The San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra (SFSYO) is a youth orchestra organized by the

San Francisco Symphony The San Francisco Symphony, founded in 1911, is an American orchestra based in San Francisco, California. Since 1980 the orchestra has been resident at the Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall in the city's Hayes Valley, San Francisco, Hayes Valley ne ...

. The SFSYO performs an annual concert series and has made several recordings. The orchestra rehearses in Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall and has been directed by Radu Paponiu since the 2024-2025 season. The SFSYO was first organized in 1981 by

Edo de Waart Edo de Waart (born 1 June 1941, Amsterdam) is a Dutch retired conductor. He is Music Director Laureate of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra. De Waart is the former music director of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra (2016-2019), chief conductor ...

, then music director of the

, and

Jahja Ling Jahja Ling () is a conductor, music director and pianist. From 2004 to 2017, he was the music director and conductor at the San Diego Symphony. Following his retirement in 2017, he plans to do guest conducting, as well as teaching and volunt ...

, who became the SFSYO's first music director. Pianist and arts patron Agnes Albert (1908–2002) was also instrumental in its founding. The orchestra's inaugural concert came on January 17, 1982 with a performance of works by Brahms, Dvořák and

Haydn Franz Joseph Haydn ( ; ; 31 March 173231 May 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the string quartet and piano trio. His contributions ...

, conducted by Ling. In 1986, the SFSYO went on the first of their eleven international tours to date and won the "Vienna Cup" at the Youth and Music Festival and competition in Vienna. Throughout its history, the SFSYO has performed and recorded in some of the world's principal concert halls including the

Elbphilharmonie The Elbphilharmonie (; "Elbe Philharmonic Hall"), popularly nicknamed Elphi, is a concert hall in the HafenCity quarter of Hamburg, Germany, on the Grasbrook peninsula of the Elbe River. The new construction resembles a hoisted sail, water wave ...

, Royal Concertgebouw, Wiener Musikverein, Berliner Philharmonie,

Mariinsky Theatre The Mariinsky Theatre (, also transcribed as Maryinsky or Mariyinsky) is a historic opera house in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Opened in 1860, it became the preeminent music theatre of late 19th-century Russia, where many of the stage masterpieces ...

, Smetana Hall, and the

Théâtre des Champs-Élysées The Théâtre des Champs-Élysées () is an entertainment venue standing at 15 avenue Montaigne in Paris. It is situated near Avenue des Champs-Élysées, from which it takes its name. Its eponymous main hall may seat up to 1,905 people, while th ...

. Under German-born conductor Christian Reif, the SFSYO returned from their 11th international tour. The 17-day European summer tour consisted of six venues in Denmark, Germany, Austria, and Hungary, beginning with the Odense Konzerthaus, Tivolis Koncertsal,

, Berliner Philharmonie,

Musikverein The ( or ; ), commonly shortened to , is a concert hall in Vienna, Austria, which is located in the Innere Stadt district. The building opened in 1870 and is the home of the Vienna Philharmonic orchestra. The acoustics of the building's 'Grea ...

, and ending with the Budapest Summer Festival. Tour repertoire consisted of ''Symphony 1 in D Major: 'Titan by

Gustav Mahler Gustav Mahler (; 7 July 1860 – 18 May 1911) was an Austro-Bohemian Romantic music, Romantic composer, and one of the leading conductors of his generation. As a composer he acted as a bridge between the 19th-century Austro-German tradition and ...

, ''The Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto'' - with soloists

Nicola Benedetti Nicola Joy Nadia Benedetti (born 20 July 1987) is a Scottish classical solo violinist and festival director. Her ability was recognised when she was a child, including the award of BBC Young Musician of the Year when she was 16. She works wi ...

and Karen Gomyo, ''American Prelude No. 1'' by

Detlev Glanert Detlev Glanert (born 6 September 1960) is a Opera in German, German opera composer, who has also composed numerous works for chamber and full orchestra, including three symphonies. Biography Detlev Glanert was born in Hamburg in 1960. He came ...

