The new incoming music director of the San Francisco Symphony — whoever they may turn out to be — has been given a wonderful gift. The orchestra has hired a new principal horn who brings both youth and virtuosity to that important position.
Diego Incertis Sánchez, 27, will assume the role in January 2026. He succeeds Robert Ward, who retired in December 2023 after 43 years with the orchestra.
A native of Spain, Incertis Sánchez has most recently served as Principal Horn of the London Symphony Orchestra. He previously held that position with another London-based orchestra, the Philharmonia. He is also a professor at the Royal College of Music, where he once studied.
“I'm incredibly excited to be joining the San Francisco Symphony and to make music with such a truly special group of colleagues,” he said in a statement. "San Francisco is such a vibrant and multicultural city, and I'm looking forward to performing for a community with such an appreciation for arts and music."
"Musical life in the UK is incredibly rich and exciting," Incertis Sánchez told SF Classical Voice, "but it has the downside that it's quite hectic and doesn't leave much time to do anything else. Your life depends on your job 100% (most musicians are self-employed), which means planning holidays and breaks is quite hard. Even practicing your instrument for the pure pleasure of it, besides having to prepare whatever is coming up next, proves quite hard. I'm looking forward to exploring a more paced way of making music, having more time to practice the horn, and exploring all of the nature that the Bay Area has to offer (and perhaps one day having a dog!)"
Incertis Sánchez was born in Valladolid, Spain, a historic city known for its Renaissance architecture. He started playing the horn at age 8, eventually enrolling at the Reina Sofia School of Music in Madrid before moving to London. He listens to all kinds of music, he says, mentioning in particular that "recently I discovered the L.A.-based group LA LOM, which blends all sorts of styles of music from South America and the West Coast. I have also been listening to Rosalia's last album (which we recorded with the LSO) nonstop. Before that I had Tom Petty on shuffle. Who knows what will be next!"
British music critics have consistently praised his work. In September, John Rhodes of Seen and Heard International wrote this of the London Symphony’s performance of Dmitri Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 10: “The orchestra excelled across all sections, although I must highlight … in particular flawless Diego Incertis Sánchez.”
Six years earlier, Rohan Shotton of Bachtrack attended a Philharmonia Orchestra concert featuring Bruckner’s Symphony No. 4. The performance “got off to an inauspicious start, when Diego Incertis Sánchez’s horn solo — one of the most nerve-wracking in the literature — was interrupted by an ill-tempered and very loud difference of opinion in the Gallery. [Music director] Esa-Pekka Salonen had little choice but to restart the piece.
“Sánchez’s playing was wholly without blemish on each attempt, the cool, unearthly line revealing itself with unflustered purity and perhaps even a touch more delicacy the second time around.”
So, he’s cool under pressure — surely a helpful attribute, given the uncertainties ahead.
