The San Francisco Symphony, founded in 1911, is an American orchestra based in San Francisco, California. Since 1980 the orchestra has been resident at the Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall in the city's Hayes Valley neighborhood. The San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra and the San Francisco Symphony Chorus (1972) are part of the organization. Michael Tilson Thomas became the orchestra's music director in 1995, and concluded his tenure in 2020 when Esa-Pekka Salonen took over the position.
Go-go is a subgenre of funk music with an emphasis on specific rhythmic patterns, and live audience call and response.
Jascha Heifetz was a Jewish-American violinist, widely regarded as one of the greatest violinists of all time. Born in Vilnius, he was soon recognized as a child prodigy and was trained in the Russian classical violin style in St. Petersburg. Accompanying his parents to escape the violence of the Russian Revolution, he moved to the United States as a teenager, where his Carnegie Hall debut was rapturously received. Fritz Kreisler, another leading violinist of the twentieth century, said after hearing Heifetz's debut, "We might as well take our fiddles and break them across our knees."
Leonard Edward Slatkin is an American conductor, author and composer.
Jennifer J. Arroyo is an American bassist best known for her tenure in the Canadian heavy metal group Kittie.
Kathleen Deanna Battle is an American operatic soprano known for her distinctive vocal range and tone. Born in Portsmouth, Ohio, Battle initially became known for her work within the concert repertoire through performances with major orchestras during the early and mid-1970s. She made her opera debut in 1975. Battle expanded her repertoire into lyric soprano and coloratura soprano roles during the 1980s and early 1990s, until her eventual dismissal from the Metropolitan Opera in 1994. She later has focused on recording and the concert stage. After a 22-year absence from the Met, Battle performed a concert of spirituals at the Metropolitan Opera House in November 2016, and again in May 2024.
Talena A. L. Atfield is a retired Canadian bass guitarist and Indigenous persons historian of the University of Waterloo, best known as a former member of the heavy metal group Kittie.
Iván Fischer is a Hungarian conductor and composer.
Hugo Henry Rignold was an English conductor and violinist, who is best remembered as musical director of the Royal Ballet (1957–1960) and conductor of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (1960–1968).
Gregory Charles Royal, also known as Chuck Royal, is an American musician, trombonist, composer, writer, co-founder of The BeBop Channel Corporation, the former parent owner of JazzTimes. founder of the New York Jazz Film Festival, a former judge on America's Hot Musician. and the former artistic director of the American Youth Symphony (AYS) in Washington, D.C.
Richard Leo Tognetti AO is a leading Australian musician recognised internationally as a violin soloist, ensemble player, leader, composer and arranger, conductor and artistic director.
The Schulich School of Music is one of the constituent faculties of McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is located at 555, Rue Sherbrooke Ouest. The faculty was named after the benefactor Seymour Schulich.
Margaret Brouwer is an American composer and composition teacher. She founded the Blue Streak Ensemble chamber music group.
Anne Akiko Meyers is an American violinist. She has been called “the Wonder Woman of commissioning” by The Strad.
Paul Zukofsky was an American violinist and conductor known for his work in the field of contemporary classical music.
Enrique Arturo Diemecke is a Mexican conductor, violinist and composer. He is currently the Artistic General Director of the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires and music director of the Buenos Aires Philharmonic and the Flint Symphony Orchestra in Michigan, United States.
The United States Air Force Band is a U.S. military band consisting of 184 active-duty members of the United States Air Force.
Alaska Youth Orchestras (AYO), formerly known as Anchorage Youth Symphony (AYS), is an organization comprising 2 youth orchestras. It was founded in 1965 as a single orchestra and is located in Anchorage, Alaska. In 2011, due to increased enrollment, the orchestra split into the Anchorage Youth Philharmonic and Anchorage Youth Symphony. The organization's name changed to Alaska Youth Orchestras to reflect this. AYO provides orchestral performance experience for young musicians, and furthers musicianship of members through rehearsals, concerts, education, tours, and community involvement. When not on tour, AYO performs at the Alaska Center for the Performing Arts.
Wendy Warner is a cellist from Chicago, Illinois. She performs both as a soloist with major orchestras and as a chamber musician around the world.
The American Youth Symphony (AYS) was an orchestra based in Los Angeles, California, United States, It was founded in 1964.
