree over the last twenty years, and it continues to engage audiences. Perhaps some of this is simple nostalgia, its power – like a faded snapshot or a uniform found in a closet – to evoke another era. But some of its enduring appeal comes directly from the passion and heroism of the music itself. Carl Sandburg said that this symphony was “written in the heart’s blood,” and while its rawness and immediacy may be the source of some of its problems, they are also the source of its strength.

Sentiments that sound tinny and jingoistic during moments of ease can take on renewed meaning during times of national emergency. In its stark power, broad strokes and unconflicted emotions, Shostakovich’s Seventh Symphony speaks of a less complicated time, and it truly is music written “in the heart’s blood.” n Program notes by Eric Bromberger

Shostakovich had originally planned to call the last movement “Victory,” and while he withdrew that title, he did establish the connection in a radio broadcast, calling the finale “the victory of light over darkness, wisdom over frenzy, lofty humanism over monstrous tyranny.” But while the first movement may have won a battle, final victory was by no means certain at this point. In fact, when Shostakovich began composing this finale – three days after the attack on Pearl Harbor – the siege of Leningrad would continue for two more years, with untold misery still to come. The music begins in harmonic uncertainty and takes a firm direction only when the strings stride out purposefully with the movement’s main theme. This is another long movement – and a tense one. Shostakovich calls for ten extra brass players with parts of their own, and – despite a quiet central episode – the music often feels more tortured than triumphant. Even the heroic return of the symphony’s opening theme in the closing minutes does not dispel this tension, and Shostakovich wrenches the music into unequivocal C Major only for the final chord. Written from the depths of war, this is a finale that celebrates the expectation of victory rather than its finality.

No other symphony in history has had the immediate impact that the Leningrad Symphony had. Its premiere was broadcast throughout Russia, and the Leningrad premiere – on August 9, 1942, in the midst of the siege – was so important to the beleaguered city that its only surviving orchestra – a radio orchestra of barely fifty players – was augmented by players S A N DI EGO SY M PHON Y M AY 2 02 5

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UPCOMING SUMMER CONCERTS AT THE RADY SHELL AT JACOBS PARK

The San

$1,000

OPENING NIGHT WITH THE SAN DIEGO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

4TH OF JULY: AMERICA IN SONG WITH THE SAN DIEGO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

The evening opens with Ginastera’s Four Dances from Estancia, the final dance being the spirited “Malambo.”

Wynton Marsalis – one of the greatest and most celebrated trumpet musicians of all time – created a trumpet concerto that will receive its San Diego debut, at the hands of trumpet extraordinaire Paul Merkelo. Dukas’ The Sorcerer’s Apprentice conjures the excitement and magic made famous by Disney’s Fantasia, and Debussy’s La mer brings a beautiful ode to the sea, a perfect selection for the waterfront venue.

Maestro Ted Sperling’s new “4th of July: America in Song” brings audiences together to share what is unique and wonderful about the American spirit, through our country’s wide and storied musical heritage. Featured songs include the Gershwin’s’ “Summertime,” Bob Dylan’s “The Times They Are a-Changin’”, Dolly Parton’s “Coat of Many Colors,” the Louis Armstrong classic “Basin Street Blues,” and many more singularly American songs. Blending the music that has enchanted generations of Americans, contemporary Broadway and Americana anthems we all love, this 4th of July event is not to be missed.

June 27 | 7:30PM

BEETHOVEN BY THE BAY

July 4 | 7:30PM

TCHAIKOVSKY SPECTACULAR

July 13 | 7:30PM

August 30 | 7:30PM

This annual summer favorite bringing Beethoven’s Coriolan Overture to life, along with Felix Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto, performed by violinist Clara-Jumi Kang. The Rady Shell at Jacobs Park is the ideal setting in which to hear the program’s final work - Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6, “Pastoral,” – in which the composer marked birdsongs in the score, just one element in this symphony that helps to evoke the countryside that inspired it.

Conductor Stephanie Childress makes her San Diego Symphony debut in the orchestra’s annual favorite.

Featuring many of the composer’s most celebrated works, the program also includes Chopin’s romantic Piano Concerto No. 1, delivered by Austrian pianist Kiron Atom Tellian, and culminates in the 1812 Overture, with a pyrotechnic display in the skies above The Rady Shell at Jacobs Park and the San Diego Bay.

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THE LEGACY SOCIETY The Legacy Society honors the following individuals who have made cash pledges or future commitments from their estates to the San Diego Symphony Foundation and/or the San Diego Symphony Orchestra Association to ensure the success of the orchestra for generations to come. The following listing includes commitments as of January 15, 2024 *Deceased $1,000,000 AND ABOVE

$100,000 AND ABOVE

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Sophie & Arthur Brody Foundation* Nicole A. and Benjamin G. Clay Daniel J. and Phyllis Epstein John Forrest and Deborah Pate Elaine Galinson and Herbert Solomon Norman Forrester and Bill Griffin Pauline Foster* Pamela Hamilton Lester In Memory of Jim Lester Joan* and Irwin Jacobs Karen and Warren Kessler Willis J. Larkin* Beatrice P. and Charles W. Lynds* Jack McGrory The Miller Fund Marilyn James and Richard Phetteplace Penny and Louis Rosso Marie G. Raftery and Robert A. Rubenstein, M. D. Lyn Small and Miguel Ikeda Katherine “Kaylan” Thornhill Sue and Bill* Weber Mitchell R. Woodbury

Anonymous Alfred F. Antonicelli* Rosanne B. and W. Gregory Berton Julia R. Brown Margaret and David* Brown Roberta and Malin Burnham The Carton Charitable Trust* Joan R. Cooper* Bob and Kathy Cueva Elizabeth and Newell A. Eddy* Esther and Bud* Fischer Pam and Hal Fuson Joyce A. Glazer Nancy and Fred Gloyna Muriel Gluck* Judith C. Harris* and Robert Singer, M. D. Susan and Paul Hering Barbara M. Katz Evelyn and William Lamden Inge Lehman* Sandy and Arthur* Levinson

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UNDISCLOSED OR UNDER $100,000

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Anonymous (3) Leonard Abrahms* Carol Rolf and Steven Adler Pat Baker and Laurence Norquist* William Beamish Stephen and Michele* Beck-von-Peccoz Alan Benaroya Lt. Margaret L Boyce USN* Dennis and Lisa Bradley Gordon Brodfuehrer Joseph H. Brooks and Douglas Walker Donna Bullock Melanie and Russ Chapman Clancy-Jordan Family Catherine Cleary Warrine and Ted Cranston* Elisabeth and Robert* Crouch Anna Curren Peter V. Czipott and Marisa SorBello Caroline S. DeMar Ms. Peggy Ann Dillon* Alice Dyer Trust* Arthur S. Ecker* Jeanne and Morey Feldman* David Finkelstein* Teresa and Merle Fischlowitz* Margaret A. Flickinger Judith and Dr. William Friedel Carol J. Gable* Edward B. Gill Madeline and Milton Goldberg* Helene Grant* Dorothy and Waldo Greiner* David and Claire Guggenheim Judith Harris* and Robert Singer, M.D.

Lulu Hsu Marjory Kaplan Patricia A. Keller* Anne* and Takashi Kiyoizumi Carol Lazier and James Merritt Joan Lewan* Jaime z’’l* and Sylvia Liwerant Gladys Madoff* John and Amy Malone Richard Manion James Marshall, Ph.D. Patricia and Peter Matthews Antoinette Chaix McCabe* Sandra Miner Judith A. Moore Ermen and Fred Moradi* Mona and Sam Morebello Helen and Joseph R. Nelson* Joani Nelson Mariellen Oliver* Elizabeth and Dene Oliver Val and Ron Ontell Steven Penhall Margaret F. Peninger* Pauline Peternella* Robert Plimpton Elizabeth Poltere Sheila Potiker* Jim Price and Joan Sieber Carol Randolph, PH.D. and Robert Caplan Sarah Marsh-Rebelo and John Rebelo Lois Richmond (of blessed memory)* Debra Thomas Richter and Mark Richter Dr. Arno Safier*

Pamela Mallory Elizabeth R. Mayer* Vance M. McBurney* Imozelle and Jim McVeigh Michael Napoli Shona Pierce* Linda and Shearn* Platt Anne Ratner* Colette Carson Royston and Ivor Royston Ken Schwartz* Kris and Chris Seeger Karen and Kit Sickels Gayle* and Donald Slate Sheila Sloan* Dave and Phyllis Snyder Pat Stein* James L.* and June A. Swartz Elizabeth and Joseph* Taft Colonel (Ret.) Joseph and Mrs. Joyce Timmons Leslie and Joe Waters

Joan and Jack Salb* Richard A. Samuelson* Craig Schloss Todd Schultz Melynnique and Edward* Seabrook Pat Shank Kathleen and Lewis* Shuster Drs. Bella and Alexander* Silverman Stephen M. Silverman Richard Sipan* Nora Jean Smith Linda and Bob Snider Valerie Stallings Richard Stern* Marjorie A. Stettbacher Susan B. Stillings* Joyce and Ted Strauss* Gene Summ Sheryl Sutton Victor van Lint Harriet and Maneck* Wadia Pauline and Ralph Wagner* Betty and Phillip Ward PIF Fund* K. Nikki Waters Mike & Janet Westling James R. Williams and Nancy S. Williams* Martha Jean Winslow* Marga Winston* Edward Witt Carolyn and Eric Witt David A. Wood Zarbock 1990 Trust* LeAnna S. Zevely Dr. and Mrs. Philip Ziring

If you are interested in more information about joining The Legacy Society, please contact Vice President of Institutional Advancement Sheri Broedlow at (619) 615-3910 or sbroedlow@sandiegosymphony.org.

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JACOBS MUSIC CENTER’S 2025–26 SEASON IS HERE!

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Music for Families Symphony Kids Series 4 SATURDAYS AT 10AM & 11:30AM | AGES 0–5 For our youngest music lovers, the Symphony Kids Series is the perfect introduction to the world of music! These 30-minute interactive concerts are sensory-friendly and designed with little ones in mind. Sing-alongs, rhymes, dances, and musical games will engage your child while introducing them to the instruments of the orchestra.

Family Concert Series 3 SATURDAYS AT 11AM AGES 6–12 Experience the thrill of live music with our full orchestra in three fun and engaging performances at Jacobs Music Center! These 1-hour concerts feature captivating musical stories and interactive moments that are sure to inspire both kids and adults alike.

NOVEMBER 1

OCTOBER 25

Featuring a San Diego Symphony Wind Quintet

San Diego Symphony Orchestra

MEET THE WINDS: MOTHER GOOSE

DECEMBER 13

MEET THE BRASS: ‘TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS Featuring a San Diego Symphony Brass Quintet

FEBRUARY 14

MEET THE PERCUSSION: CLAPPING MUSIC

Featuring a San Diego Symphony Percussion Ensemble

MEET THE STRINGS: FERDINAND THE BULL

Featuring a San Diego Symphony String Quintet

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SPOOKY SOUNDS AND MAGICAL MELODIES

Start your day with a magical and spooky adventure with the orchestra!

Enjoy the enchanting Hedwig’s Theme, the thrilling Danse macabre, and the fiery finale of Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite. Don’t forget your costumes, this morning of music will have you spellbound!

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PETER AND THE WOLF

Embark on a musical journey celebrating the beauty of the animal kingdom. From the buzzing Flight of the Bumblebee to the classic musical story Peter and the Wolf, to a world premiere of Right Whale, Wrong Letter, this concert is an unforgettable tribute to our furry, finned, and feathered friends!

APRIL 11

SPACE JUNK

MARCH 28

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WindSync, wind quintet San Diego Symphony Orchestra Blast off with the San Diego Symphony Orchestra for a cosmic adventure through music! From the triumphant Sunrise Fanfare to the dramatic Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony and the iconic Star Wars theme, this concert will take you to the stars and beyond. With the world premiere of Space Junk, it’s a family-friendly journey through the galaxy you won’t want to miss!