. Encores included ''Slavonic Dance n° 2 in E minor, Op. 72'' by

Antonín Dvořák Antonín Leopold Dvořák ( ; ; 8September 18411May 1904) was a Czech composer. He frequently employed rhythms and other aspects of the folk music of Moravia and his native Bohemia, following the Romantic-era nationalist example of his predec ...

, ''Furioso Polka'' and '' Éljen a Magyar!'' by

Johann Strauss II Johann Baptist Strauss II (; ; 25 October 1825 – 3 June 1899), also known as Johann Strauss Jr., the Younger or the Son (), was an List of Austrian composers, Austrian composer of light music, particularly dance music and operettas as well ...

, as well as ending with singing the choral arrangement of '' Ubi caritas'' by Maurice Duruflé. Christian Reif joined the San Francisco Symphony as Resident Conductor and Wattis Foundation Music Director of the SFSYO in the 2016-17 season. Reif lead the orchestra in its 35th Anniversary Concert and Celebration on May 13, 2018, which included Stravinsky's ''Le Sacre du printemps'', Fauré's ''Pelléas et Mélisande'', and Ligeti's ''Concert Românesc''. Notable performances throughout the SFSYO's history include its 25th anniversary concert in May 2007 with a performance of

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...

's Symphony No. 9 with the San Francisco Symphony Chorus and soloists from

San Francisco Opera The San Francisco Opera (SFO) is an American opera company founded in 1923 by Gaetano Merola (1881–1953) based in San Francisco, California. History Gaetano Merola (1923–1953) Merola's road to prominence in the Bay Area began in 1906 wh ...

;Kosman, Joshua (15 May 2007)
"Youth Orchestra to cap 25 years with big blast from Beethoven"
''

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. ...

'' the 1996 performance of

John Cage John Milton Cage Jr. (September 5, 1912 – August 12, 1992) was an American composer and music theorist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and Extended technique, non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one ...

's ''Renga'' and ''Apartment House 1776'' with four surviving members of

The Grateful Dead The Grateful Dead was an American rock band formed in Palo Alto, California, in 1965. Known for their eclectic style that fused elements of rock, blues, jazz, folk, country, bluegrass, rock and roll, gospel, reggae, and world music with psyc ...

joining the orchestra; the 2005 performance of

Mahler Gustav Mahler (; 7 July 1860 – 18 May 1911) was an Austro-Bohemian Romantic composer, and one of the leading conductors of his generation. As a composer he acted as a bridge between the 19th-century Austro-German tradition and the modernism ...

's Symphony No. 1 (conductor Edwin Outwater's farewell concert as the orchestra's 5th Music Director); and the 2008 performance of Dvořák's '' New World Symphony'' in memory of the SFSYO's benefactor Agnes Albert. In 2009, the orchestra also hosted and participated in the region's first Bay Area Youth Orchestra Festival at Davies Symphony Hall, which was again hosted at the hall in 2011, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2018, and 2020. In September 2009, Donato Cabrera was named the 7th Music Director of the SFSYO and continued the orchestra's concert tradition of combining music by contemporary composers with that of the standard classical repertoire. During his tenure, the orchestra performed contemporary works by Christopher Rouse (''Infernal Machine''),

John Adams John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Before Presidency of John Adams, his presidency, he was a leader of ...

(''The Chairman Dances''), and Gabriela Lena Frank (''Latin American Dances for Orchestra''). In 2012, the SFSYO won a 2011-12 ASCAP Award for Adventurous Programming of American Music on foreign tours. Later that year the orchestra released a recording of their performance of Mahler's Symphony No. 1 live at the Berliner Philharmonie. In 2015, the SFSYO was awarded the Best Orchestral Performance Award in the Bay Area for the 2014/2015 season by the ''San Francisco Classical Voice'' for their performance of Mahler's Symphony No. 5. In addition to its performance at Davies Symphony Hall, the SFSYO also performed Mahler's Symphony No. 5 at the Teatro Nuovo Giovanni da Udine, Berliner Philharmonie, Royal Concertgebouw, and Smetana Hall during their 2014/2015 season.

