Renowned San Francisco Symphony

THE RENOWNED SAN FRANCISCO SYMPHONY PERFORMS AT THE PAC SAN LUIS OBISPO, CALIFORNIA – THE SAN FRANCISCO SYMPHONY gave its first concert in 1911. Since then, it has become one of the most acclaimed ensembles in the United States and abroad. On Friday, January 23, 2009 at 8 p.m., Cal Poly Arts presents THE SAN FRANCISCO SYMPHONY at the Cohan Center with an evening featuring highlights from Copland’s sweeping score from the classic film, Our Town, Berg’s Three Pieces for Orchestra, Op. 6, and Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5 in E minor, Op. 64. SFS has achieved its prominent reputation under a succession of renowned music directors: Henry Hadley, Alfred Hertz, Basil Cameron, Issay Dobrowen, Pierre Monteux, Enrique Jordá, Josef Krips, Seiji Ozawa, Edo de Waart, and Herbert Blomstedt. In the footsteps of this robust history, in 1995 Michael Tilson Thomas became SFS’ Music Director, leading Time Magazine to proclaim, “(The SFS) has undergone a transformation. Woodwinds dance merrily, the brass resonates nobly, and the strings speak as one…Overall, performances crackle with new-found vigor.” Under Tilson Thomas’ direction, SFS has recorded music from Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet, Mahler’s Das klagende Lied, Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique, two Copland collections, a Gershwin collection, Stravinsky ballets (Le Sacre du printemps, The Firebird, and Perséphone), and Charles Ives: An American Journey. Mahler’s Symphony No. 6 inaugurated a Mahler cycle on the Orchestra’s own label and in 2003, captured a Grammy for Best Orchestral Performance. In 2004, the MTT/SFS recording of Mahler’s Third Symphony captured the Grammy for Best Classical Album; in 2007, their recording of Mahler’s Seventh Symphony captured Grammys for Best Orchestral Performance and Best Classical Album. SFS has also won prestigious international awards, including France ’s Grand Prix du Disque and Britain ’s Gramophone Award. Some of the world’s most important conductors have been guests on the SFS podium, among them Bruno Walter, Leopold Stokowski, Leonard Bernstein, and Sir Georg Solti. The list of composers who have led the Orchestra includes Stravinsky, Ravel, Copland, and John Adams. The SFS Youth Orchestra, founded in 1980, has become known around the world, as has the SFS Chorus – heard on recordings and on the soundtracks of such films as Amadeus and Godfather III. For two decades, the SFS “Adventures in Music” program has brought music to every child in Grades 1 through 5 in San Francisco ’s public schools. SFS radio broadcasts – the first in the U.S. to feature symphonic music when they began in 1926 – carry the Orchestra’s concerts across the country. In a multimedia program designed to make classical music accessible to people of all ages and backgrounds, the SFS has launched “Keeping Score” on PBS-TV, DVD, on-line (www.keepingscore.org), and radio ("The MTT Files"). A pre-concert lecture by Cal Poly Music Professor David Arrivée will be held in the Philips Recital Hall at 7 p.m. Student and adult tickets for the performance range from $44 to $68 and may be purchased at the Performing Arts Center Ticket Office, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays. To order by phone, call 805/756-2787; to order by fax: 805/756-6088. 24-hour on-line ordering at www.calpolyarts.org.


805/756-2787