Source: San Diego Symphony
The San Diego Symphony has announced its winter-spring 2022 concert season, offering 31 performances of classical and contemporary masterworks and chamber music from January 15 through May 28. Presented as “Hear Us Here,” the season will give the San Diego Symphony the opportunity to bring its music to a wider audience, with concerts performed at nine venues in the city and across the County, including the Symphony’s newest venue, The Rady Shell at Jacobs Park.
Led by Music Director Rafael Payare, Principal Guest Conductor Edo de Waart, Conductor Laureate Jahja Ling and distinguished guest conductors Christopher Dragon, Jonathon Heyward, Ankush Kumar Bahl, and Tianyi Lu and featuring renowned soloists including Yefim Bronfman, Veronika Eberle, Pacho Flores, Simone Lamsma, George Li, Gabriela Martinez, Elena Urioste, and Alisa Weilerstein, the season’s concerts will span the symphonic repertoire, from Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique, and Debussy’s La mer to Still’s Darker America, Paquito D’Rivera’s Concerto venezolano (a co-commission and U.S. premiere; co-commissioners include Orquesta de Minería, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, and Orquesta de Valencia), Osvaldo Golijov’s Last Round, and a Double Bass Concerto by Tijuana-based composer Andrés Martín. Notably the spring programs will feature ten female guest artists, three guest conductors from the BIPOC community, and seven works by composers of color, in keeping with San Diego Symphony’s dedication to present a diverse range of artists and composers and connecting with different San Diego communities at large.
The San Diego Symphony is conducting its “Hear Us Here” tour of San Diego on the heels of opening The Rady Shell at Jacobs Park, a public park and event venue that was inaugurated on August 5. The Venue hosted 28 performances in its first two months, drawing more than 88,000 people for events, in addition to those visiting the park for free programs, rehearsals, exercise, and leisure. The Symphony has also announced three holiday programs slated for December at The Rady Shell at Jacobs Park: its annual holiday event Noel Noel, Disney’s The Muppet Christmas Carol – In Concert, Live to Film; and Disney’s Frozen – In Concert, Live to Film.
“Hear Us Here” will offer winter-spring 2022 performances of multiple programs at the California Center for the Arts in Escondido, Civic Theatre in Downtown San Diego, the Conrad Prebys Performing Arts Center: Baker-Baum Concert Hall in La Jolla, The Rady Shell at Jacobs Park on San Diego Bay, and at The Village Church in Rancho Santa Fe. Individual performances will also be presented at the Joan B. Kroc Theatre at Salvation Army Kroc Center in La Mesa, the PHAME Performing Arts Center at Patrick Henry High School in Del Cerro, the Poway Center for the Performing Arts in Poway, and the Southwestern College Performing Arts Center in Chula Vista. Additionally, the San Diego Symphony will be presented by Palm Springs Friends of Philharmonic at the McCallum Theatre in Palm Desert, sponsored by The Barbara Fremont Foundation. The San Diego Symphony will also be exploring opportunities to perform in Tijuana after it is anticipated that the border will open for non-essential travelers in November.
The San Diego Symphony is performing at these venues throughout the area while it conducts mechanical and electrical upgrades to the historic Copley Symphony Hall at Jacobs Music Center, one of the best-preserved original Fox Theater movie palaces in America. Copley Hall’s new, state-of-the-art HVAC system will significantly improve air flow and filtration in the venue, exceeding standards for the health and safety of musicians, audiences and staff, and will improve acoustics in the space. The Symphony is also in the process of assessing further renovations at Copley Hall and will share more information in the coming months.
Music Director Rafael Payare said, “I’m so looking forward to the coming season as we’re finally going to be able to perform the music of Berlioz with Symphonie Fantastique. We will also be presenting Schnittke’s Moz-Art à la Haydn and Chevalier de Saint-Georges’ Violin Concerto, with our wonderful concertmaster Jeff Thayer, in the beautiful setting of The Conrad. In addition, we will be ending our season at The Rady Shell with Beethoven’s wonderful Ninth Symphony, which is always a transformative experience. I’m absolutely sure that it is going to be even further enhanced by the mesmerizing surroundings of the Shell. People shouldn’t miss this one!”
Chief Executive Officer Martha A. Gilmer said, “Our ‘Hear Us Here’ season is a new way for us to fulfill our constant mission: to make the music of the San Diego Symphony a part of everyone’s life, and to provide a shared sense of pride and belonging. As we renovate Copley Symphony Hall to be an even more gracious and welcoming home, we will bring the unmatched thrill of live classical performance closer to people in every corner of the San Diego area, north, south, east, and west.”
In addition to the winter-spring season performances, the San Diego Symphony will bring back its Music Connects programs. Available for the first time since the Covid-19 pandemic began, this program features free one-hour concerts for all ages presented throughout the county and geared towards individuals who would like to experience classical music for the first time. Planned venues include Foothills United Methodist Church (La Mesa), St. Brigid Parish (Pacific Beach), St. Mark’s United Methodist Church (Clairemont), and Southwestern College (Chula Vista). Programming and further details to be announced at a later date.
