Reduction in SoundBox

The last SoundBox concert I attended.

February, 2023

Photo by me.

Well, this is unfortunate:

SF Symphony cancels March 8 & 9 SoundBox program

SAN FRANCISCO, CA—The San Francisco Symphony’s March 8–9 SoundBox concerts, which were to be curated by Music Director Esa-Pekka Salonen, have been canceled and will not be rescheduled. With Salonen's support, the Symphony decided to cancel this program as a means of offsetting the significant expenses associated with producing SoundBox. Going forward, the SoundBox series will include two programs each season.    The final 2023–24 SoundBox series program features SF Symphony Collaborative Partner and roboticist Carol Reiley (April 5–6) and will proceed as scheduled. “Press Play: Carol Reiley and the Robots” will be a first-of-its-kind, human-machine interactive program showcasing various uses of Artificial Intelligence (AI).    Ticketholders for the March 8–9 SoundBox program will be contacted with the option to exchange their tickets for a different concert, donate their tickets, or receive a refund for their purchase. All requests for ticket donations, gift certificates, exchanges, and refunds for these concerts must be received by July 1, 2024. For additional assistance with tickets, patrons can contact the Box Office by phone at 415.864.6000, email at patronservices@sfsymphony.org, or in person at the Davies Symphony Hall Box Office, on Grove Street between Van Ness Avenue and Franklin Street in San Francisco.

I've got some questions out to SFS. Joshua Kosman has a report in the Chron with some quotations from Matthew Spivey, the orchestra's CEO. My questions go into the incredible amount of money the orchestra made in a recent fiscal year (based on its most recently-filed form 990) and what that money is going to be used for.