Members

The SFSYO consists of approximately 100 musicians ages of 12-21 from the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a List of regions of California, region of California surrounding and including San Francisco Bay, and anchored by the cities of Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose, California, S ...

. They are chosen by audition and must be under the age of 20 by the time of their first rehearsal. Over the years, many of the orchestra's 1500 alumni have gone on to careers as professional musicians, including composer and pianist

Anthony Cheung Anthony Cheung Bing-leung, Gold Bauhinia Star, GBS, Justice of the Peace, JP (; born 17 November 1952) is a Hong Kong politician and academic. He was the Secretary for Transport and Housing from 2012 to 2017 and 5th President of the Hong Kong ...

, winner of the First Prize at the 6th International

Henri Dutilleux Henri Paul Julien Dutilleux (; 22 January 1916 – 22 May 2013) was a French composer of late 20th-century classical music. Among the leading French composers of his time, his work was rooted in the Impressionistic style of Debussy and R ...

Competition and the Charles Ives Prize from the

American Academy of Arts and Letters The American Academy of Arts and Letters is a 300-member honor society whose goal is to "foster, assist, and sustain excellence" in American literature, Music of the United States, music, and Visual art of the United States, art. Its fixed number ...

; violinist Juliana Athayde,

Concertmaster The concertmaster (from the German language, German ''Konzertmeister''), first chair (U.S.) or leader (UK) is the principal first violin player in an orchestra (clarinet or oboe in a concert band). After the Conducting, conductor, the concertma ...

of the Rochester Philharmonic; Noah Bendix-Balgley, First

of the

Berlin Philharmonic The Berlin Philharmonic () is a German orchestra based in Berlin. It is one of the most popular, acclaimed and well-respected orchestras in the world. Throughout the 20th century, the orchestra was led by conductors Wilhelm Furtwängler (1922� ...

; Nicholas Schwartz, Double Bassist of the

Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra (, ) is a Dutch symphony orchestra, established in 1888 at the Amsterdam Royal Concertgebouw (concert hall). It is considered one of the world's leading orchestras. It was known as the Concertgebouw Orchestra u ...

; Philip Munds, Principal French Horn of the

Baltimore Symphony Orchestra The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (BSO) is an American symphony orchestra based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Baltimore SO has its principal residence at the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, where it performs more than 130 concerts a year. In 2005, ...

; Nathan Chan, Cellist of the Seattle Symphony; Christina Smith, Principal Flute of the

Atlanta Symphony Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

; Teddy Abrams, Music Director of the Louisville Orchestra; and Tim Genis, Principal Timpanist of the

Boston Symphony Orchestra The Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO) is an American orchestra based in Boston. It is the second-oldest of the five major American symphony orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five (orchestras), Big Five". Founded by Henry Lee Higginson in ...

Discography

* Mahler's Symphony No. 5, recorded live at Davies Symphony Hall, 1994 * Rachmaninoff's Symphony No. 2, at Prague's Dvořák Hall, 1998 * Mahler's Symphony No. 1, recorded live at the Berliner Philharmonie, 2013

Activities

The SFSYO rehearses in Davies Symphony Hall weekly, the home of the

, whose members provide tuition-free instrumental coaching. The SFSYO performs multiple times per year in Davies Symphony Hall. Although the orchestra has its own music director, guest conductors such as Simon Rattle,

Gustavo Dudamel Gustavo Adolfo Dudamel Ramírez (born 26 January 1981) is a Venezuelan conductor. He is currently the music director of the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. He is scheduled to become the Music and Artistic ...

, Herbert Blomstedt,

John Adams (composer) John Coolidge Adams (born February 15, 1947) is an American composer and conductor. Among the most regularly performed composers of contemporary classical music, he is particularly noted for his operas, many of which center around historical e ...

