Of Fast Machines And Common Men And Women: San Francisco Continues To Debate The Need For A New Skyline Of "Iconic-Only" 80-Story Skyscrapers

Well, I heard the San Francisco Symphony under MTT, on Friday, August 24, perform R. Strauss, Shostakovich, and Tchaikovsky, and the San Francisco posters for that performance were correct (regarding the performance, only the ending of Strauss's Salome was well performed).

That concert was gaudily sponsored by Pacific Gas and Electricity, which (despite the rush for new, "iconic-only" very tall skyscrapers) is trying to promote a new and sustainable Hanging Gardens of Babylon on the Bay. N. and I now each have lime green, Chinese-made lunch containers, emblazoned with PG & E, courtesy of PG & E's public relations effort.

*

"If San Jose's Plaza de Cesar Chavez is good enough for pop star Mandy Moore, it's good enough for the San Francisco Symphony.

A month after Moore performed at the plaza as part of the Music in the Park series, the symphony will give a free performance there at noon Oct. 5. It's part of a 13-concert season the San Francisco orchestra will have in Silicon Valley, including performances at the Flint Center in Cupertino.

Led by resident conductor Benjamin Shwartz, the symphony will perform a program featuring works by Aaron Copland, John Adams, George Gershwin and Sergei Prokofiev.

This is the first free concert the San Francisco Symphony has performed in San Jose, but it's not the first time it has played here. The orchestra first performed at San Jose's Victory Theater in 1918, just seven years after the symphony was founded."

Sal Pizarro "Pizarro: Symphony to treat San Jose to a freebie" San Jose News September 13, 2007

Photo credit: (c) Archnewsnow.com and Sfgate blog on the San Francisco Symphony's European tour and Alex Ross's The Rest is Noise. With thanks.

*

"The San Francisco Symphony (SFS) announced [on August 8] Target Family Night at the San Francisco Symphony. A new addition to the San Francisco Symphony’s opening week festivities, the concert features Associate Conductor James Gaffigan leading the San Francisco Symphony on Saturday September 22 at 7:30 p.m. in Davies Symphony Hall. Thanks to the generosity of Target, the concert is specially priced at $10 for adults and $1 for children age 17 and under. Designed for Bay Area families to spend a festive evening at Davies Symphony Hall with the San Francisco Symphony, the concert offers the entire family an opportunity to share the joy and discovery of music making. The program features music by Gershwin, Piazzolla, Brahms, Beethoven, Falla, Bartók, and Prokofiev. The evening begins at 6:00 p.m. with complimentary refreshments and lobby entertainment, followed by the concert at 7:30 p.m. This program is recommended for children ages seven and older.

“The San Francisco Symphony’s commitment to educating and nurturing the musical needs of its community dates back to 1911,” said John D. Goldman, President of the San Francisco Symphony. ..."

*

The Baltimore Symphony's Friday September 14 outreach concert ["selections from the symphonies of Beethoven and Dvorák, Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5, John Adams’ Short Ride in Fast Machine and more"], at Strathmore Hall in highly affluent Montgomery County, costs $10 for all seats. Some lower and middle income families will probably be deterred by this one price from attending and experiencing classical music live in the 'Greater Washington' area.