San Francisco Symphony

Betsy Jolas once said, “I’m still learning and I’m still trying things I’ve never done before.” SF Symphony is clearly doing the same, experimenting with imagery and interdisciplinary performance.

In his sweeping solos, Wyatt Underhill, an acting associate concertmaster, managed to turn his violin into an oboe, the oboe into a gong, then back into a violin solely through the specificity of his fingers. 

For the San Francisco Symphony, classical music is never static. It takes on extra-musical influences, interacts with the visual and vocal arts and even accommodates new creative and computer-generated forms.

More than 15 years since its release, “Ratatouille” is still being reimagined in ways that spark both laughter and tears.

Wang played with the kind of intense virtuosity that felt like she was beating Rachmaninoff to the punch. Her touch was precise and resonant throughout the concerto, and her fingers moved with the quick dexterity of a hummingbird.

The lion dances, fortune-telling and rabbit petting zoo in Davies Symphony Hall were all mere prologues to the San Francisco Symphony’s sweeping Lunar New Year festivities on the night of Feb. 5th.

The SF Symphony’s performance on Jan. 7 astonished as a special extension of “Jurassic Park,” a live version of a behind the scenes experience.

On Dec. 1, the San Francisco Symphony played the symphony to end all symphonies: Ludwig van Beethoven’s “Symphony No. 9.” The German composer’s widely-regarded masterpiece was preceded by two works new to the SF Symphony: Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s one-movement “Ballade,” and Michael Abels’ “Emerge.” 

Under the glow of a waxing crescent, San Francisco Symphony conjured the raucous spirit of Halloween on Oct. 28 for the “Frankenstein and Psycho” concert.

Explosive and comprehensive, Wang played with unflappable virtuosity. She conquered epic ascending and descending runs, and she struck thick, stacked chords in rapid succession.