Acclaimed conductor Jahja Ling‘s final season with the San Diego Symphony begins Oct. 14 with a series of performances of works that have defined his 13-year tenure.
Highlights include Mahler’s Symphony No. 3, Bruckner’s Symphony No. 8, Brahms’ Symphony No. 3, Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4 and Sibelius’ Symphony No. 2. In addition, Ling will welcome Chinese pianist Lang Lang as soloist in his first performance with the San Diego orchestra since a legendary concert at Carnegie Hall in 2013.
“At the core of the 2016-17 season is a tribute to the legacy of Jahja Ling, music director of the San Diego Symphony for 13 years,” said Martha Gilmer, the symphony’s chief executive officer. “His leadership of this orchestra will remain a gift for generations to come. He has chosen works that reflect his history with this orchestra, as well as new works that lead to the future.”
Ling said the guest artists and the repertoire of the upcoming season “are the closest to my heart,” adding that, “I believe that the spirit of joy and artistic integrity in making the greatest music will continue and creating that special sound which I have instilled in our orchestra will live on for decades.”
He will step down as music director at the end 2016-2017 season and become conductor laureate, continuing to work with the orchestra on a regular basis.
The symphony’s opening concert program on Oct. 14, 15 and 16 features Ling conducting William Schuman’s “American Festival Overture,” Mendelssohn’s “Violin Concerto” and Brahms’ Symphony No. 3.
Among other highlights of the season:
- American Variations: A Festival of Music Made in America — The second annual January festival includes works by more than 16 different American composers including John Adams, Steven Stucky, Andrew Norman, Morton Gould, Charles Ives and Henry Cowell.
- Eleven guest conductors, including the first San Diego Symphony performances by Charles Dutoit, who will conduct Stravinsky’s “Petrouchka” and Ravel’s “La Valse.” Edo de Waart returns for the third time in a program of John Adams and Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony.
- Internationally acclaimed violinist Itzhak Perlman performs “Music of Hollywood” including works composed by John Williams, as well as works by Morricone, Korngold and others arranged by Williams.
- Sixteen artists will make their San Diego Symphony debut in the season, and 10 classical works will receive their first San Diego Symphony performance.
- Screening of “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” accompanied by the San Diego Symphony begins a project to present all eight Harry Potter films in the next four years.
- A newly conceived holiday concert, “Noel, Noel,” as well as performances by the Vienna Boys Choir and the a capella ensemble Chanticleer in “An Orchestra of Voices.”
