The San Francisco Symphony performs at Davies Symphony Hall in 2019. Photo by Gabrielle Lurie
“The San Francisco Symphony is scheduled to return to live, in-person concerts in Davies Symphony Hall on May 6,” writes Joshua Kosman in Tuesday’s (4/27) San Francisco Chronicle. “Musical activity is also expected to resume with weekly programs … throughout May and June. The programs will initially be limited to socially distanced audiences of no more than 200 patrons, said CEO Mark C. Hanson…. The concert programs will be … 75 minutes without intermission, and featuring only string instruments…. Patrons and performers will have to be masked, and audience members will be required to show written proof of a COVID-19 vaccination or a recent negative test…. The Symphony is reserving the scarce opening spots to offer free admission to first responders, health professionals, and community and cultural leaders…. The three programs whose details were announced include music by African American composers George Walker and William Grant Still and women Caroline Shaw and Freya Waley-Cohen alongside works by Mozart, Schoenberg and Barber…. ‘It’s completely new for an organization to be planning concerts and then giving them three weeks later—and not unhealthy.… It’s good for an orchestra to be able to turn on a dime,’ ” said Music Director Esa-Pekka Salonen.