, Kurt Masur, Marek Janowski and the SFS's Conductor Laureate,

Michael Tilson Thomas Michael Tilson Thomas (born December 21, 1944) is an American conductor, pianist, and composer. He is Artistic Director Laureate of the New World Symphony, an American orchestral academy in Miami Beach, Florida, Music Director Laureate of the S ...

, also work with the young players on occasion. The orchestra performs an annual concert series in Davies Symphony Hall and each year gives Christmas performances of ''

Peter and the Wolf ''Peter and the Wolf'' ( rus, Петя и волк, Pétya i volk, p=ˈpʲetʲə i volk) Op. 67, a "symphonic tale for children", is a Program music , programmatic musical composition written by Sergei Prokofiev in 1936. The narrator tells a ...

'' with guest narrators who have included

Richard Dreyfuss Richard Stephen Dreyfuss ( ; Dreyfus; born October 29, 1947) is an American actor. He emerged from the New Hollywood wave of American cinema, finding fame with a succession of leading man parts in the 1970s. He has received an Academy Award, a ...

Linda Ronstadt Linda Maria Ronstadt (born July 15, 1946) is an American singer who has performed and recorded in diverse genres including rock, country, light opera, the Great American Songbook, and Latin music. Ronstadt has earned 11 Grammy Awards, three A ...

Leonard Nimoy Leonard Simon Nimoy ( ; March 26, 1931 – February 27, 2015) was an American actor and director, famous for playing Spock in the ''Star Trek'' franchise for almost 50 years. This includes Development of Spock, originating Spock in Star Trek: T ...

Florence Henderson Florence Agnes Henderson (February 14, 1934 – November 24, 2016) was an American singer and actress. With a career spanning six decades, she is best known for her starring role as Carol Brady on the ABC sitcom ''The Brady Bunch''. Henderson ...

Robin Williams Robin McLaurin Williams (July 21, 1951August 11, 2014) was an American actor and comedian known for his improvisational skills and the wide variety of characters he created on the spur of the moment and portrayed on film, in dramas and comedie ...

Rita Moreno Rita Moreno (born Rosa Dolores Alverío Marcano; December 11, 1931) is an American actress, dancer, and singer. With a career spanning eight decades she is known for her roles on stage and screen, and is one of the last remaining stars from t ...

Sid Caesar Isaac Sidney Caesar (September 8, 1922 – February 12, 2014) was an American comic actor and comedian. With a career spanning 60 years, he was best known for two pioneering 1950s live television series: ''Your Show of Shows'' (1950–1954) ...

Sharon Stone Sharon Vonne Stone (born March 10, 1958) is an American actress and film producer. Known for primarily playing femmes fatales and women of mystery on film and television, she became one of the most popular sex symbols of the 1990s. She is the ...

Danny Glover Danny Glover ( ; born July 22, 1946) is an American actor, producer, and political activist. Over his career he has received List of awards and nominations received by Danny Glover, numerous accolades including the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian A ...

, and

Tom Kenny Thomas James Kenny (born July 13, 1962) is an American actor and comedian. He has been voicing SpongeBob SquarePants (character), the titular character in ''SpongeBob SquarePants'' and associated media since its debut in 1999. Kenny has voice ...

. The SFSYO tours every few years; most frequently to Europe in the summer of 2019. The SFSYO's tenth international tour was in the 2014-15 season, during which the orchestra performed in Milan, Udine, Ingolstadt, Berlin, Amsterdam, and Prague. Each year, the SFSYO hosts a concerto competition, where one winner is selected to perform a concerto for the following year. The SFSYO's 2017-2018 season includes a performance of Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2 featuring SFSYO Concerto Competition Winner Leyla Kabuli in November 2017, and the 35th Anniversary Concert and Celebration in May 2018.

