Salonen rolls out 1st season for Symphony
After a seemingly interminable wait brought on by the COVID19 pandemic, EsaPekka Salonen has finally announced plans for his first full concert season as music director of the San Francisco Symphony — an exciting schedule full of new and unusual music, innovative programming initiatives, and diverse voices.
Among the premieres in the 202122 season, announced Tuesday, June 29, are a slew of new concertos, including one for trombone composed and performed by Symphony principal trombonist Timothy Higgins; one for sheng (a Chinese mouth organ) by Fang Man; one for saxophone by John Corigliano; and one by Bryce Dessner for violinist Pekka Kuusisto, both of whom are among Salonen’s cadre of eight Collaborative Partners.
“History’s Persistent Voice,” a song recital created and performed by soprano Julia Bullock — another one of Salonen’s Collaborative Partners — is expected to focus on the music of female and African American composers. Another recital program by mezzosoprano Sasha Cooke, titled “How Do I Find You,” will comprise 17 commissioned premieres.
Asked whether he could succinctly describe the season’s artistic priorities, Salonen responded simply, “No.” But he immediately went on to elaborate.
“I don’t believe in the concept of creating a season that can be characterized in one sentence or one word. That would be too narrow a point of view,” he told The Chronicle in a phone interview. “We can use emotional tags like return or rebirth, and that’s in fact what it is. But it’s also an attempt to create a season that is at least attempting to look like the world in which it exists.
“It’s more diverse than before. There’s not a single aesthetic vantage
point in terms of style or repertoire. It is, I hope, a good mix of the old, the beloved, the new and the less known. Some of it doesn’t even exist yet.”
Salonen and Collaborative Partner Esperanza Spalding, together with Alonzo King Lines Ballet, are scheduled to open the season on Sept. 30, with a program of music by John Adams, Alberto Ginastera, Wayne Shorter and Silvestre Revueltas.
The season will conclude June 2325, 2022, with the first Symphony performances of Adams’ piano concerto “Must the Devil Have All the Good Tunes?” and “Radical Light” by the late Steven Stucky.
Among Salonen’s notable projects is a series of programs dedicated to the music of Stravinsky, including semistaged performances of “Oedipus Rex” and “Symphony of Psalms” directed by Peter Sellars. He plans to also devote two concert weeks to music by Beethoven, Liszt and Scriabin on the Greek myth of Prometheus, who was punished for stealing fire from the gods and giving it to humanity.
“Prometheus is interesting, because the myth can be taken in so many different ways,” Salonen said. “But often it’s taken as a metaphor for something being from the privileged and shared widely. This is how Beethoven looked at it, as a sociocultural metaphor.”
Music Director Laureate Michael Tilson Thomas is then scheduled to lead the orchestra for four concert weeks, including music of Copland, Mahler, Schumann and William Grant Still.
Among the guest conductors making debut appearances on the orchestra’s subscription series are Nathalie Stutzmann, Giancarlo Guerrero, Ruth Reinhardt and Oakland Symphony Music Director Michael Morgan.
Solo performers debuting on the orchestral series include mezzosoprano J’Nai Bridges, pianist Víkingur Ólafsson and flutist Demarre McGill. The recital series is slated to include debuts by pianist Drew Petersen, violinist Noa Wildschut and cellist Ifetayo AliLanding.
Salonen added that one impetus driving his planning was to focus on forging connections with the local music community.
“The younger generation of musicians is less interested in global recognition,” he said. “Being global is a good idea in that we want to be serious, and to be aware of what’s happening in the world.
“But what’s more important is how you’re seen in the community. We understand that the San Francisco Symphony is here to serve the community and not the other way around, and that’s what I’d like to see in the future.”