Youth Movement: A Milestone Anniversary

Over the past four decades, the SF Symphony Youth Orchestra has earned a reputation as one of the finest youth musical ensembles in the world, delivering jaw-dropping concerts to audiences stateside and abroad. This month, as part of its season-long 40th anniversary celebration, the YO stars in two programs designed to showcase the extraordinary talents of its musicians.

First up on March 5, Wattis Foundation Music Director Daniel Stewart leads a concert highlighted by Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s dazzling Violin Concerto performed by SFSYO Concertmaster Eunseo Oh, winner of the 2022 SF Symphony Youth Orchestra Concerto Competition. The Tchaikovsky concerto holds deep meaning for Oh, who has dreamed of performing the work since she was 10: “Beginning to learn the concerto during the pandemic, I found great solace in its balance of warmth and sorrow during such an emotionally challenging time.” Bay Area-born composer Gabriela Lena Frank’s mystical Apu: Tone Poem for Orchestra opens the program with an evocative tale of a Peruvian mountain spirit, while Ludwig van Beethoven’s famed Fifth Symphony closes the afternoon with musical fireworks.

And for those looking for the perfect opportunity to introduce young listeners to the wonders of Beethoven’s larger-than-life Fifth Symphony, Stewart and the Youth Orchestra present a special Music for Families program on March 18. “Discovering Beethoven’s Fifth” promises an afternoon that is both educational and fun for the whole family.

Music in Color

Our soundwave prints are on sale NOW: Grab one for the music lover in your life while supplies last! These unique, custom prints are soundwave visualizations of music captured during iconic SF Symphony performances and signed by artist Tim Wakefield. All proceeds from these artworks support several Bay Area nonprofit organizations.

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