San Francisco Performances has announced the presenting organization’s 47th season among what its president, Melanie Smith, calls “our challenging and stressful times.”
Emphasizing the importance of the arts, Smith said, “Sharing in live performances makes us think, feel, and appreciate those around us and onstage... from celebrations of great composers... to reflections on our shared humanity in programs exploring the American immigrant and citizenship experience... to music that nourishes our spirits.”
SF Performances’ 2026-2027 season includes traditional offerings and bold new projects.
The opening night gala event on Oct. 2, features performances by violinist Geneva Lewis and pianist Joshua Mhoon.
Popular among SFP audiences, the Saturday 10 a.m. concerts in Herbst Theatre with lecturer Robert Greenberg will have illustrations and performances by the Esmé Quartet (Oct. 24, Nov. 7, and Dec. 12, 2026. Feb. 6, 2027)
The Esmé Quartet is also slated to be featured in a project marking the 200th anniversary of Beethoven’s death, with a series of the composer’s works on March 26, April 23, and May 6, 2027.
To celebrate Philip Glass’s 90th birthday, SFP has scheduled a special PIVOT festival centering on his music, Jan. 27–29, 2027. It begins with pianist Timo Andres, followed by Andres and countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo, and concludes with the Kronos Quartet.
Artists making their local recital debuts include soprano Angel Blue (Dec. 11); pianist Alexandre Tharaud, (collaborating with cellist Jean-Guihen Queyras, Oct. 29); and guitarist Berta Rojas, whose concert will include clarinetist/composer Paquito D’Rivera (Oct. 24).
Also scheduled to appear: pianist Elisabeth Brauss (Jan. 22, 2027), violinist Tessa Lark (April 22, 2027), guitarist brothers Ziggy and Miles (Jan. 23, 2027), pianist Fazil Say (May 7, 2027), and guitarist Raphaël Feuillâtre (Nov. 7).
New works are scheduled from composers Christopher Cerrone (a West Coast premiere for baritone Dashon Burton and the Calder Quartet, April 3, 2027), Shawn Okpebholo (for tenor Nicholas Phan and pianist Myra Huang, Oct. 22), and Don Byron, Ted Hearne, and Angélica Negrón, all three of whom feature in Brooklyn Rider’s Citizenship Notes, on Oct. 8. That program posits the string quartet “as a microcosm of democracy,” and the commissions explore questions of citizenship and democracy in the 21st century.”
Reflecting on her organization’s history, President Smith said, “For more than four decades, San Francisco Performances has brought great artists and great audiences together. Our audiences love the experience of being up-close to artists, and artists tell us how much they appreciate SFP audiences, because they are given the opportunity to connect on a very direct level, performing music they're especially excited about. Sharing in live performances makes us think, feel, and appreciate those around us and onstage.”
That history can boast of introducing hundreds of established and emerging classical music, jazz, and dance artists to local and even national audiences, including Yo-Yo Ma, the Juilliard String Quartet, Philip Glass, Wendy Whelan, and the Paul Taylor Dance Company, along with generations of new artists.
SFP does all that with limited resources: its last publicly available operating budget was $2.42 million for Fiscal 2024 — a fraction of the purses of big, presenting companies.