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Symphony Kids Series: This series was developed in partnership with SDSU Center for Autism. General admission seating. Tickets are required for all ages, including babies in arms.

Family Concert Series: Seating selected with purchase. Children 2+ and adults require a ticket; attendees under age 2 seated on an adult’s lap are included with adult ticket purchase.

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Jazz @ The Jacobs SATURDAYS AT 7:30 PM

Experience the Jazz @ The Jacobs series in its second year at the renovated Jacobs Music Center.

Curated by renowned musician Gilbert Castellanos, the immersive venue wraps audiences in sound and emotion. Subscribe to the 2025-26 three-concert series and experience these unforgettable performances. *All Jazz @ The Jacobs shows will feature a pre-show performance

by Young Lions Jazz Conservatory All-Stars.

APRIL 4

THE DAVE BRUBECK QUARTET: TIME OUT Josh Nelson, piano Nicole McCabe, alto saxophone Luca Alemanno, bass Joe LaBarbera, drums Additional artists to be announced *Young Lions Jazz Conservatory All-Stars, jazz band

NOVEMBER 29

FEBRUARY 14

JOHN COLTRANE: BLUE TRAIN

SONGS FOR LOVERS: The music

Brian Levy, Tenor saxophone Gilbert Castellanos, trumpet Andre Hayward, trombone Mike Gurrola, bass Additional artists to be announced *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.

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 *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.

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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.

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ANNUAL GIVING HONOR ROLL

The Musicians, members of the Board of Directors and the Administrative Staff wish to gratefully acknowledge the growing list of friends who give so generously to support the San Diego Symphony. To make a gift, please call (619) 615-3901.

The following listing reflects pledges entered as of January 15, 2024.

San Diego Foundation

Rancho Santa Fe Foundation

STRADIVARIUS CIRCLE: $100,000 AND ABOVE

Mitchell Woodbury Sarah and Marc Zeitlin

Raffaella and John* Belanich City of San Diego Commission for Arts and Culture Carol and Richard Hertzberg Joan* and Irwin Jacobs Dorothea Laub The Miller Fund The Conrad Prebys Foundation Jennie Werner

GUEST ARTIST CIRCLE: $25,000-$49,999

MAESTRO CIRCLE: $50,000-$99,999 Anonymous (1) Michele and Jules Arthur Terry L. Atkinson Dianne Bashor Alan Benaroya Julia Richardson Brown Foundation John and Janice Cone Kevin and Jan Curtis Una Davis and Jack McGrory Drs. Edward A. and Martha G. Dennis Mr. and Mrs.* Brian K. Devine Daniel J. and Phyllis Epstein Pam and Hal Fuson Elaine Galinson and Herbert Solomon Arlene Inch The Janecek Family Foundation Karen and Warren Kessler Brooke and Dan* Koehler Monica and Robert Oder Maryanne and Irwin Pfister Linda and Shearn* Platt Marilyn James and Richard Phetteplace Price Philanthropies Qualcomm Charitable Foundation Marie G. Raftery and Robert A. Rubenstein, M. D. Jacqueline and Jean-Luc Robert Elena Romanowsky Penny and Louis Rosso Colette Carson Royston and Ivor Royston San Diego Foundation Jean and Gary Shekhter Karen and Kit Sickels Karen Foster Silberman and Jeff Silberman, Silberman Family Fund Les J. Silver and Andrea Rothschild-Silver Gayle* and Donald Slate Dave and Phyllis Snyder Gloria and Rodney Stone Jayne and Bill Turpin Vail Memorial Fund, Meredith Brown, Trustee Leslie and Joe Waters Sue and Bill* Weber Kathryn A. and James E. Whistler Cole and Judy Willoughby

Anonymous (x2) Eloise and Warren* Batts David Bialis The Bjorg Family Annette and Daniel Bradbury Dee Anne and Michael Canepa Nicole A. and Benjamin G. Clay Karen and Donald Cohn Stephanie and Richard Coutts Ann Davies Kathleen Seely Davis Karin and Gary Eastham Shirley Estes Lisette and Mick Farrell, Farrell Family Foundation Kelly Greenleaf and Michael Magerman Lawrence and Suzanne Hess Hervey Family Fund Kiwanis Club of San Diego Helen and Sig Kupka Carol Ann and George Lattimer Lisa and Gary Levine Sandy and Arthur* Levinson Eileen Mason Anne and Andy McCammon Padres Foundation Deborah Pate and John Forrest Allison and Robert Price Carol Randolph, Ph. D. and Robert Caplan Sally and Steve Rogers Jeanette Stevens Elizabeth and Joseph* Taft Sandra Timmons and Richard Sandstrom University of San Diego Sheryl and Harvey White Young Presidents’ Organization San Diego Gold The Zygowicz Family (John, Judy, and Michelle) CONCERTMASTER CIRCLE: $15,000-$24,999 Anonymous Diane and Norman Blumenthal Dr. Anthony Boganey Gisele Bonitz The Boros Family Gordon Brodfuehrer David Cohn Ana de Vedia Hon. James Emerson Anne and Steve Furgal Joyce Gattas, Ph. D. and Jay Jeffcoat Jill Gormley and Laurie Lipman Janet and Wil Gorrie Georgia Griffiths and Colleen Kendall Judith Harris* and Robert Singer, M.D. Laurie Sefton Henson

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Jewish Community Foundation *Deceased

Jo Ann Kilty Dr. William and Evelyn Lamden Linda and Tom Lang Carol Lazier and James Merritt Lynn and Sue Miller Marshall Littman, M.D. Rena Minisi and Rich Paul The Kenneth T. and Eileen L. Norris Foundation Val and Ron Ontell Dave and Jean Perry Jane and Jon Pollock Pamela and Stephen Quinn Dr. Andrew Ries and Dr. Vivian Reznik Cathy and Lawrence* Robinson Ellen Browning Scripps Foundation Chris and Kris Seeger Stephen M. Silverman Sylvia Steding and Roger* Thieme Gayle and Philip Tauber R.V. Thomas Family Fund Julie and Stephen Tierney Tim and Jean Valentine Isabelle and Mel* Wasserman Margarita and Philip Wilkinson Lisa and Michael Witz

Clare White-McDonald Oliver McGonigle Elizabeth and Edward McIntyre Morrison & Foerster Trupti and Pratik Multani Donald and Clara Murphy Dana and Stella Pizzuti Claudia Prescott Sandy and Greg Rechtsteiner ResMed Foundation Carol Rolf and Steven Adler Harold and Evelyn Schauer Jayne and Brigg Sherman Sandra Smelik and Larry Manzer Hon. Stephanie Sontag and Hon. David Oberholtzer DeAnne Steele and Carlo Barbara Mike Stivers and Alan Dwyer Ingrid M. Van Moppes K. Nikki Waters Shirli Weiss Edward and Anna Yeung Joan Zecher

VIRTUOSO CIRCLE: $10,000-$14,999

Anonymous (1) Nicole Acuff Cheryl and Rand Alexander Bonnie and Krishna Arora Kevin and Michelle Aufmann Rena and Behram Baxter Edgar and Julie Berner Sophie Bryan and Matthew Lueders Donna Bullock and Kenneth Bullock Wendy Burk and Harold Frysh Joseph Caso Marilyn Colby Elaine Darwin Ann DeFields The den Uijl Family Brett Dickinson Jon and Karen Dien Karen Dow Susan Dubé Julie and Mitchell Dubick Berit and Tom Durler Susanna and Michael Flaster Gertrude B. Fletcher Karen Forbes Leonard and Marcia* Fram Calvin Frantz Marie and Bob Garson Carrie and James Greenstein David and Claire Guggenheim Ivy Hanson Beau Haugh Suzanne and Lawrence Hess Janet and Clive Holborow Maryka and George* Hoover James B. Idell and Deborah C. Streett-Idell Virginia and Peter Jensen Sabby Jonathan Marge Katleman and

Anonymous Guity Balow Ina Cantor and Sammy Krumholz Barbara and Salvatore Capizzi P. Kay Coleman & Janice E. Montle Nina and Robert* Doede Karin and Alfred Esser Leticia Falquier and Craig Sapin Norman Forrester and Bill Griffin Scott and Tracy Frudden Lynn and Charles Gaylord Martha and William Gilmer Hanna and Mark Gleiberman Lehn and Richard Goetz Vicki Garcia-Golden and Tim Jeffries Marcia Green and Laurie Munday Kay and Bill Gurtin Jason and Somi Han Dwight Hare and Stephanie Bergsma Jeff And Tina Hauser Beverley Haynes Richard A. Heyman and Anne E. Daigle Family Foundation Nellie High-Iredale Angela and Cory Homnick The Hong-Patapoutian Family Nancy and Stephen Howard Jeffrey and Claudia Lee Bill and Michelle Lerach Susan and Peter Mallory Larry McDonald and

ORCHESTRA CIRCLE: $5,000-$9,999

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Richard Perlman Carol and Mike Kearney Angela and Matthew Kilman Robert* and Laura Kyle Ann and Joseph Lipschitz Steve Lyman and Diane McKernan Mark C. Mead Dr. Laurie Mitchell and Brent Woods Lorna* and Adrian Nemcek David and Judith Nielsen Alex and Jenny Ning Aradhna and Grant Oliphant Ricki Pedersen Mary Ann and David Petree Peggy and Peter Preuss Jennifer and Eugene Rumsey Jr. M.D. Sage Foundation Bonnie and Josef Sedivec Ruey and Marivi Shivers Larry and Pamela Stambaugh Iris and Matthew* Strauss Charles Tiano Richard and Susan Ulevitch Aysegul Underhill Mary L. Walshok, Ph.D. Shara Williams and Benjamin Brand Debi and Robert Young Leo* and Emma Zuckerman SYMPHONY CIRCLE: $2,500-$4,999 Ellie and David Alpert Lauren Lee Beaudry Dr. Thomas Beers Mark and Ellen Bramson Ralph Britton Loyce Bruce Maria Carrera and Corey Fayman John Cochran* and Sue Lasbury Household Mayra Curiel and Carlos Larios Andrea da Rosa Trevor and Patricia Daniel Susan and Steven Davis Caroline S. DeMar Don Duda Doris and Peter Ellsworth Morey A. Feldman & Jeanne D. Feldman Family Endowment Fund Judy and Neil Finn Richard Forsyth and Katherine Leonard Ms. Linda Fortier Marilyn Friesen and John Greenbush Brenda and Dr. Michael Goldbaum Robert And Carole Greenes Sharon and Garry Hays Mert and Joanne Hill Mr. Clifford Hollander and Mrs. Sharon Flynn Hollander Sonya and Sergio* Jinich Leon and Sofia Kassel Dwight A. Kellogg Kris J. Kopensky Stephen Korniczky Brian and Nancy Littlefield Sylvia and Jaime* Liwerant Pamela Maher Glen P. Middleton Takenori Muraoka Elizabeth Pille Sandra and David Polster Pratt Memorial Fund

