San Francisco Symphony
The San Francisco Symphony is a major orchestra based in San Francisco, California. It gave its first performance in December 1911. The orchestra plays in Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall, built in 1980. The current music director is Michael Tilson Thomas, who has held the position since September 1995.
The San Francisco Symphony makes regular tours of the United States, Europe and Asia, and their concerts are broadcast weekly by numerous radio stations. The orchestra has a long history of recordings, most notably those made with Pierre Monteux for RCA, Herbert Blomstedt for Decca, and Michael Tilson Thomas for BMG and the orchestra's own SFS Media label.
The associated San Francisco Symphony Chorus was founded in 1973, and the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra was founded in 1981.
In 1999 the San Francisco Symphony collaborated with Hard Rock band Metallica for their live album entitled S&M. The album was conducted by Michael Kamen and won a Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance for the song "The Call of Ktulu".
In 2004, the San Francisco Symphony launched Keeping Score – MTT On Music, a series of projects comprising audio-visual performances for DVD and broadcast on PBS's Great Performances, multimedia websites, and educational programs for schools.
Music Directors
- Michael Tilson Thomas (1995–)
- Herbert Blomstedt (1985–1995) (now Conductor Laureate)
- Edo de Waart (1977–1985)
- Seiji Ozawa (1970–1977)
- Josef Krips (1963–1970)
- Enrique Jordá (1954–1963)
- Pierre Monteux (1935–1954)
- Basil Cameron and Issay Dobrowen (1930–1934)
- Alfred Hertz (1915–1930)
- Henry Hadley (1911–1915)
References
Schneider, David (1983). The San Francisco Symphony: Music, Maestros, and Musicians, Presidio Press.