San Francisco Symphony News

SUMMERTIME IS pack-away-the-tails and let-down-the-hair time for San Francisco Symphony musicians, who finished up their season of strictly classical subscription programs last month and are now embarked upon a monthlong "Summer & the Symphony" musical odyssey.

As if anything could possibly be more erudite and high brow than Elmer Fudd or the full-frontal loins of a stuttering Porky Pig, the San Francisco Symphony will soon supersize them and synchronize them with the high-falutin' tunefulness of violins and flutes, timpani and bassoon.

All over the Peninsula, cities will be celebrating the Fourth of July with fireworks, parades and other events though the most spectacular show is probably the one in Mountain View's back yard.

July 1, 7:54 PM Comment RSS 4th of July fireworks at Shoreline, Moutain View. Photo: LiveNation Vacationing in the Bay Area or staying local? This 4th, visit a South Bay venue and get tickets for Fireworks with the San Francisco Symphony at Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View.

The Best of San Francisco Stage, Film, Fashion, Dining, Travel, Business, Philanthropy, and Governance - Challah Is Taken Friday 03rd of July 2009 << Previous - INON BARNATAN - " Tonight At Davies Symphony Hall 2 July 2009 A shot from cannons evening of Tchaikovsky with Conductor James Gaffigan and Pianist Inon Barnatan By SeA n Martinfield ...

Any show that ends with a bunch of people in a conga line has to be great. This past weekend, Pink Martini , a twelve-piece band hailing from Portland Oregon, joined the San Francisco Symphony for an electrifying performance that covered everything from classical concertos to foot stomping Brazilian street music.

Arthur Sullivan and William S. Gilbert reunited after one of their quarrels by Richard D'Oyly Carte Summer Music West is the summer "semester" for the Preparatory Division of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.

Consider Mason Bates a pioneer in the San Francisco Symphony's experiment in social networking, which so far has proved that when the show's over, it's not over.

Woody Allen's latest film seems a little weary, and its plot is all too familiar.

Class-crazy England loves to lampoon its lords and ladies and their stuck-up ways.

Wednesday night at the OK Mozart International Festival in Bartlesville was a study in contrasts.

Lawrence Granger, a gifted and committed cellist with the San Francisco Symphony for 30 years, died Sunday at UCSF Hospital shortly after being diagnosed with cancer.

Michael Tilson Thomas , 64. Music director, San Francisco Symphony. Since Thomas took the reins in 1995, his tenure has been widely acclaimed as one of the best possible fits among an orchestra, its music director and its audience.

Many of the top U.S. Symphony Orchestras are now releasing recordings on their own labels.

"You have been rehearsing 'Perola,' but when the curtain goes up, the opera will be called 'Iolanthe.'" - Arthur Sullivan to the cast of "Iolanthe" during the final run-through before opening.

Cecily Ward, Tom Stone, Jennifer Kloetzel, and Ethan Filner Today's Noontime Concerts recital at Old St.

Saturday night's concert by Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony was like one of those awkward social encounters we've all gone through - the one where you introduce two of your closest friends to one another and find that they have nothing of interest to say to one another.

"A Schubert/Berg Journey" [to the Center of the Earth via Vienna] was the official title of the San Francisco Symphony concerts on Wednesday and Thursday evening, and journey wasn't a false description.

Michael Tilson Thomas is a good talker, but there are times - Wednesday's superb and varied program by the San Francisco Symphony was a prime example - when the music makes the case even more eloquently.

On a concert stage, performing music by Bach, Schubert or Sibelius, the superb young German violinist Julia Fischer is the picture of focus and discipline.