Jeff and Clare Quinn Linda J. & Jeffrey M. Shohet Timothy Snodgrass and Elaine King Steve and Carmen Steinke Jacqueline Thousand and Richard Villa Col. and Mrs. Joseph C. Timmons Norton S. and Barbara Walbridge Fund Thomas P. Ward and Rosemary T. Ward Carolyn and Eric Witt Luann and Brian E. Wright David A. Wood Gary and Amy Yin Dr. and Mrs. Philip Ziring Herb* and Margaret Zoehrer CONCERTO CIRCLE: $1,000-$2,499 Anonymous (3) B.J. Adelson Dede and Michael Alpert Janet Anderson and Victor Van Lint Nicole Anderson Hector and Jennifer Anguiano Lyndsey and Allan W. Arendsee Patricia and Brian Armstrong Roberta Baade Mary Barranger Rusti Bartell David and Jasna Belanich Sondra Berk Ivy and Mark Bernhardson Mary Ann Beyster Virginia and Robert Black Joseph H. Brooks and Douglas Walker Ercil Brown and Linda Silverman Rew P. Carne Caroline Chen and George Boomer Stan Clayton Colwell Family Fund Jeanette and Hal Coons Bob and Kathy Cueva Georgia and Emery Cummins Dr. Peter Czipott and Marisa SorBello William A. Davidson Mary G. Dawe Maria Deacon and Patrick Davis Anne and Charles Dick Marguerite Jackson Dill and Carol Archibald Sandra Dodge John E. Don Carlos Gail Donahue Philip L. Dowd Max Fenstermacher Marilyn Field Kenneth Fitzgerald Douglas Flaker and Rikk Valdivia Stan Fleming, Forward Ventures Jean Fort The Samuel I. and John Henry Fox Foundation Nicholas R. Frost, MD Judith Fullerton Nancy and Mike Garrett Kenneth F. Gibsen Memorial Fund Linda R. Gooden James and Donna Gordon Laurie M. Gore

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Sally and Dave Hackel Fred Hafer and Noel Haskins-Hafer Household Stephanie and John Hanson Thomas Hawkins Michelle Hebert Joan and Richard Heller Sarah Hillier and Paul Strand Barbara and Paul Hirshman Peggy and John* Holl Lulu Hsu Borden E. Hughes Jeanne Curtis Hurwitz Arthur Johnson Dr. Henry J. Judd Dr. Enoch Kariuki Maurice Kawashima Cynthia King Tandy and Gary Kippur – JCF of Southern AZ Betty and Leonard Kornreich Martha and Jerry* Krasne Anona Kuehne Rhea and Armin Kuhlman Gautam and Anjali Lalani Colleen and Jeffrey Lambert Philip Larsen Dr. Mary Lawlor Eliza Lee Greg Lemke Pat and Steve Lending Gayle M. Lennard Kiyoe MacDonald Catherine Mackey Daniel and Chris Mahai Sally and Luis Maizel Amy and John Malone Eugene Malone Suzanne S. Manley Arnulfo Manriquez Madonna Christine Maxwell and Jeffrey Omens David McCall and Bill Cross Janet McClure The McKay Family Susan and Douglas McLeod Menard Family Foundation Richard Michaels Dr. Sandra E. Miner Martha and Chuck Moffett Bibhu P. Mohanty Dr. Thomas Moore David Morris Drs. Elaine and Douglas Muchmoore Shelley Neiman Patricia R. Nelson Dr. Jon Nowak Cynthia Obadia Frank O’Dea Larry and Linda Okmin Household Thomas O’Neill and Mary Ann Kennedy Barry Parker Sally and Phillip Patton James Pea and Sandra Petersen Cathleen C. Pilkington The Porter Family Jim Price and Joan Sieber Carol Prior Drs. Radmilla and Igor Prislin Arlene Quaccia and Robin Hughes Matthew and Sue Quinn Barbara Rabiner Janet and Bill Raschke Keith Record Dr. Marilyn Friesen and Dr. Michael Rensink

The Ryde Family Memorial Foundation Gloria and Dean Saiki San Diego Downtown Breakfast Rotary Susan and Edward Sanderson Household Dina Feldman-Scarr and Marshal Scarr Thomas Schwartz Judith and Robert Sharp Lari Sheehan Professor Susan Shirk Anne and Ronald Simon Drs. Eleanor J. Smith and John D. Malone Darryl and Rita Solberg Suzy Soo Valerie Stallings James Storelli Emily Renee Stroebel Diane Strong John E. Sturla II Swinton Family Fund Elliot Tarson Thomas Templeton and Mary Erlenborn William Tong Fred and Erika Torri Jennifer and Stephen Toth Janis Vanderford Kathleen and Louis Victorino Carol and Thomas Warschauer Dr. Jeffrey and Barbara Wasserstrom Margaret Weigand Ruth Wikberg-Leonardi and Ron Leonardi Eileen Wingard Joseph and Mary Witztum Karen and Rod Wood Olga and Oscar Worm Barbara A. Yost Britt Zeller Charles Ralph Zellerback SONATA CIRCLE: $500-$999 Anonymous (6) June and Daniel Allen Dr. Robin Allgren Philip Anderson Arleene Antin and Leonard Ozerkis Nancy and James Balderrama Elaine Baldwin and Carl Nelson Joe Baressi Jr. Lori Baxter Elena Bernardi Dr. Leonard and Beverly Bernstein Terri Bignell Jerry and Karen Blakely Sondra Boddy & Robert C. Smith Marcus and Kimberley Boehm Stephen and Priscilla Bothwell Mary Catherine Bowell Gloria and Sed Brown Alyssa Brzenski Jolie and Glenn Buberl Ed Budzyna and Zack Zaccaria Robert and Carolyn Caietti Judith Call Margaret Carrol Patricia and Michael Casey Gloria and Maurice Caskey Juliana Caso Tanya and Sutton Chen Raymond Chinn Mary Ellen Clark

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Geoff and Shem Clow Dan Collins and Nancy Shimamoto Household Dale Connelly Patrick and Lisa Cooney Joe Costa Dr. Peter Czipott and Marisa SorBello Dr. Dalia Daujotyte Erle Frederick Davis Morgan Day and Amy Larson Julie and Don De Ment Debra Deverill Dr. Greg Dixon Douglas P. Doucette Rob Drake Elizabeth and Richard Dreisbach Pamela Dunlap Jim Eastman Jeffrey Edwards Drs. Eric and Barbara Emont Robyn Erlenbush Jeane Erley Arlene Esgate Joel Ewan and Carol Spielman-Ewan Dr. Thomas Fay and Fabiola Lopez Hank Finesilver Linda Lyons Firestein Louise Firme Darlene and Robert Fleischman Nynke Fortuin Michelle Fox Dr. Laura Gomez-Freeman and William Freeman Judith and William Friedel Roy Gilmour Diane Glow Kathleen and John Golden Ser Andre Gonzalez Robert Griffin Stephanie and H. Griswold Dean Haas Georgette Hale Gerald Hansen and Marilyn Southcott Helen Hansen Lydia Harris The Herr Family Christine Hickman and Dennis Ragen Richard Himmelspach Harold Hoch Anne S. Holder-Erdman Sandra Hoover Thomas Houlihan Ralph Hull Nancy Hylbert Stefan Hyman Robert Jentner Dimitri and Elaine Jeon Benjamin Johnson Bruce A. Johnson R. Douglas and Jeanette Johnson Thesa Lorna Jolly Dr. James Justeson Julia Katz Wilfred Kearse and Lynne Champagne John and Sue Kim Michael and Patricia Klowden Toby Kramer Robert and Elena Kucinski Bernard Kulchin and Paula Taylor Mary Kyriopoulos Laura Laslo Elizabeth Leech Drs. Kathleen and William Lennard

Claudia Levin Ronald and Elizabeth Livingstone David Louie Claudia Lowenstein Scott Luttgen Anne Macek Kyong Macek Vonnie Madigan Annie Cruz Magill Richard Manion Sue Marberry Beverly and Harold Martyn James R. Mathes Mac McKay Jeanne and Roger McNitt Ellen and Hal Meier Maggie and Paul Meyer Dr. Grant Miller Anne and John Minteer Patricia Moises Judith Morgan Ann Morrison Phillip Musser Jan and Mark Newmark Sherryl A. Nicholas Don Nicholas Barbara and Donald Dean Niemann James and Jean O’Grady Abraham Ordover Brent Orlesky and Ronald T. Oliver Dr. Robert Padovani Marilyn Palermo Julie Park Kellogg Parsons James and Gale Petrie Edward Phela Laura Pierce Robert Plimpton II Sheila and Ken Poggenburg Terri Pontzious Dean and Sharon Popp Joseph and Sara Reisman Cindy and Daniel Reynolds Patrick Ritto Steve and Cheryl Rockwood Richard Rojeck Louis Rosen Alice Rosenblatt Ronnie and Stuart Rosenwasser Sheryl Rowling Rose Marie and Allan Royster Norman and Barbara Rozansky San Diego Downtown Breakfast Rotary Joel Schaller David and Martha Schwartz Lu and Georgina Sham Dr. Bruce Shirer Martha Shively Hano and Charlotte Siegel David Skinner Linda Small Holland M. Smith II Marilyn and Brian Smith James and Phyllis Speer Gregory Stanton Judy S. Stern Valerie Stewart John L. Stover Helga and Sam Strong Derek Stults Nancy and Michael Sturdivan Melissa Swanson Kay and Cliff Sweet William Tappen Paul and Mary Anne Trause Orlando S. Uribe Paul Van Deusen Allen Voigt

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VOSA Student Symphony Ticket Fund John Walsh Karen Walter Rex and Kathy Warburton Alexandra and Stephen Waterman J. Susan Watson Cynthia Weiler and E. Blake Moore Irene, David* and Diana Weinrieb Evette and Nathan Weiss Mike and Janet Westling Charles and Annis White Vernon White Mindy Wilcox Joyce Williams Mary Michele Wilmer Stephen Wilson Peter and Terry Yang Naima and Mike Yelda Tanya Young and Michael McManus Maria and Randy Zack Sandra and Peter Zarcades Bart Ziegler

In memory of Michael Gay Bob and Marie Garson Karen Wahler

In h Kev Clau

In memory of James Jessop Hervey Linda Hervey

In h Deb

In memory of Joan Jacobs Alan Benaroya Stuart and Barbara Brody Sheri Broedlow and Kyle Van Dyke Dr. Peter Czipott and Marisa SorBello Susan and Steven Davis Roy Devries Nina and Robert* Doede Stan Flemming, Forward Ventures Globalstar Pamela Hartwell Jewish Community Foundation Douglas and Susan McLeod Karen and Jeffrey Silberman Family Fund Frank O’Dea Andrea Oster Linda and Shearn* Platt Anne Porter Claudia Prescott Allison and Robert Price Alicia Rockmore Lea Schmidt-Rogers and Larry Rogers Jack Strecker Allen and Helene Ziman

MEMORIAL GIFTS In memory of Warren Batts Ms. Sharon Sweet Edward and Helen Hintz Amy and Anthony Volpe Barbara and Lawrence Wilson Thomas O’Neill and Mary Kennedy Household Barry Parker Earl Frederick Linda Newman Marti and Leo Parrish Gary and Mary Coughlan Diane Root Don Duda Nancy and Philip Hablutzel Shelton Family Fund Lisa and Gerald Lanz

In memory of my dear mother, Liz Jackson Jennie Werner In memory of Sergio Jinich Sonya Jinich

In memory of Gilbert and Miriam Lapid Sharon Lapid

In memory of John Cochran Sue Lasbury

In memory of Gladys McCrann Margaret Carroll

In memory of my husband Roland DeFields Ann DeFields

In memory of Jane Micheri Dario Micheri

In memory of Jim Dawe Mary Dawe In memory of Bob Doede: In support of The Rady Shell at Jacobs Park Ms. Catherine Mackey Kenneth Jensen Drs. Edward A. and Martha G. Dennis Ms. McKay Iris and Matthew* Strauss Michael T. and Susan D. Gursky Elspeth H. and James A. Myer Cynthia Weiler Roger and Marilynn Boesky Karen Dow Cynthia Weiler and Blake Moore Marianne Augustine Mary and Jon Epsten In memory of Matthew Garbutt Shirley Estes

In h Bar

In h of D Eile

In h Hol pas of t Jew Fun

In h O. K Gay

In h Ma won Sym for exp Dr.

In h Ma of T Lau

In h Cam Wen

In h Ralp

In memory of Ruby and Vernon Langlinais Anonymous

In memory of William Callaway Anonymous

In h Ano

In h and San

Hon to t dea She Glo And

In memory of Aunt Ree Rice Cecile and Robert Holmes

In h Sum Dr.

