As the San Francisco Symphony prepares to open its 115th season on Sept. 24, there have been personnel changes and movement in the ranks of the orchestra musicians — 96 of them if the music requires everybody to squeeze onto the Davies Symphony Hall stage.
Unlike their San Francisco Opera Orchestra colleagues, across Grove Street, who are now fighting for a new contract, SFS musicians are secure for another year, with a weekly base salary of $3,960.
Symphony CEO Matthew Spivey is predictably enthusiastic about the orchestra:
“They sound sensational right now. We have brought in exceptional new talent, some of the finest players anywhere in the world, and the level of passion and commitment on that stage is something you can hear from the first note.”
The big orchestra news, of course, is the arrival of Elim Chan as music director designate now, before assuming her full title in the 2027–2028 season. Her appointment has been abundantly covered in recent weeks.
Says SFS Senior Director of Artistic Planning Michael Gandlmayr: “There's a lot to be excited about [Chan’s] appointment and what’s to come under her leadership. Until that time, though, we have a thoughtfully curated season ahead in which we aim to present music which, broadly speaking, reflects the worlds within and around us."
Asked if the just-appointed Chan participated in auditions (as a music director would normally do), an SFS spokesperson said: “Elim wasn’t part of the audition process for the four new musicians joining the Orchestra this September, though she’ll begin to be involved in auditions happening this season. She approved the one-year subs joining us for 2026–27.”
The SF Symphony concertmaster is Alexander Barantschik, occupying the first chair for the 26th year.
Those who retired at the end of the last season included:
– Associate Principal Viola Yun Jie Liu, who served for 33 years, joining the orchestra in 1993 after moving to the U.S. from Shanghai and performing with the National Symphony Orchestra
– Associate Principal Bassoon Stephen Paulson, who served as principal from 1977 to 2024, moving to the associate principal role for his final two seasons with the orchestra
– Principal Horn Diego Incertis Sánchez has resigned from his position to return to his role with the London Symphony Orchestra and to be closer to family.
— Nick Platoff moved to the Houston Symphony as principal trombone; Christopher Bassett has tenure as bass trombone with the St. Louis Symphony
– First Volin Sarn Oliver, who was a member of SF Symphony for 30 years
– Jonathan Ring, who joined the horn section in 1991, was a founding member of Bay Brass, and served on the faculty of the SF Conservatory of Music.
Four musicians have been hired so far this year. They are:
– Associate Principal Second Violin Jung-Eun Shin
– Associate Principal Horn Michael Stevens, who served as acting principal horn and acting associate principal horn in 2025-26
– Assistant Principal Timpani/Section Percussion James Benoit, who previously played with orchestras in Pittsburgh, Seattle, and Fort Worth
– Section Cello Starla Breshears, Gary & Kathleen Heidenreich Second Century Campaign Chair.
Shin told SF Classical Voice: “I am incredibly excited to begin this new chapter with the San Francisco Symphony, especially as this will be my first orchestral position in the United States after spending much of my professional career in Germany.
“I look forward to making music with the Symphony’s extraordinary musicians and becoming part of the vibrant community of San Francisco. Having spent much of my career in the first violin section, I am also looking forward to playing in the second violin section and working with my new colleagues.”
Stevens said: “Joining the San Francisco Symphony has been a dream of mine since listening to their incredible recordings at a young age. The SF Symphony musicians are some of the warmest and most welcoming people I have ever met. I am beyond honored to perform alongside them and call San Francisco home.”
These hires still leave important positions open, particularly in the brass section. Musicians have been hired as one-year substitutes for the 2026–27 season. They are:
– Acting Principal Horn Brett Hodge
– Acting Assistant Principal/Utility Horn Jack Bryant, who served as a one-year substitute last season
– Acting Second Bassoon Tristan “Troy” Baban
– Acting Third Horn Kaylet Torrez
– Acting Bass Trombone Zachary Litty
– Second violinist Olivia Chen moves to the first violin section
Asked what he is anticipating this season, Spivey said: “Renée Fleming, one of my all-time favorite vocal artists, sings Strauss's Four Last Songs Oct. 1–4. Elim Chan returns Oct. 29–31 with Brahms’s Nänie, the Chorus [singing Arvo] Pärt’s Magnificat, and our first performances of the powerful Doctor Atomic Symphony by John Adams.
“Gabriella Smith, San Francisco Bay Area native and a charming advocate for our natural world, joins us as Creative Partner, which is much more than a set of performances. [She will write] a new violin concerto for Alexi Kenney called How to Be a Bird, work with our Youth Orchestra, [and initiate] a partnership with the Gardens of Golden Gate Park, and a day of ecological restoration together.
I’d add our fifth collaboration with the inspiring Alonzo King LINES Ballet in November; John Adams’s The Dharma at Big Sur in June, with imagery by the extraordinary Deborah O'Grady; and three of our own musicians as [performing as concerto] soloists: Principal Cello Rainer Eudeikis in Prokofiev's Sinfonia Concertante (a powerhouse concerto), and husband and wife duo Principal Percussion Jacob Nissly and Principal Harp Katherine Siochi in a Rene Orth concerto written for the two of them together.”
The orchestra is still not whole, but the players it has gathered and the ambition of its programming are cause for a mini-celebration.
