MICHAEL TILSON THOMAS LEADS THE SAN FRANCISCO SYMPHONY IN CONCERTS
FEATURING COPLAND’S APPALACHIAN SPRING, AND YUJA WANG PERFORMING
RAVEL’S PIANO CONCERTO FOR THE LEFT HAND, SEPTEMBER 13–16, 2018

First SFS Performances of Castiglioni’s Inverno in-ver, with video projection

Concerts are affiliate events of the 2018 Global Climate Action Summit, and include special performances by vocalist Abigail Washburn accompanied by visuals from the
COAL + ICE project

Pre-concert panel discussion addressing climate change moderated by Tom Corwin, Festival Creative Director of COAL + ICE

Photo Credit: Kirk Edwards

SAN FRANCISCO, CA—September 13–16, Music Director Michael Tilson Thomas leads the San Francisco Symphony and pianist Yuja Wang in concerts featuring Copland’s Appalachian Spring, Ravel’s Piano Concerto for the Left Hand, and Castiglioni’s Inverno in-ver. These concerts are presented as affiliate events of the 2018 Global Climate Action Summit—a gathering in San Francisco of business and civic leaders from around the world intended to showcase and encourage climate action and to inspire deeper commitments from national governments in support of the Paris Agreement.In partnership with the Asia Society Northern California, these SF Symphony concerts feature photo projections from COAL+ICE, a documentary photo exhibition that visually narrates the complex consequences that are triggered by the use of fossil fuels. Vocalist Abigail Washburn joins the San Francisco Symphony to perform songs reminiscent of Depression-era Appalachia, accompanied by projected images from COAL+ICE that follow the trajectory of climate change from the earth’s coal mines to its vanishing glaciers.

“The COAL + ICE Project is enormously pleased to be partnering with the SF Symphony not only because the orchestra under MTT is one of the treasures of the world’s cultural patrimony, but because global climate change is the issue-of-all-global-issues that exempts no one,” stated Orville Schell, Arthur Ross Director of the Center on U.S.-China Relations at Asia Society. “Believing as we do that California has an important part to play in confronting this challenge and that culture plays a critical role in creating public awareness of global challenges, we can think of no better way to alert people than through a musical performance.”

These environmentally evocative concerts will also be highlighted by Aaron Copland’s Appalachian Spring—one of the most iconic pieces in the American orchestral canon—as well as a theatrical production of Italian modernist composer Niccolò Castiglioni’s Inverno in-ver, a series of 11 musical poems depicting winter scenes. Conceived and directed by MTT, the production features the Orchestra’s performances accompanied by video projections designed by Clyde Scott and lighting designed by Luke Kritzeck. The concerts are completed by a performance of Ravel’s dazzling Concerto for the Left Hand by international superstar pianist Yuja Wang.

Yuja Wang is Artist-in-Residence at three of the world’s premiere venues in the 18–19 season: Carnegie Hall with a season-long “Perspectives” series, Wiener Konzerthaus with a “Portrait” series, and at the Luxembourg Philharmonie. Wang was Musical America’s Artist of the Year in 2017 and embarks on a tour of Seoul and Tokyo with the Los Angeles Philharmonic in 2019 after leading an extensive recital tour in South America this fall. The September 13–16 concerts mark the 9th time Wang has performed with Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony since 2009, including two tours through Asia and Europe with the Orchestra.

 Photo Credit: Shervin Lainez

Abigail Washburn is a celebrated singer, songwriter, and clawhammer banjo player, whose      album Béla Fleck & Abigail Washburn, a collaborative recording with husband and musician Béla Fleck, won the 2016 Grammy Award for Best Folk Album. Washburn is passionate about building Chinese-U.S. relations through music and was named the first US-China Fellow at Vanderbilt University after embarking on a month-long tour of China’s Silk Road supported by grants from the US Embassy, Beijing.

 

The Global Climate Action Summit brings together leaders from around the world to “Take Ambition to the Next Level” regarding climate action, with a push to reduce global emissions by 2020 and reach net zero emissions by midcentury. The Summit, which takes place September 12–14 in San Francisco, includes climate action panels, workshops, tours, exhibits, and other special events. The Summit’s Co-Chairs include Governor Jerry Brown, Patricia Espinosa, Anand Mahindra, Michael Bloomberg, Xie Zhenhua, and Jayathma Wickramanayake.

COAL + ICE is a documentary photography and video exhibition taking place at San Francisco’s Fort Mason Center for the Arts and Culture September 4–23. A project of Asia Society’s Center on US-China Relations in collaboration with Asia Society Northern California, COAL + ICE is co-curated by Magnum photographer Susan Meiselas and exhibition designer Jeroen de Vries and features the work   of over 30 photographers whose art narrates the consequences triggered by the continued use of fossil  fuels.

All concerts take place at Davies Symphony Hall, 201 Van Ness Avenue in San Francisco. 

Tickets are available at sfsymphony.org, by phone at 415-864-6000, and at the Davies Symphony Hall Box Office, on Grove Street between Van Ness Avenue and Franklin Street in San Francisco.

Pre-Order Food and Drinks: Concertgoers may pre-order drinks and snacks here by 11am the day of a performance to arrange to have them ready at Davies Symphony Hall either before the concert or at intermission.

Thursday, September 13, 2018 at 8 pm
Friday, September 14, 2018 at 8 pm
Saturday, September 15, 2018 at 8 pm
Sunday, September 16, 2018 at 2 pm

Michael Tilson Thomas conductor

Yuja Wang piano Abigail Washburn vocalist

Luke Kritzeck lighting design
Clyde Scott video design
San Francisco Symphony

TRADITIONAL CASTIGLIONI	Songs to be announced from stage Inverno in-ver (with video) [First SFS Performances]
RAVEL	Piano Concerto in D major for the Left Hand
COPLAND	Appalachian Spring (complete orchestrated version)

Yuja Wang, the most “uncannily gifted pianist in the concert world today” (San Francisco Chronicle), joins MTT and the SF Symphony in Ravel’s Piano Concerto for the Left Hand—a piece whose dark emotional climate is established in its opening seconds. A Global Climate Action Summit affiliate event, this concert also features two seasonally charged soundscapes: icy vignettes in Castiglioni’s Inverno, in-ver, and expansive vistas in Copland’s Appalachian Spring. Adding to this worldwide conversation on the environment, this atmospheric program opens with a performance of traditional songs by vocalist Abigail Washburn, enhanced by projections from the COAL + ICE photo exhibition, a collection of images that follows the trajectory of climate change from the earth’s coal mines to its vanishing glaciers.

Pre-Concert Talk: There will be a pre-concert panel discussion moderated by Tom Corwin, Festival Creative Director of COAL + ICE, from the stage, one hour prior to each concert. Abigail Washburn will participate in the discussions before the Saturday, September 15 and Sunday, September 16 programs. Remaining participants will be announced. Free to all concert ticket holders; doors open 15 minutes before.

Broadcast /  Archived Stream: A broadcast of these performances will air Tuesday, September 25 at 8 pm on Classical KDFC 90.3 San Francisco, 104.9 San Jose, 89.9 Napa, and kdfc.com where it will be available for on-demand streaming for 21 days following the broadcast.

Tickets: $32–169