Lois Richmond (of blessed memory) Jewish Community Foundation

In h Jose Jud

In memory of Bill Zoeller Brigitte Zoeller In memory of Ursula Stroebel Emily Renee Strobel In memory of Kenrick G. Wirtz Tracy Ferguson and Gloria Shepard HONORARIA GIFTS In honor of the retirement of Marcia Bookstein Eileen Wingard

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In honor of Jan and Kevin Curtis Claudia Levin In honor of Mick Farrell Debra Feinberg In honor of Elaine Galinson’s birthday Anonymous In honor of Martha Gilmer Bart Ziegler In honor of the retirement of Doug Hall Eileen Wingard In honor of JCF Fund Holders who are passionate about the work of the San Diego Symphony Jewish Community Foundation Fund Holders In honor of Warren O. Kessler, MD Gayle M. Lennard In honor of Lang Lang, Martha Gilmer and the wonderful San Diego Symphony Orchestra for a fantastic musical experience at The Rady Shell Dr. and Mrs. Philip Ziring In honor of Rabbi Matthew Marko in care of Tifereth Israel Synagogue Laurie M. Gore In honor Maureen Campbell Melville Wendy Reuben In honor of Dr. Dianne Moores Ralph Hull In honor of Dr. Richard Perlman and Marge Katleman Sandra and Mark James Honoring the dedication to the Symphony of my dear friends Linda Platt, Sherron Schuster and Gloria Stone Andrea Oster In honor of Mr. Gene Summ’s 93rd birthday Dr. and Mrs. Philip Ziring In honor of Leslie and Joseph D. Waters Judith Call

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CORPORATE HONOR ROLL

THESE PARTNERS CURRENTLY MAINTAIN AN ANNUAL SAN DIEGO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA SPONSORSHIP:

The TOMO With

$200,000+

$3,0

Joa Pam I The Pric

$100,000+

SAN DIEGO BAYFRONT

$25

$50,000+

Ano Mic The Juli Arle Deb Kar Jerr San Imo Rob Col I Don Col Mrs Kat

$25,000+

$25

Kat Una Jan The Car Am Dav In lo J In m Lind Ing I Kar I Wal

$15,000+

$10,000+

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BUILDING A SOUND TOMORROW

JACOBS MUSIC CENTER RENOVATION & ENDOWMENT CAMPAIGN

The San Diego Symphony acknowledges the following donors who have made a gift of $10,000 or more toward the BUILDING A SOUND TOMORROW campaign, which supports the renovation of Jacobs Music Center and the San Diego Symphony Foundation’s endowment fund.

With profound gratitude, we celebrate these generous supporters who have made a commitment to the future of music in our community.

To make a gift, please call (619)237-1969 or email campaign@sandiegosymphony.org.

The following listing reflects pledges or gifts entered as of December 31, 2024. *Deceased

$3,000,000 AND ABOVE

$1,000,000 to $2,999,999

$500,000 - $999,999

Joan* and Irwin Jacobs Pamela Hamilton Lester In memory of James A Lester The Miller Fund Price Philanthropies Foundation

Willis J. Larkin Dorothea Laub Marie G. Raftery and Robert A. Rubenstein, MD Lou and Penny Rosso and the Rosso Family Pauline* & Stan* Foster and Karen Foster Silberman & Jeff Silberman Elaine Galinson and Herbert Solomon Through the Glickman Fund of the S.D. Jewish Community Foundation Haeyoung Kong Tang Katherine “Kaylan” Thornhill Artistic Initiatives Fund Timmstrom Family

Anonymous The James Silberrad Brown Foundation Dr. Paul and Geneviève Jacobs Mitchell R. Woodbury

$250,000 - $499,999

$100,000 - $249,999

$50,000 - $99,999

Anonymous Michele and Jules Arthur The Bjorg Family Julia R. Brown Arlene Inch Debby and Hal Jacobs Karen and Warren Kessler Jerry and Terri Kohl Sandy and Arthur* Levinson Imozelle and Jim McVeigh Robert Glenn Rapp Foundation Colette Carson Royston and Ivor Royston Donald and Gayle* Slate Colonel (Ret.) Joseph and Mrs Joyce Timmons Kathryn A. and James E. Whistler

Anonymous Eloise and Warren* Batts David Bialis Drs. Edward A. and Martha G. Dennis The Fuson Family Tom and Carolina Gildred Annie and Jeffrey Jacobs The Littman Jonkman Community Engagement and Education Fund Carol and Mike Kearney Susan and Peter Mallory In honor of Martha Gilmer Robert, Monica, and Celeste Oder Debby Parrish and Lori Moore Chris and Kris Seeger Dr. Seuss Foundation In honor of Ted and Audrey Geisel Dave and Phyllis Snyder Sue and Bill* Weber Jo and Howard* Weiner

Lisa and Ben Arnold Carol Rolf and Steven Adler Trupti and Pratik Multani Richard A. Samuelson

$25,000 - $49,999

$10,000 - $24,999

Kathleen S. and Stephen J.* Davis Una Davis Family Janet and Wil Gorrie The Hong-Patapoutian Family Carol and George Lattimer Amy and John Malone David Marchesani In loving memory of Alex and Judy McDonald In memory of Lorna Nemcek Linda and Shearn* Platt Ingrid M. Van Moppes In honor of Willard Howard Kline Karen Wahler In memory of Michael Gay* Waldron Family Trust

Ben Brand and Shara Williams James and Lynn Caughey Charles and Charyle Chiles Susan and Peter Crotty Peter Czipott and Marisa SorBello Monica Fimbres Gertrude B. Fletcher Jason and Somi Han In memory of Lillian Hauser Wolfgang* and Erika Horn The Rev. Michael Kaehr Sharon Lapid in honor of Gilbert & Miriam Lapid Karen Zurawski Leland Sylvia and Jaime* Liwerant Joan Lewan Trust Jack McGrory Joani Nelson Deborah Pate and John Forrest Joan Salb Trust Diane and Bill Stumph Linda Thomas In honor of John Zygowicz

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PROGRAM GUSTAV MAHLER Symphony No. 3 in D minor Kräftig. Entschieden Tempo di menuetto. Grazioso Comodo. Scherzando. Ohne Hast.

Sehr langsam. Misterioso: “O Mensch!

O Mensch!”

Lustig im Tempo und keck im Ausdruck: “Bimm bamm” Langsam; Ruhevoll; Empfunden

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Total Program Duration: Approximately 1 Hour, 42 mins (does not include an intermission)

FRIDAY, MAY 23 7:30PM SATURDAY, MAY 24 7:30PM SUNDAY, MAY 25 2PM Jacobs Music Center 2025 JACOBS MASTERWORKS

ODE TO NATURE: PAYARE CONDUCTS MAHLER’S SYMPHONY NO. 3 Rafael Payare, conductor Karen Cargill, mezzo-soprano San Diego Symphony Chorus Andrew Megill, advisor and chorus master San Diego Children’s Choir Ruthie Millgard, artistic director San Diego Symphony Orchestra

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SAN DIEGO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA CHORUS MEMBERS Sopranos

Nicole Avakyan Marcia Banks Aeria Chang Rachel Dovsky Rachel Fields Isabella Fine April Fisher Sara Frondoni Jeong Eun Joo Elizabeth King Amy Long Florence Losay Carr Martin MaryRuth Miller Caroline Nelms Iana Peralta Jade Popper Michaela Schuler Rose Wang Lola Watson Janet White Krista Wilford

Altos

KA

Kaitlin Barron Lupton Nicole Bird Alison Bloomfield Meyer Mary Boles Allen Sarah-Nicole Carter Elaine Edelman Karen Erickson Breanne Espinosa Kelsey Fahy Antonia Fuenzalida Cindy James Megan Jones Susan Marberry Elda McGinty Peralta Kathleen Moriarty Erica Moss Laura Richwood Cerah Rodriguez Jane Shim Laurelle Stuart Elena Vizuet Hayley Woldseth Pamela Wong Evangelina Woo

Sco mo of t on Op rec was Con

SAN DIEGO CHILDREN’S CHOIR MEMBERS Makayla Agcaoili Anupama Binu Elle Capati Cielle Chan Kani Chee Steven Chen Crystal Chen Emily Corpuz Evelyn Decoteau Evelynn Decoteau Anya Dewey Harley Dow Maya Drukin Sinaya Duncan Tristan Eleazar Zoey Espiritu Ebba Freer-McGinley Caroline Grell Lavender Hartzel Blake Hay Leia Huang Anna Hubbard Sonia Humer Alex Jackson

Clara Kelly Shriya Khandekar Heidi Klaus Esther Lam Michelle Lee Juliana Low Laura Lu Annika Martchev Gioia Nowers SamanthaPettis Enola Preston-Smith Yushin Robinson Saya Schmitigal Shaili Sharma Anna Sharpee Blake Sinaya Blake Sinaya Eileen Terral Brynn Tyler Alicia Vasquez Anabel Weinstein Giada Wilke Jiali Wu

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ARTIST BIOS | ODE TO NATURE: PAYARE CONDUCTS MAHLER’S SYMPHONY NO. 3

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Karen is Patron of the National Girls’ Choir of Scotland and sang in the National Service of Thanksgiving and Dedication for King Charles III following his Coronation in 2023. n

KAREN CARGILL

SAN DIEGO CHILDREN’S CHOIR

Scottish mezzo-soprano Karen Cargill is one of the most renowned singers of her generation. Winner of the 2002 Kathleen Ferrier Award, Karen has gone on to be nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Operatic Recording as part of the Metropolitan Opera’s recording of Dialogues des Carmélites. In July 2018 Karen was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.

Following her critically acclaimed Brangaene Tristan und Isolde at the Glyndebourne Festival, Scottish mezzosoprano Karen Cargill’s 2024/25 season sees her return to the role with Yannick Nézet-Séguin and the Philadelphia Orchestra, and with Sir Simon Rattle and the Bayerischer Rundfunk Orchestra. She will also make her role debut as Brigitte in Die Tote Stadt in concerts with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Andris Nelsons. Karen will return to the Montreal Symphony Orchestra for Schoenberg’s Gurrelieder with Rafael Payare; the San Francisco Symphony for Verdi’s Requiem with Esa-Pekka Salonen; the Toronto Symphony for Mozart’s Requiem with Jukka-Pekka Saraste; and the San Diego Symphony for Mahler Symphony no. 3 with Rafael Payare.

Her 2023/24 season included a revered tour of Die Walküre (Fricka) with the Rotterdam Philharmonic and Yannick Nézet-Séguin; Bartók’s Duke Bluebeard’s Castle (Judith) with Karina Canellakis and the Boston Symphony; Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde with the Wiener Symphoniker and Robin Ticciati; and Berlioz La mort de Cléopâtre with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and Maxim Emelyanychev.

With her recital partner Simon Lepper Karen has performed at Wigmore Hall London; Concertgebouw Amsterdam; Kennedy Centre Washington and Carnegie Hall New York, and regularly gives recitals for BBC Radio 3. With Simon, Karen also recently recorded a critically acclaimed recital of Lieder by Alma and Gustav Mahler for Linn Records, for whom she has previously recorded Berlioz Les nuits d’été and La mort de Cléopâtre with Robin Ticciati and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra.

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Since 1990 the San Diego Children’s Choir has been a leader in choral training for young voices. As the area’s oldest and largest choral music education and performance program, the Choir serves more than 1,900 young singers each year, providing high-quality instruction and unforgettable performance opportunities.

The Choir welcomes children from all backgrounds, helping them grow artistically and personally through a rich engagement with the arts. We offer introductory music classes for children ages 1-6 and a comprehensive ensemble training program for students in grades 1-12. Choristers progress through age- and skill-based choir levels, learning to sing music from a wide range of cultures, languages, and historical periods—spanning styles from medieval to modern, classical to folk, and spirituals.