Commissions and premieres

The orchestra has a tradition of commissioning and premiering new works.San Francisco Symphony
Youth Orchestra: Past Concerts 1982-2010
/ref> Works commissioned by the SFSYO have included: * David Carlson, ''Twilight Night'' (1989) * Bruce Saylor, ''Archangel'' for orchestra with antiphonal brass (1990) * Richard Danielpour, ''Song of Remembrance'' (1992) * Olly Wilson, ''Expansions III'' (1994) *

Tobias Picker Tobias Picker (born July 18, 1954) is an American composer, pianist, and Conductor (music), conductor, noted for his orchestral works ''Old and Lost Rivers'', ''Keys To The City (orchestral work), Keys To The City'', and ''The Encantadas (orches ...

, ''And Suddenly It's Evening'' (1995) * Deborah Fischer Teason, ''Scenes from'' (1996) * Robert Kyr, Symphony No. 6, ''Three Places in the Far West'' (1997) * Mark Volkert, ''Songs from the Sea'' (2000) Other works which have been premiered by the orchestra include: * John McGinn, ''Fantasia for Orchestra'' (1983, world premiere) *David Carlson, ''Lilacs (Epitaph)'' (1988, world premiere) *Deborah Fischer Teason, ''Empires'' (1992, world premiere) * Brooke Joyce, ''Yniswyrddn (The Isle of Glass)'' ( West Coast premiere) *

, ''Portrait of the Artist as a Tormented Young Madman'' (2000, world premiere) *

P. D. Q. Bach P. D. Q. Bach is a fictional composer created by the American composer and musical satirist Peter Schickele for a five-decade career performing the "discovered" works of the "only forgotten son" of the Bach family. Schickele's music combines Par ...

, ''Fogel the Mogul'' (2003, world premiere) * John Corigliano, ''Tournaments Overture'' (2005, California premiere) * Preben Antonsen, ''Thresh of Gear'' (2009, world premiere) * Nathaniel Stookey, ''Mahl/er/werk'' (2013, West Coast premiere) * Mason Bates, '' Garages of the Valley'' (2015, West Coast premiere and European premiere) * Anahita Abbasi, '' . . . within the shifting grounds . . .'' (2018, world premiere)

Music directors

(1981–1983)Section sourced from San Francisco Symphony
Timeline of Youth Orchestra Landmarks
/ref> * David Milnes (1984–1985) * Leif Bjaland (1986–1988) *Alasdair Neale (1989–2000) * Edwin Outwater (2001–2005) * Benjamin Shwartz (2005–2009) * Donato Cabrera (2009–2016) *Christian Reif (2016-2019) *Daniel Stewart (2019-2024) *Radu Paponiu (2024-)

References

Tour Reviews

* Sybill Mahlke of ''

Der Tagesspiegel (meaning ''The Daily Mirror'') is a German daily newspaper. It has regional correspondent offices in Washington, D.C., and Potsdam. It is the only major newspaper in the capital to have increased its circulation, now 148,000, since reunificati ...

'' characterized the SFSYO as “brilliant with a strong ensemble” i
“Das Jugendorchester aus San Francisco imponiert in der Philharmonie mit Stücken von Mahler und Tschaikowsky.”
* The San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra also received a stellar review in ''Online Merker- Die internationale Kulturplattform'
"Standing Ovations und ein a cappella Chor zum Abschied"
by Dr. Ingobert Waltenberger *Janos Gereben wrote for ''San Francsico Classical Voice''
"SF Symphony Youth Orchestra Conquers Europe"
* Joshua Kosman of the ''

'' wrot
"Youth Orchestra sharpens up in sectional sessions with SF Symphony mentors"
*Jeannie Psomas, a member of the SFSYO writes on the orchestra's 2004 European tour for the ''

'' i
"Boggled by Berlin, where East meets West"

External links

San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra official websiteOfficial YouTube channel
{{authority control American youth orchestras Orchestras in San Francisco Musical groups established in 1981 1981 establishments in California Youth organizations based in California San Francisco Symphony