Elim Chan, named the San Francisco Symphony's Music Director Designate in May 2026 ahead of starting the job in September 2027, is back at Davies Symphony Hall this week with a program built around mortality and the atomic age.
Dates
- Thursday, Oct. 29, 7:30 p.m. (plus a 10 a.m. open rehearsal)
- Friday, Oct. 30, 7:30 p.m.
- Saturday, Oct. 31, 7:30 p.m.
The program
- Brahms, Nänie, with the SF Symphony Chorus
- Mendelssohn, Violin Concerto, with French violinist Renaud Capuçon
- Arvo Pärt, Magnificat, a cappella (first SF Symphony performances)
- John Adams, Doctor Atomic Symphony (first SF Symphony performances)
The Doctor Atomic Symphony is a condensed instrumental version of Adams' 2005 opera about J. Robert Oppenheimer and the first atomic bomb test. "While Adams's work reflects on Oppenheimer and humanity's capacity to destroy the world, Brahms grapples with questions of mortality and grief," Chan says in the Symphony's notes.
Free extras
Chan speaks on stage with the Symphony's Benjamin Pesetsky one hour before each concert. Immediately after, baritone Matthew Worth and pianist Allegra Chapman perform "Batter My Heart," the Doctor Atomic aria that forms the basis of the symphony. Both are free to ticketholders.
Capuçon plays the 1737 Guarneri del Gesù "Panette" violin that once belonged to Isaac Stern, according to the Symphony. Davies Symphony Hall is at 201 Van Ness Ave., near Civic Center BART.