We believe every child should have access to choral music.

Through needs-based scholarships and conveniently located program sites across San Diego County, we make high-quality music education accessible to families throughout the region. Our outreach programming extends this mission by providing free music education in underserved schools.

The Choir is deeply rooted in the San Diego community.

Our professionally trained choristers perform for a diverse array of audiences—from symphony and opera patrons to sports fans at Padres games—sharing the joy of music in venues large and small. Through meaningful partnerships, community engagement, and performances like today’s, we provide transformative, real-world experiences that stay with our young singers for life.

At the San Diego Children’s Choir, we bring together children from all walks of life through their shared love of singing, creating a safe, supportive environment where they can advance their musicianship and build confidence, collaboration, and lifelong friendships. n

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PROGRAM NOTES | ODE TO NATURE: PAYARE CONDUCTS MAHLER’S SYMPHONY NO. 3

ABOUT THE MUSIC Symphony No. 3 in D minor GUSTAV MAHLER

Born July 7, 1860, Kalischt, Bohemia Died May 18, 1911, Vienna APPROXIMATE PERFORMANCE TIME 1 HOUR 42 MINUTES In the summer of 1896, the young German conductor Bruno Walter went to visit Gustav Mahler at the composer’s summer retreat at Steinbach-am-Attersee in the Salzburg Alps. As Walter stepped off the boat, Mahler greeted him and took his bag. Around them stretched magnificent scenery: the brilliant blue lake and bright meadows, huge mountains and towering cliffs. Walter gazed around him, but Mahler quickly said: “You don’t need to look – I have composed all this already!”

The music was Mahler’s Third Symphony, completed that summer. When Mahler played it through on the piano for Walter, the young man was stunned: the massive symphony (100 minutes long) seemed to be “nature itself . . . transformed into sound.” Mahler would have agreed, but in his Third Symphony he had in mind a very specific sense of nature. To a friend he wrote: “It always strikes me as odd that most people, when they speak of ‘nature,’ think only of flowers, little birds and woodsy smells. No one knows the god Dionysus, the great Pan.” In his Third Symphony, Mahler sets out to encompass all of nature, from the delicate and beautiful to the wild and terrifying.

The longest symphony ever written, Mahler’s Third is in six movements: two massive outer movements (each about half an hour long) frame four shorter ones. Mahler originally had an elaborate program for the symphony. Eventually he dropped the program, preferring to let the music stand on its own, but the program tells us a great deal about the music.

Each of the six movements had a name: 1. Pan awakes; Summer Marches In 2. What the Flowers in the Meadow Tell Me 3. What the Animals in the Woods Tell Me 4. What the Night Tells Me 5. What the Morning Bells Tell Me 6. What Love Tells Me The sequence of six movements progresses from the lowest to the highest orders of being: from primordial nature itself to the flowers, to the animals, to humankind (who speaks in the fourth movement), to the angels (who speak in the fifth), and finally to God in the sixth. Mahler said of the finale: “I could almost call the movement ‘What God tells me.’ And truly in the sense that God can only be understood as love. And so my work is a musical poem embracing all stages of development in a step-wise ascent. It begins with inanimate nature and ascends to the love of God.” Such a message seems Christian, but Mahler’s Third Symphony is not really Christian. More accurately, it is a statement off Mahler’s Pantheism, his belief in the presence of God at all levels of creation. (His original working title for the Third Symphony was “Joyful Wisdom”.)

The first movement is the wildest music Mahler ever wrote, and it has had passionate admirers as well as outraged critics.

Written after the other five movements were complete, the opening is charged with energy – Mahler himself called it

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“Pan-ic” and meant that term in both senses: to refer to the god of fields, forests and wild animals and also to the fear generated by wildness. Remarkably, this huge movement conforms to sonata form, with a long introduction (“Pan Awakes”) and an exposition and development built on a gigantic march (“Summer Marches In”). The symphony opens with a mighty call by eight horns; the theme is reminiscent of the finale of Brahms’ First Symphony, but the resemblance was apparently unintentional. Throbbing lower strings and brass, punctuated by trumpet fanfares, suggest the first stirrings of primordial life; the march enters quietly but soon springs to thunderous life and slogs powerfully forward. There is something almost bizarre about this music, which is by turns jaunty, nostalgic, extroverted, wistful, violent, abrasive, noble – it swirls with life. The opening horn call returns throughout, and the movement finally drives to an overwhelming conclusion, ending with a great rush up the scale – nature has sprung to vigorous life.

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The next two movements are alike in mood and manner. The first, the “flower” movement, is a slow minuet with variations based on the oboe’s grazioso opening theme. Some of the variations dash along vigorously, but this lightly-scored music comes to a quiet close on a sustained harmonic. This movement was performed separately before the rest of the symphony, and Mahler had mixed feelings about that. He of course wanted his music performed, but he worried that – out of context – so gentle a movement would make him seem – in his words – “the ‘sensuous’, perfumed ‘singer of nature’.”

The third movement, the “animal” movement, is the symphony’s scherzo. It is based on the song “Ablösung im Sommer” (“Relief in Summer”), which Mahler had written several years earlier; the text of that song reads in part: “Cuckoo down to his deathbed has fallen . . . Upon the verdant clover, clover, clover! Cuckoo is dead! Cuckoo is dead!

Yes, to his death has fallen!” The poised beginning soon gives way to several long interludes scored for posthorn, whose faraway calls sound like the distant intrusion of man on the world of animals.

The fourth and fifth movements employ voices. Mahler marks the beginning of the fourth Misterioso and uses some of the emerging-nature music from the beginning of the first movement. The fourth movement (originally titled “What the Night Tells Me”) truly is a piece of night-music, not just for its night-sounds but because it speaks night-thoughts. The alto soloist sings the “Midnight Song,” drawn from Nietzsche’s Also Sprach Zarathustra, a brief text full of pain: mankind longs for redemption. The movement ends quietly in darkness.

The fifth opens with a blaze of bright light. The children’s choir happily echoes the morning bells – “Bimm! Bamm!

Bimm! Bamm!” – and this brief movement sounds a note of hope. Mahler would later use some of this same music in his portrait of the heavenly life in the final movement of his Fourth Symphony, but here he draws his text from the collection of folk-poetry Das Knaben Wunderhorn to make two separate points: the alto soloist sings of man’s sins, but the women’s chorus brings a glowing message – redemption is possible.

Redemption comes in the long final movement, which follows without pause, and Mahler’s markings are crucial: “Slow. Peaceful. With Feeling.” This is one of the greatest of Mahler’s slow movements, ranking with those of the Ninth and Tenth Symphonies. But unlike those late Adagios, so full of wrenching pain and longing, the finale of the Third is rapt, suffused with a glowing spirituality. This truly is music S A N D IEGO SY MPH ON Y M AY 2 02 5

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PROGRAM NOTES | ODE TO NATURE: PAYARE CONDUCTS MAHLER’S SYMPHONY NO. 3 that might be called, in Mahler’s words, “What God Tells Me.” It is built on two broad theme groups, both first announced by the strings. The music rises to a climax and falls back, then – beginning quietly – it moves with mounting fervor to a genuinely triumphant climax, thundered out with the full resources of a huge orchestra.

Mahler’s Third Symphony has had its detractors. Some have found its intentions presumptuous, its manner gargantuan, the whole effort insane. But if the attempt to encompass all creation in 100 minutes of music is not absolutely successful – and how could it be? – this symphony is still a magnificent leap. And for many listeners, this sprawling score is one of the wonders of the symphonic literature, full of passionately beautiful music. When Leonard Bernstein completed his tenure as Music Director of the New York Philharmonic in 1969 and had to decide the program for his farewell concerts, he chose one piece of music: Mahler’s Third Symphony. n Program notes by Eric Bromberger

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Building a Sound Tomorrow Jacobs Music Center Renovation and Endowment Campaign

“To have the opportunity to improve the beautiful hall we call home, and to improve the musical communication on stage with the musicians, and to create a more intimate connection with our audiences, is a fantastic dream.”

– Rafael Payare, Music Director, San Diego Symphony Under the leadership of Music Director Rafael Payare and Chief Executive Officer Martha Gilmer, the San Diego Symphony has completed a historic renovation of its indoor home. The renovation of The Joan and Irwin Jacobs Music Center complements The Rady Shell at Jacobs Park and provides San Diego with two extraordinary venues designed to celebrate music and community. Likewise, in the same way that these venues promise an ever-brighter future, the San Diego Symphony Foundation’s endowment provides long-term financial stability for the organization, ensuring that the power of live music continues to inspire and uplift our community for generations to come.

PLAY A PART IN BUILDING THE SYMPHONY’S FUTURE

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The San Diego Symphony Foundation manages our Endowment, the cornerstone of our long-term stability and artistic excellence. By contributing to the Endowment, donors play a crucial role in sustaining our orchestra’s ability to present worldclass performances, expand our educational outreach, and foster innovation in the arts.

We invite you to join us in this enduring legacy by supporting the Endowment, securing the future of music in San Diego, and leaving an indelible mark on our cultural landscape.

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NAME A SEAT! The beauty of the newly renovated Jacobs Music Center will be most enjoyed from the reconfigured seating in the hall. We ask you to join this historic campaign by investing in the San Diego Symphony and NAMING A SEAT. The named seats serve as a celebration of all individuals who helped make the renovation possible. With a gift of $10,000, you can name a seat on the Orchestra level, or with a gift of $25,000, you can name a seat in the Grand Tier. Your contribution can be pledged and paid over a period of one to five years.

A gift toward the renovated Jacobs Music Center supports the orchestra, elevates the audience experience, and impacts the growing vitality of downtown San Diego. To learn more, send an email to: campaign@sandiegosymphony.org

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PROGRAM FREDRICK GIFFORD Difficult Grace Artwork by Barbara Earl Thomas

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COLERIDGE-TAYLOR PERKINSON Lamentations: Black/Folk Song Suite for Solo Cello iii. Calvary Ostinato MONTY ADKINS Winter Tendrils Film by Zoë McLean

SATURDAY, MAY 31 7:30PM Jacobs Music Center CURRENTS SERIES

DIFFICULT GRACE Seth Parker Woods, cello Roderick George, dancer/ choreographer Christopher Botta, sound engineer Thomas Dunn, lighting designer Rachel Feldhaus, production manager

NATHALIE JOACHIM The Race: 1915 Projected images of Jacob Lawrence’s The Migration Series FREIDA ABTAN My Heart Is A River Opening Out Seeping In

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-INTERMISSION-

TED HEARNE Freefucked Text by Kemi Alabi, from Against Heaven 1. Ff 1 2. A Wedding, or What We Unlearned from Descartes 3. Ff 2 4. The Lion Tamer’s Daughter vs. the Ledge 5. After We Ruin My Love’s Heart, the God of Annihilation Prays Back to Me PIERRE ALEXANDRE TREMBLAY asinglewordisnotenough 3 [invariant]

Total Program Duration: Approximately 1 Hour, 30 mins (includes one 15 minute intermission).

PROGRAM NOTES

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Difficult Grace is a multimedia concert tour de force conceived by and featuring Seth Parker Woods in the triple role of cellist, narrator/guide and movement artist. Heightened by film, spoken text, dance and visual artwork, Difficult Grace is a semiautobiographical exploration of identity, past/present histories and personal growth that draws inspiration from the Great Migration, the historic newspaper The Chicago Defender, immigration and the poetry of Kemi Alabi and Dudley Randall. n

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ABOUT THE ARTISTS

SETH PARKER WOODS

Three-time GRAMMY®-nominated cellist Seth Parker Woods has established his reputation as a versatile artist and innovator across multiple genres, prompting The New York Times to write, “Woods is an artist rooted in classical music, but whose cello is a vehicle that takes him, and his concertgoers, on wide-ranging journeys.”

