San Francisco Symphony’s Opening Night Gala 2018
Photo by Drew Altizer
Photo by Drew Altizer
Photo by Drew Altizer
Photo by Drew Altizer
Photo by Drew Altizer
Photo by Drew Altizer
Photo by Devlin Shand for Drew Altizer Photography
Photo by Drew Altizer
Photo by Drew Altizer
Photo by Drew Altizer
Photo by Drew Altizer
Photo by Drew Altizer
Photo by Drew Altizer
Photo by Drew Altizer
Photo by Drew Altizer
Music director Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony launched their 24th season together on Wednesday, September 5, with the annual Opening Night Gala in Davies Symphony Hall.
Devotees like Sako, Rose, Remy and Jessica Fisher; Dede Wilsey; Charlotte Shultz; Yurie Pascarella; Lynne Benioff and Vanessa Getty gathered for cocktails before sitting down for a celebratory dinner in the sparkling tented pavilion. The banquet coincided with three other formal suppers held at venues around the city, including the grand rotunda of City Hall.
The festive pavilion decor by Blueprint Studios featured a dark blue silk douppioni-draped ceiling, and 300 illuminated golden glass pendants that cascaded throughout the space. Murals depicting impressionistic floral bouquets, as well as fragrant garden rose arrangements on each table, helped set the scene for an ethereal experience.
Guests—among them Zack Bogue and Marissa Mayer, Allison Spear, Sloan and Roger Barnett, Katie Traina, Komal Shah, Carolyn Chang, Sabrina Buell and Lisa Pritzker—were wooed by the institution’s sold-out 107th opening show, conducted by Tilson Thomas, which boasted orchestral showpieces by Gershwin and Liszt. Also on the program: world-renowned violinist Itzhak Perlman, who played music from Out of Africa and Schindler’s List film scores before students of his Perlman Music Program joined him on stage for a special performance of Bach’s Concerto No. 3 in D minor for Two Violins, Strings and Continuo.
The Opening Night Gala benefits the SF Symphony’s artistic, community and education programs whose commendable repertoire includes providing five consecutive years of equitable access to music education for all students in San Francisco’s public elementary schools.
Written by Diane Dorrans Saeks
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