The season will also include four intimate Chamber Concerts, featuring members of the San Diego Symphony and special guest artists at The Conrad’s Baker-Baum Concert Hall in La Jolla. On January 11, 2022 guitarist Jason Vieaux will perform a program of music from Spain and Italy, March 1, 2022 trumpet Pacho Flores will perform music by himself, Piazzolla, and Paquito D’Rivera, March 30, 2022 pipa (Chinese lute) player Wu Man will perform a program of varying works to be announced at a later date, and on May 1, 2022 pianist Benjamin Hochman will perform the Brahms’ Piano Quintet.
Additionally, the Symphony will continue its long-standing partnership with San Diego Opera, performing in two productions this spring. In February, Mozart’s Così fan tutte conducted by Bruce Stasyna, San Diego Opera’s Chorus Master and Music Administrator, will be presented in four performances (February 12, 15, 18 & 20, 2022) at Civic Theatre in Downtown San Diego. The Symphony was last conducted by Stasyna during the innovative drive-in performances of The Barber of Seville earlier this year. This production will feature the Company debuts of the 2021 Cardiff Singer of the World Winner, Gihoon Kim and GRAMMY® Award Winner, Reginald Smith Jr. On March 26, 29, April 1, and 3, 2022 the symphony will take part in performances of Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette conducted by Yves Abel, San Diego Opera’s Principal Conductor, also at Civic Theatre in Downtown San Diego and featuring the company debut of Pene Pati in his signature role of Roméo.
Beginning in January, the San Diego Symphony will conduct a range of auditions throughout the spring as the orchestra looks to fill seven positions that are currently vacant. This follows auditions held in fall 2021 to fill six other previously vacant positions. Moreover, San Diego Symphony is proud to work with the Sphinx Organization, a social justice organization dedicated to diversity in the arts, as an orchestral partner to their National Alliance for Audition Support. This partnership includes masterclass coaching’s and participation in the Sphinx Orchestral Partner Auditions in which symphony musicians consider Sphinx musicians for performance opportunities.
“Hear Us Here”, Winter-Spring Season Highlights
The Jacobs Masterworks winter-spring season features twelve programs of nearly forty works spanning more than 300 years of musical composition. Music Director Rafael Payare conducts five concerts, which feature Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique (January 28 & 29), the US Premiere of Paquito D’Rivera’s Concerto venezolano (February 26 & March 2), Chevalier de Saint-Georges’s Violin Concerto No. 9 (March 5 & 6), Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No. 1 (May 21 & 22), and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 (May 27 & 28), among others. The Symphony’s commitment to diversity is exemplified by a diverse array of guest artists and conductors as well as the compositions which make up the season. The season features works from seven composers of color, including Joseph Boulogne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges, who holds a unique place in Western classical music history as one of the earliest known classical composers of African ancestry.
The Symphony will also perform William Grant Still’s landmark symphonic poem Darker America, which was written in 1924 and explores themes of sorrow, hope and prayer. Still, who is widely known as the “The Dean of African-American Composers” has said the piece reflects “triumph over sorrows through fervent prayer.”
Principal Guest Conductor Edo de Waart leads two programs highlighted by Dvořák’s Symphony No. 8 (January 15 & 16) and Mozart’s Symphony No. 38 (April 27 – 29). Additional guest conductors include Christopher Dragon leading a thematic pairing of Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons with Piazzolla’s The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires (February 3 – 6), Jonathan Heyward in a program that includes Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 9 (March 16 & 18), Ankush Kumar Bahl with Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 4 and Double Bass Concerto No. 1 by Tijuana-based composer Andrés Martín (April 20 – 23), Tianyi Lu leading Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade (May 6 & 7), and Conductor Laureate Jahja Ling with Grieg’s Peer Gynt Suite (May 14 & 15).
The distinguished guest artists featured across the season include violinists Simone Lamsma, Elena Urioste, Concertmaster Jeff Thayer (Deborah Pate and John Forrest Chair), Aubree Oliverson, and Veronika Eberle; pianists George Li, Yeol Eum Son, Gabriela Martinez, and Yefim Bronfman; Pacho Flores, trumpet; Jeremy Kurtz-Harris, Principal double bass (Sophie and Arthur Brody Foundation Chair); soprano Tasha Koontz; and cellist Alisa Weilerstein. The San Diego Master Chorale and special guest vocalists join the Symphony for Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony to close out the season.
A 12-concert package including each Masterworks program performed across four venues is available with prices starting at $388. Smaller packages are also available, showcasing a variety of Masterworks programs at select venues, including seven, four and three-concert packages. All packages will go on sale Monday, November 8th at 10 AM. Single tickets will go on sale to the public on Sunday, December 5th at 10 AM. Single-ticket pricing varies by location, but will start at $25.
Visit www.SanDiegoSymphony.org for additional information.