Woods has served on the faculty of the Thornton School of Music at The University of Southern California since 2022 and was appointed to the Robert Mann Chair in Strings and Chamber Music in 2024.

Among the highlights of his 2024-2025 season, Woods performs in the world premiere of Nathalie Joachim’s new cello concerto, Had to Be, at Spoleto Festival USA, later performing its New York premiere in his debut with the New York Philharmonic. He makes his Los Angeles Philharmonic debut in the world premiere of a new cello concerto by Julia Adolphe. A core member of the music collective Wild Up, Woods is featured as soloist in the group’s Eastman Vol. 4: The Holy Presence, released June 2024 on New Amsterdam Records, and was nominated alongside the group for 2023 and 2025 GRAMMY® Awards.

During the 2023-2024 season, Woods brought his GRAMMY®-nominated, autobiographical tour-deforce Difficult Grace to San Diego and Philadelphia, following the world premiere at 92NY and performances at UCLA and Chicago’s Harris Theater. Difficult Grace was released as an album on Cedille Records in 2023 and nominated for the 2024 GRAMMY® Award for Best Classical Instrumental Solo. Highlights of last season include performances with Hilary Hahn at Konzerthaus Dortmund in Germany and touring a new version of John Adams’ El Niño: Nativity Reconsidered with American Modern Opera Company (AMOC). n

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RODERICK GEORGE

Roderick George was born in Houston, Texas. George studies at Ben Stevenson’s Houston Ballet Academy and the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts.

George was a bronze winner of the Youth American Grand Prix in 2005 and a YoungArts Winner and Presidential Scholar in 2003. He has danced professionally for Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet, Basel Ballet/Theater Basel, GöteborgsOperans Danskompani, and The Forsythe Company. kNoname Artist, founded by George in 2015, serves as a container for individuals to exist and thrive as both creators and collaborators. While George initiated the company, its ethos transcends any single name or identity, prioritizing collective authorship and shared recognition. Through project-based work, kNoname Artist fosters a synergy where every contributor is acknowledged, and no one name defines the whole. kNoname Artist has performed at festivals such as SuzanneDellal, Ballet d’Preljocaj/ Pavilion Noir, Zurich Tanzhaus, New York Live Arts, Pocantico Art Center, Sophiensæle Festspiele, and Kaatsbaan Cultural Park. kNoname Artist debut at Jacob’s Pillow in the Summer of 2024 and Fall for Dance 2024. George is a YoungArts Fellow Winner 2021-2022, Mertz Gilmore Dancer Awardee 2023, NPC Awardee, the 2024 Inaugural Jacob’s Pillow Men Dancers Award, and the 2024 Princess Grace Recipient. n

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PROGRAM NOTES | DIFFICULT GRACE

ABOUT THE MUSIC Difficult Grace FREDRICK GIFFORD

Images: Barbara Earl Thomas Text: Primitives, by Dudley Randal As Seth Parker Woods and I brainstormed a project that would simultaneously feature his voice and cello playing, I asked if he would be willing to share several authors and works that were important for him. In reading through these, I was struck

by Dudley Randall’s poem, “Primitives” – and Difficult Grace began. I wanted to create a musical process, a kind of sonic network of relations that would set Randall’s original poem in dialogue with itself in musical time, both verbally and sonically.

In Difficult Grace, I hoped to create a work where aspects of Randall’s poem (rhythms, durations, phonetic timbre, syntax and meaning) would generate each musical gesture (even the title is a line from this poem); and Seth’s voice and cello would be the instrument – all of the sounds in the live electronics layers are untransformed recordings of his performance. n

Winter Tendrils MONTY ADKINS Film: Zoe McLean

Winter Tendrils was commissioned by the Swedish Arts Council for cellist Seth Parker Woods. The work is inspired by an image by the composer of freshly fallen snow on the fragile bare branches of a tree. This image was subsequently processed and overlaid on itself several times. The composition follows a similar model. In the first part the solo cello presents the main musical line. In the second part the \’tendrils\’ from this line are superimposed. These lines are transposed and fragmented. As a result, five canonic lines (tendrils) spin off from the initial line and are heard simultaneously. The canons are strict, but not heard in their entirety. This creates a rich harmonic web akin to the final processed image. The second section of the work draws on materials from the first, creating further tendrils from the harmonic, timbral and melodic implications of the opening movement. n

The Race: 1915

palette. It addresses at once the uprooting and resilience of black people in America.

The work calls for the performer to recite text sourced from The Chicago Defender, one of the most important and historic black newspapers. Weekly issues of The Chicago Defender played an essential role in promoting The Great Migration, and all of the text set within this musical work is excerpted from editions published in 1915 - the year marking the beginning of the movement which would span nearly six decades. By citing the atrocities faced by African Americans in the oppressive and violent Jim Crow south, and providing resources for those seeking freedom, millions were compelled to embark on incredibly challenging journeys, leading to the development of the northern and western city centers of the United States. The publication adopted the term “the Race”, which was used in lieu of the terms negro or black - a significant and powerful statement of self.

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“Nine human beings hanged within 24 hours ...and today, a lynching party is pursuing a tenth member of the race.

Look at it: see these men hanging from a limb of a tree Then look at the other race farmers who were made to come and look at them. Race woman slain like cattle on public street ...she begged for help, but not a hand was turned. The race that has slated for the country, felled the trees, built its railroads, labored day and night was not given opportunity No person identified with this intelligent and progressing race should allow this. Any effort to deprive us of our rights should be referred to the authorities because such is against the Constitution of these United States.”

The following images from The Migration Series by Jacob Lawrence courtesy of The Jacob and Gwendolyn Lawrence Foundation and The Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C. Panel 1: During World War I there was a great migration North by southern African Americans.

Panel 6: The trains were crowded with migrants.

Panel 16: After a lynching the migration quickened.

Panel 32: The railroad stations in the South were crowded with northbound travelers.

Panel 46: Industries boarded their workers in unhealthy quarters. Labor camps were numerous.

Panel 58: In the North the African American had more educational opportunities. n

FOR ADDITIONAL PROGRAM NOTES, PLEASE SCAN THE QR CODE BELOW:

NATHALIE JOACHIM

Images: Jacob Lawrence Selections from The Migration Series The Race: 1915 is inspired by the colorful vibrancy and nostalgic realism of visual artist Jacob Lawrence’s “The Migration Series”, which depicts images of African Americans as they embarked on one of the most expansive migratory movements in history. The work, for solo cello and electronics, combines blues inspired melodies (including a quote from “Praise God We Are Not Weary by Tom Brown and Tom Lemonier) with the angst and uncertainty of transient movement, against a colorfully active and vibrant electronic

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The San Diego Symphony is proud to announce that we have met our goal of $125 million for “The Future is Hear” Campaign! This extraordinary campaign supports construction of The Rady Shell at Jacobs Park, improvements to Jacobs Music Center, and wide-ranging artistic initiatives for San Diego’s communities.

If you are interested in supporting The Rady Shell at Jacobs Park please email campaign@sandiegosymphony.org for giving and recognition opportunities.

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GUEST ARTIST SPONSORS

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We gratefully acknowledge our Guest Artist Sponsors. Please call (619) 615-3910 to participate!

ALAN BENAROYA DAVID BIALIS BROOKE KOEHLER THE BJORG FAMILY VAIL MEMORIAL FUND, MEREDITH BROWN, TRUSTEE DOROTHEA LAUB

San Diego Symphony is pleased to have Sycuan Casino Resort as the lead sponsor of the Music Connects Community Concerts!

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Bird Singers from the Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation performing at the opening of a San Diego Symphony Community Concert on stage at Live & Up Close | Sycuan Casino Resort.

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THE FUTURE IS HEAR CAMPAIGN The San Diego Symphony Orchestra acknowledges the following donors who have made a gift of $10,000 or more toward The Future is HEAR campaign, our current $125 million campaign supporting the San Diego Symphony’s construction of The Rady Shell at Jacobs Park and its wide-ranging artistic and community programs. We are extremely grateful! To make a gift, please call (619) 237-1969.

The following listing reflects pledges or gifts entered as of January 15, 2024.

San Diego Foundation

$1,000,000 AND ABOVE Terry L. Atkinson Bank of America Dianne Bashor Malin and Roberta Burnham Harry and Judy Collins Foundation Daniel J. and Phyllis Epstein Ted and Audrey Geisel* The George Gildred Family and The Philip Gildred Family Joan* and Irwin Jacobs Sheri Lynne Jamieson The Kong Tang Family Dick* and Dorothea Laub Jack McGrory The Alexander and Eva Nemeth Foundation The Conrad Prebys Foundation Allison and Robert Price Evelyn and Ernest Rady Lou and Penny Rosso and the Rosso Family Colette Carson Royston and Ivor Royston Sahm Family Foundation T. Denny Sanford Karen and Christopher “Kit” Sickels Karen and Jeff Silberman Donald and Gayle* Slate The State of California Gloria and Rodney Stone Sycuan Casino Resort Roger* Thieme and Sylvia Steding Sue and Bill* Weber $250,000 AND ABOVE Anonymous Raffaella and John Belanich Alan Benaroya Susan and Jim Blair The James Silberrad Brown Foundation Julia Brown Family David C. Copley Foundation Sam B. Ersan*

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Rancho Santa Fe Foundation

Jewish Community Foundation * Deceased

Esther Fischer Pam and Hal Fuson Karen and Warren Kessler Carol Ann and George Lattimer The Payne Family Foundation M&I Pfister Foundation Linda and Shearn* Platt Robert Glenn Rapp Foundation Dave and Phyllis Snyder Elaine Galinson and Herbert Solomon Elizabeth and Joseph* Taft Jayne and Bill Turpin Kathryn A. and James E. Whistler $100,000 AND ABOVE Jules and Michele Arthur Denise and Lon Bevers David Bialis Catherine & Phil Blair, Linda & Mel Katz, Manpower San Diego Nicole A. and Benjamin G. Clay Stephanie and Richard Coutts Diane and Charles Culp Diane and Elliot Feuerstein Walt Fidler Anne and Steve Furgal Lisa Braun Glazer and Jeff Glazer Linda & Melvyn Katz In memory of Jim Lester The Hering Family Carol and Richard Hertzberg Arlene Inch Brooke and Dan* Koehler Bill and Evelyn Lamden Curt Leland and Mary DiMatteo Sandy and Arthur* Levinson The Alex C. McDonald Family Lori Moore, Cushman Foundation The Parker Foundation (Gerald T. & Inez Grant Parker) Bill and Clarice Perkins Marilyn James and Richard Phetteplace Jeanne and Arthur* Rivkin

Sage Foundation In memory of Bob Nelson who loved the music, the bay and San Diego Tucker Sadler Architects Katherine “Kaylan” Thornhill U.S. Bank Jo and Howard* Weiner Cole and Judy Willoughby Richard* and Joanie Zecher

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$50,000 AND ABOVE Carol Rolf and Steven Adler Bonnie & Krishna Arora and Family David A. and Jill Wien Badger Carolyn and Paul Barber Cindy and Larry Bloch Lisa and David Casey The John D. & Janice W. Cone Family Trust Scotty Dale Kathleen Seely Davis The den Uijl Family Richard and Elisa Jaime In Loving Memory of LV Gary and Karin Eastham In loving memory of Kenrick “Ken” Wirtz* Jose Fimbres Moreno* Karen Wahler and Michael Gay* William and Martha Gilmer The Jaime Family Trust Roy, Peggy, Dean, and Denise Lago The Peggy and Robert Matthews Foundation Admiral Riley* D. Mixson Gerry and Jeannie Ranglas Marilyn & Michael Rosen, Juniper and Ivy Restaurant Richard Sandstrom and Sandra Timmons Congresswoman Lynn Schenk Kris and Chris Seeger Deborah Heitz and Shaw Wagener Emma and Leo Zuckerman*

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$25,000 AND ABOVE Anonymous Lisa and Dennis Bradley Gordon Brodfuehrer Pamela and Jerry Cesak County of San Diego The Druck/Silvia Family Susan E. Dubé Lisette & Mick Farrell Dr. John and Susan Fratamico Janet and Wil Gorrie Virginia and Peter Jensen Jeff Light and Teri Sforza Sig Mickelson* Sandy and Greg Rechtsteiner The Segur Family In honor of Robert (Bud) Emile, SDS Concertmaster 1960-1975 Bill and Diane Stumph Gayle and Philip Tauber In memory of my husband Raymond V. Thomas, Lover of the Symphony The Bartzis-Villalobos Family RANAS Leslie and Joe Waters John J. Zygowicz and Judy Gaze Zygowicz $10,000 AND ABOVE Erina Angelucci Aptis Global, A subsidiary of The Kimball Group DeAnne Steele, Carlo Barbara and Cole Barbara Eloise and Warren* Batts Lauren Lee Beaudry Karl and Christina Becker Edgar and Julie Berner Diane and Norm Blumenthal The Boros Family Sarah* and John Boyer Annette and Daniel Bradbury Lori and Richard Brenckman Sheri Broedlow and Kyle Van Dyke Beth Callender & Pete Garcia Carol Randolph, Ph. D. and Robert Caplan, Seltzer Caplan McMahon Vitek The Casdorph Family Angela Chilcott Kurt and Elizabeth Chilcott Dr. Samuel M. Ciccati and Kristine J. Ciccati Thomas Jordan and Meredith M. Clancy P. Kay Coleman & Janice E. Montle Dr. William Coleman Peter V. Czipott and Marisa SorBello Ann Davies Caroline S. DeMar Drs. Edward A. and Martha G. Dennis George & Jan DeVries

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Robert and Nina Doede In loving memory of Karen Cooper Ferm* Michael and Susan Finnane Gertrude B. Fletcher K. Forbes Deborah Pate and John Forrest 4040 Agency - Mary, Bill & John Judith and William Friedel Barbara and Doug Fuller Cheryl J. Hintzen-Gaines and Ira J. Gaines Vicki Garcia-Golden and Tim Jeffries, Gardiner & Theobald Inc. Joyce M. Gattas, PhD Lynn and Charlie Gaylord In memory of Royce G. Darby* Kimberly and Jeffrey Goldman In memory of Samuel Lipman* Clarinetist The Granada Fund Robert and Carole Greenes Carrie and Jim Greenstein Georgia Griffiths and Colleen Kendall Lulu Hadaya Jeff and Tina Hauser In memory of Lucille Bandel* Marjorie Heinrich and Jan Nunn In Memory of Dick Hess* Richard A. Heyman and Anne E. Daigle Family Foundation Let the music play on, Drew!

Mary Ann and John Hurley Cynthia Thornton and Michael Keenan Keith and Cheryl Kim Katherine Kimball Helen and Sig Kupka Linda and Tom Lang Alexis and Steven Larky Tom and Terry Lewis Foundation The Li Family Larry Low and Mikayla Lay Josephine & Alex Lupinetti* Scott MacDonald and Patti Kurtz Daniel and Chris Mahai Sally and Luis Maizel Susan and Peter Mallory, in honor of Martha Gilmer David Marchesani Family Anne and Andy McCammon The McComb Family Katy McDonald Larry McDonald and Clare WhiteMcDonald Mark, Amy, Auguste & Paris Melden In Memory of James C. Moore* Judith and Neil* Morgan Clara and Donald Murphy Patricia R. Nelson The Lorna* & Adrian Nemcek Family The Ning Family Frank O’Dea O’Dea Hospitality Val and Ron Ontell Carol and Vann Parker The Hong-Patapoutian Family

The Pollock Family The Quintilone and Cooper Families Phillip Rand, M.D., dedicated Ob-Gyn, kind and gentle soul, humanitarian In loving memory of Long “Chris” Truong* Dr. Vivian Reznik and Dr. Andrew Ries Burton X and Sheli Rosenberg Marie G. Raftery and Robert A. Rubenstein, M. D. The Ryde Family Memorial Foundation at The San Diego Foundation Shari and Frederick Schenk Colin Seid and Dr. Nancy Gold Susan and Michael Shaffer Brigg and Jayne Sherman Shinnick Family Ruey & Marivi Shivers Stephen M. Silverman Janet Simkins Hon. Stephanie Sontag and Hon. David B. Oberholtzer Jeanette Stevens Sudberry Properties Beatriz & Matthew Thome Jacqueline Thousand and Richard Villa Glenda Sue Tuttle Michael and Eunicar Twyman Susan and Richard Ulevitch Aysegul Underhill Patricia and Joe Waldron Lori and Bill* Walton The Warner Family The K. Nikki Waters Trust Shirli, Damien and Justin Weiss Mike and Susan Williams Jeffrey P. Winter and Barbara Cox-Winter The Witz Family In loving memory of Ching H. Yang Howard and Christy Zatkin

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SAN DIEGO SYMPHONY ADMINISTRATION EXECUTIVE Martha A. Gilmer President and Chief Executive Officer Elizabeth Larsen Director, Executive Office and Board Relations Maritza Aragón Executive Assistant to the President and CEO ARTISTIC Lea Slusher Vice President of Artistic Administration and Audience Development Alison Bolton Managing Director, Artistic Planning Theodora Bellinger Director of Artistic Operations Liam McBane Artistic Coordinator and Assistant to the Music Director Maggie de Lorimier Artistic Department Consultant Jeffrey Jordan Director of External Events Seasonal Artistic Assistants: Kristen Garabedian, Michael Hull, Melyssa Mason, Sade Rains, Evelyn Zuniga Angela Chilcott Managing Director, Orchestra Operations Shea Perry Orchestra Personnel Manager Diego Plata Orchestra Operations Manager Courtney Cohen Principal Librarian Rachel Fields Librarian Gerard McBurney Creative Consultant FINANCE AND ADMINISTRATION Maureen Campbell Melville Chief Financial Officer Ashley Madigan Controller Jeanette Bunch Assistant Controller Whitney Hall Revenue Accountant Veridiana Reeder Staff Accountant Aaron Estevez Accounts Payable Specialist Kimberly Vargas Director of Human Resources Susan Cochran Payroll and Benefits Manager Amanda Gminski Human Resources Generalist MARKETING AND COMMUNICATIONS Craig Hall Vice President of Marketing and Communications Elizabeth Holub Director of Marketing J.D. Smith Director of Marketing and Sales Technology

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John Velasco Communications Manager Ashley Smith, Brie Witko Graphic & Production Designers Maria Kusior Digital Media Specialist Savanna Hunter-Reeves Marketing Specialist Noëlle Borrelli-Boudreau Marketing Coordinator Sabina Spilkin Digital Systems Analyst Beverly Feinberg Downtown Sales Ambassador TICKETING AND PATRON SERVICES Casey Patterson Director of Ticketing Services, Partnerships and Premium Seating Kym Pappas Manager of Ticketing and Subscriptions Anastasia Franco Manager of Ticket Operations and Training Cheri LaZarus Ticket Service Associate - Lead Subscriptions Ticket Services Associates: Kailey Agpaoa, Clelia Cabezas, Benjamin Cintron, Levan Korganashvili, Nayeli Valencia INSTITUTIONAL ADVANCEMENT Sheri Broedlow Vice President of Institutional Advancement Rick Baker Director of Advancement, Institutional Giving Jennifer Nicolai Director of Advancement, Campaign and Major Gifts Ida Sandico-Whitaker Director, Donor Programs and Special Events Bob Morris Major Gifts Officer Theresa Jones Major Gifts Officer, Corporate Relations Maya Steinberg Institutional Advancement Gift Officer Sydne Sullivan Associate Director of Advancement Operations Sydney Wilkins Annual Fund Manager Kirby Lynn Tankersley Special Events Manager Eden Llodrá Donor Services and Stewardship Manager Citli Mejia Advancement Operations Manager and Assistant LEARNING & COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT Laura Reynolds Vice President of Impact and Innovation Stephen Salts Director of Learning and Youth Programs Lauren Rausch Social Impact & Leadership Programs Manager Maria Jaramillo Impact and Innovation Assistant

VENUE OPERATIONS

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Travis Wininger Vice President of Venue Operations Rob Arnold Managing Director, Venue Operations Paige Satter Director of Operations Administration Diane Littlejohn Venue Operations Manager

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Devin Burns Event Operations Manager Roberto Castro Director of Guest Experience Drew Gomes Director, Event Operations and Security Danielle Litrenta Manager, Guest Experience

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Front of House Managers: Ken Cooke, Christine Harmon, Kay Roesler, Karen Tomlinson Front of House Staff: Corinne Bagnol, Judy Bentovim, Sue Carberry, Julio Cedillo, Kerry Freshman, Kimberly Garza, Sharon Karniss, Laurel Nielsen, Paula Rivera, Linda Thornhill, Marilyn Weiss Event Operations Leads: Mateo Alvarez, Luke Ban, Gabriel Carlo De Guzman, Garrett Lockwood, Slaine Miller, Tom Rufino Event Operations Staff: Joshua Albertson, Kayla Aponte, Tyler Bao Buu, Sydney Berman, Jason Boucher, Lily Castillo, Jafet Chavez, Kinsey Claudino, Brandon Croft, Stephen De La Cruz, Jessica Dau,Jesus Delgado, Kerragan Dellinger, Nicholas Denegri, Ryan Fargo, Jacey Greene, Chelsea Hall, Brook Hill, Sophia Hirasuna, Jocelyn Jenkins, Ben Kelly, Jack Mackniak, Edward Manzo, Harry McCue, Shannon McElhaney, Abraham Montoya, Cyrille Morales, Valerie Navarrete, Taryn O’Halloran, Brennan Owen, Gabriela Perez, Chance Pettit, Riane Rosanes, James Renk, Dylan Renk, Mario Ruiz, Adam Schaffner, Mia Sevilla, Nicholas Stroh, Elias Valdvia, Angelina Walsh, Connor Wilson, Yadira Zuniga

T s a t c m

Facilities Staff: Dan Weaver Facilities Manager Robert Saucedo Senior Technician Peter Perez Lead Facilities Technician Facilities Technicians Arturo Ardilla David Pierce IT Staff: Sean Kennedy Director of Information Technology Jovan Robles IT Operations Manager IT Specialists Shane Cutchall, German Luna Production Staff: Ed Estrada Director of Production Pete Seaney Director of Stage Operations, Presentations and Rentals

Connor Schloop Director of Stage Operations, Orchestra Santiago Venegas II Technical Director Joel Watts Audio Director S A N D IEGO SY MPH ON Y M AY 2 02 5

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SAN DIEGO SYMPHONY ADMINISTRATION Beth Hall Orchestra Production Manager Stage Personnel: Shafeeq Sabir Property Department Head, Jacobs Music Center

Adam Day Carpentry Department Head, The Rady Shell at Jacobs Park RJ Givens Audio Department Head, The Rady Shell at Jacobs Park

Jason Chaney Audio Department Head, Jacobs Music Center

Hunter Stockwell Video Department Head, The Rady Shell at Jacobs Park

Michael Moglia Carpentry Department Head, Jacobs Music Center

Zach Schwartz Electrics Department Head, The Rady Shell at Jacobs Park

Bridget Zeiger Electrics Department Head, Jacobs Music Center

Jonnel Domilos Piano Technician

Riley Strothers Video Department Head, Jacobs Music Center

OUR MISSION: CHANGING LIVES THROUGH MUSIC The San Diego Symphony, through unquestionable commitment to the highest levels of artistic achievement, seeks to elevate human potential by providing a shared sense of pride and belonging to something bigger than any of us can achieve alone. We offer audiences the wonder of live music and transformative learning experiences that develop an understanding and passion for the arts. To ensure we are an enduring force in the region we commit to fiscal responsibility. We serve and shape the culture of the region, by being for all and with all, the musical heart of San Diego.

Strive: Always the Best Learn: Creative, Expressive, Curious Reach: Music for Everyone Ignite: Spark Passion

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UC San Diego is proud to be the official UC San Diego proud to be Engagement the official Education andisCommunity Education Community Sponsor and of the San DiegoEngagement Symphony.

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Sponsor of the San Diego Symphony.

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MAY DINING PICKS From a Midtown Design Marvel to a New Elixir Lounge in La Jolla

by SARAH DAOUST

KIMBERLY MOTOS

Starlite’s newly remodeled, lowlit interior; the Starlite Mule.

MIDTOWN’S BELOVED COCKTAIL den and gastropub, Starlite, has reopened after a 14-month “reimagining” by CH Projects, and a stunning remodel dreamt up by Bells & Whistles—the same design team that first brought the space to life in 2007. Much like the jaw-dropping decor— featuring starry ceilings, cavernous rock walls, a hexagon-shaped centerpiece sunken bar, and an overhauled back patio with hanging moss and crater-like firepits—the menu feels familiar but also elevated. Expect next-level craft cocktails, including the famous (and updated) Starlite Mule; and food favorites like the signature burger, the sausage plate and

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New spring dishes at Puesto; the spicy Firebird sandwich at The Crack Shack in Pacific Beach.

shank; plus global wines and “Super Sexy Sundaes” for a sweet finish.

466 N. Coast Hwy. 101, Suite 1, Leucadia, leuleuleucadia.com With locations in Little Italy and Encinitas, The Crack Shack debuts its third San Diego outpost in Pacific Beach. The newest “coop” offers casual outdoor dining, lawn games, colorful murals and TVs for sports watching. On the menu: The Crack Shack’s famous crispy chicken and egg dishes served all day—such as the Coop Deville sandwich with fried Jidori chicken, and the spicy Firebird—plus bowls; sides like hand-cut fries and mini biscuits with miso-maple butter; and seasonal milkshakes and cookies.

4525 Mission Blvd., Pacific Beach, 877.595.8304, crackshack.com

Take a mini spring break from the booze with a new wellness experience at Estancia La Jolla Hotel & Spa: The Remedy Lounge. Located next to the resort’s secret garden, the apothecary-inspired elixir bar was created in collaboration with Native Poppy, J’enway Tea and Cymbiotika. Choose from a selection of eight nonalcoholic elixirs, each designed to support different functions of the body. Beverages are FROM TOP: MANDIE GELLER; KIMBERLY MOTOS

pan-roasted Jidori chicken; plus prime steaks and wagyu ribeye; side dishes such as mac ‘n’ cheese and salted croissants; and pistachio-toffee ice cream sandwiches for dessert. 3175 India St., Midtown, 619.618.2830, starlitesd.com In Leucadia, chef Claudette Zepeda take us on her latest culinary adventure: Leu Leu. Billed as “a cosmic cocinita, patio and lounge for lovers of wonder, wine and the weirdness of space and time,” the intimate lounge pays homage to Zepeda’s roots and travels, spanning flavors of Mexico, Morocco, Asia and the Mediterranean. Feast on Baja yellowtail crudo; duck confit with curry mole, whipped black beans and tamal cakes; Baja sea bass shawarma; and pibil lamb

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LSE_San Diego Symphony Program Ad 2023

Size: 6.875 x 10” (new size)

Ink: 4-color

UC SAN DIEGO CELEBRATES THE ARTS E P S T E I N

F A M I LY

A M P H I T H E A T E R

Showcasing performing arts featuring local and international talent in the heart of UC San Diego

U C S A N D I E G O I S T H E P R O U D E D U C AT I O N A N D C O M M U N I T Y FROM TOP: MANDIE GELLER; KIMBERLY MOTOS

ENGAGEMENT SPONSOR OF THE SAN DIEGO SYMPHONY

Epstein Family Amphitheater UC San Diego

amphitheater.ucsd.edu

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THE CONRAD

Home of La Jolla Music Society

Cameron Carpenter

Experience the unforgettable mastery of Cameron Carpenter, the first organist ever to be nominated for a GRAMMY® Award for solo organ, in his San Diego debut.

Friday, May 16, 2025 | 7:30 PM Enjoy iconic masterpieces by BACH, FRANCK, and MUSSORGSKY

Watch the 1927 classic film Metropolis accompanied by an original score.

Visit TheConrad.org or call 858.459.3728.

Get ready to be transported to a world of high school romance, unforgettable music, and electrifying fun!

APRIL 30 - MAY 17, 2025 MOONLIGHTSTAGE.COM

Elixirs at The Remedy Lounge

sourced from adaptogenic herbs, florals, and aromatic spices; and paired with a curated food menu.

9700 N. Torrey Pines Road, La Jolla, 858.412.0500, estancialajolla.com Puesto—the Mexico City-born, SoCal-rooted chain of contemporary cocinas—has announced the group’s new Creative Chef, Raul Casillas; along with a new food menu and spring cocktails. New plates include Zarandeado bluefin tuna ceviche, Kampachi crudo verde, an al dente grilled asparagus taco, the CDMX ribeye taco, and corn flan for dessert. To drink, try a new libation such as the Poblano Paloma, Mole Old Fashioned and Cantaloupe Mojito. See website for address of San Diego locations at The Headquarters at Seaport District, La Jolla Village and Mission Valley. eatpuesto.com

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COURTESY OF ESTANCIA LA JOLLA HOTEL & SPA

Saturday, May 17, 2025 | 7:30 PM

COURTESY OF ESTANCIA LA JOLLA HOTEL & SPA

In east Hillcrest, modern Mexican restaurant Origen—co-founded

by Franco Mestre and Sebastian Berho—has opened in the former XOXO by Breakfast & Bubbles space. The menu is flavor-packed and seafood-centric, melding traditional recipes with creative, contemporary twists in the form of shareable dishes that change often.

Recent menu hits include smoked tuna flautas, blue crab tostadas, sauteed octopus with salsa macha, Quesadillitas de short rib con mole, and seared beef tiradito; plus a daily fresh fish catch; and classic mezcal and tequila-based craft cocktails. Origen’s minimal, mod decor is warmed by earthy, beachy Baja accents (think: cacti and surfboards), perfect for a casual date night.

3831 Park Blvd., Hillcrest, origencocina.com

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Margaritaville in 2024

wall, purchased with funds from the Moonlight Cultural Foundation.

“It really enhances the audience experience, and allows us to do shows that we wouldn’t be able to otherwise, Anastasia, for example,” Glaudini says.

“To own our own LED wall is unique and gives our productions another ‘wow’ factor.”

Of the five shows in the 2025 season, Glaudini has chosen to direct the classic Fiddler on the Roof.

“It’s one of my favorites, and I’ve acted in it several times,” he says. “I have a soft spot in my heart for the show. I’m Italian, but you don’t have to be Jewish to understand traditions and family—the show has a universal appeal, no matter what culture you come from.

It’s a beautiful story, and I’m excited to get my hands dirty with a show everyone knows and loves

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May 16 & 17 | 7:30pm

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First Unitarian Universalist Church Hillcrest and breathe new life into it. And the LED wall will make the dream sequence unlike any time you’ve seen it before.”

The first show in the season, Grease, is a 50-year-old show that never wanes in popularity, Glaudini says. “We haven’t done it in 25 years, which is why it’s selling so well. It’s all about nostalgia. If you grew up in the ’50s, you knew kids like the ones in the show.

And the popularity of the 1978 movie has made the show part of our cultural lexicon. It’s something fun that appeals to multiple generations.”

This summer, Moonlight will give Waitress its regional premiere. Based on the 2007 film, the musical follows the story of Jenna Hunterson, a waitress and expert pie maker stuck in a small town and in a loveless marriage. “Shows that celebrate women do

Information & Tickets: www.operaneo.com

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really well at Moonlight,” Glaudini says. “This is a show that celebrates women and the strength of women. With a Tonynominated score by Sara Bareilles and wonderful roles, it tells an important story about how not everyone’s life is perfect, but that’s OK.” Another regional premiere for Moonlight will be Anastasia, which is based on the Disney animated film from 1997—telling the story of the lost princess Anastasia, the sole survivor of the Czar’s family following the Russian revolution. “The film is reaching a new generation of kids on Disney Plus,” Glaudini notes. “A whole generation who grew up with that movie can now introduce that beautiful story to their kids. It has a great, sweeping score, and opulent costumes and sets.” Moonlight is renting the original Broadway

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Into The Woods staged in 2024

production that played in New York.

Finally, Moonlight will present the California premiere of The Prince of Egypt, with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz, and a book by Philip LaZebnik. Based on the Book of Exodus with songs from the DreamWorks Animation 1998 film of the same name, the musical follows the life of Moses from being a prince of Egypt to his ultimate destiny of leading the children of Israel out of Egypt.

This production debuted in London’s West End in 2020.

“The music is so beautiful,” says Glaudini.

“Schwartz won the Oscar for the song ‘When You Believe.’ And the story is such a classic, a brother story, but one about self-discovery and finding your voice. It’s not often you get to see a brandnew Schwartz musical.”

Glaudini also says the

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Discover affordable fun for everyone with the Balboa Park Explorer Pass!

BuyMyExplorer.org

LED wall will be put to great effect depicting the plagues of Egypt, the splitting of the Red Sea, and other exciting scenes.

One thing all the musicals have in common is they will be performed by a live orchestra. “You can save money by using recordings, but that’s something we don’t do at Moonlight,” Glaudini says.

“We believe in live orchestras. You’ll hear the full original score for Fiddler with a complete string section, for example.”

For all shows, ticket buyers can choose between stadium seating and picnicking in the lawn areas—another unique aspect of seeing a show at Moonlight. Onsite food and drink vendors include Bread & Cheese, concession stands and bars. Those who choose the lawn are given folding chairs when they arrive and can bring their own complete picnics (with nonalcoholic beverages) to enjoy. The gates open an hour and a half before showtime, leaving lots of time for dinner. “It’s a great way to introduce kids to theater,” says Glaudini. “Families often bring kids in their jammies to relax in the casual atmosphere.”

Moonlight Amphitheatre: 1250 Vale Terrace Drive, Vista. Tickets and more info: moonlightstage.com

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PARTIN G TH O U G H T

REPROGRAMMED!

Performances Magazine unveils a digital program platform for shows and concerts

DROP DOWN MENU Table of app contents.

SEARCH Find whatever it is you want to know—easily.

REGISTER Stay arts-engaged, access past programs.

SIGN IN Link to your performing-arts companies and venues.

THE ESSENTIALS Acts, scenes, synopses, repertory and notes.

THE PLAYERS Bios and background for cast, crew and creators.

CONTRIBUTORS Donors and sponsors who make it all possible—you!

other arts-centric features.

Audiences receive a link and a code word that instantly activate the app; QR codes are posted, too.

Screens go dark when curtains go up and return when house lights come back on.

Updates—such as repertory changes, understudy substitutions and significant new donations —can be made right up to showtime, no inserts necessary.

Other plusses include video and audio streams, translations and expanded biographies.

For those who consider printed programs to be keepsakes, a limited number, as well as commemorative issues for special events, continue to be produced. Collectibles!

Meanwhile, there is less deforestation, consumption of petroleum inks and programs headed for landfills.

For the ecologically minded, the platform gets a standing ovation.

The digital Performances is but one more reason for audience excitement. Activate your link and enjoy the shows. —CALEB WACHS

COURTESY OF THE OLD GLOBE

NO RUSTLING PAGES, no killing trees . . . the digital Performances program platform has proved to be one of the more enduring recent theater innovations.

The touchless platform provides the programs for 20 Southern California performing-arts organizations, from the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Ahmanson Theatre to San Diego Opera, where the app made its debut.

Among a variety of features, it provides cast and player bios, donor and season updates, and numerous

WHAT’S ON What’s coming at a glance and ticket information.

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