Sticking It Out

Sticking It Out is a memoir by percussionist Patti Niemi, who has been a member of the San Francisco Opera Orchestra since 1992. I'm just catching up with the book, which was published in 2016.

If you're interested in how those folks in an orchestra got there, I highly recommend reading Sticking It Out. Niemi is a terrific writer, by turns wry, funny, poignant, and heartbreaking. And what she has to say about how she got to SFO is realistic about what anyone striving for a career as a professional musician goes through: the practicing, the teachers (good and bad, for varying reasons), the practicing, the personal doubts, the practicing, the friends, the practicing, the conductors (good and bad), the practicing, the injuries, the practicing, the anxieties, the auditions. And, finally, the practicing.

Because that is what they do, anything from four to twelve hours a day, even though most aspiring musicians, including those at conservatories like Juilliard, aren't going to have professional careers. There are too many musicians trying for too few jobs.

You'll read about how auditions work (or don't, because even with supposedly anonymous auditions, it's weird how many jobs go to people who studied with a teacher in the orchestra; see Katherine Needleman's Substack or Facebook posting for more about this). You'll read about beta blockers. You'll read about percussion instruments. You'll read about the New World Symphony's early years, with glimpses of Michael Tilson Thomas (Niemi was a member for the first four years).

You'll read about a dedicated musician and her particular path to a career. If you want to know more, see Patti Niemi's website, which has interviews, podcasts, and a link to her cat's Instagram account.

Late Friday News Drop, LA Opera Edition

If you're in politics, late Friday is a notoriously typical time for press releases containing bad news. Apparently that's not the case in the arts, because at 8:59 p.m. tonight (and again at 10:59), I received email from LA Opera naming Domingo Hindoyan (full name Domingo Garcia Hindoyan) Music Director Designate of the company. He'll succeed James Conlon as music director on July 1, 2026.

Hindoyan is variously described as Venezuelan-Armenian and Venezuelan-Swiss. His father is Venezuelan; his mother was born in Syria and is of Armenian descent. A Spanish-speaking conductor of Armenian descent will fit in very well, culturally, in Los Angeles, which has many Spanish-speaking residents and one of the largest populations of people of Armenian descent outside Armenia. 

Oh, the Swiss part? He lives in Switzerland with his wife and their two children. She is the Bulgarian soprano Sonya Yoncheva, a big star.

I visit L.A. at least once a year (given the...unsatisfactory 2025-26 SFS schedule, maybe more than once a year), and I'm looking forward to hearing Hindoyan, who I believe has not conducted at SFS. Conlon's are big shoes to fill, and I wish Hindoyan all success in his new position.

Full press release here.

Friday Photo

Mount Auburn Cemetery

Cambridge, MA

April, 2025

 

Esa-Pekka Salonen Tours with the New York Philharmonic

Lincoln Center Fountain

Photo by Lisa Hirsch

A press release from the NY Philharmonic landed in my in-box a few weeks ago, and wow, it is certainly interesting to read in the context of goings-on at San Francisco Symphony, which cancelled a planned European tour originally scheduled for this spring, meaning a new partner had to be found for Esa-Pekka Salonen's new horn concerto.

Read it and weep, and wonder what Matias Tarnopolsky and the NY Phil board know that their counterparts at SFS don't*:

NEW YORK PHILHARMONIC TOUR TO SOUTH KOREA AND CHINA, SUMMER 2025

Concerts in Incheon and Seoul, South Korea, and Shanghai, China

Conducted by ESA-PEKKA SALONEN **

Featuring Works by Beethoven, Ravel, Debussy, and Berlioz

Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4 Performed by
KRYSTIAN ZIMERMAN in South Korea and
ALEXANDRE KANTOROW in China

June 26–July 2, 2025

The New York Philharmonic returns to Asia in summer 2025 for a five-concert tour to South Korea and China, June 26–July 2. Esa-Pekka Salonen will conduct performances in Incheon — marking the Orchestra’s debut in the city — as well as Seoul and Shanghai. The programs feature Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4, with Krystian Zimerman as soloist in Incheon and Seoul, marking his first appearances with the NY Phil since 1996, and with Alexandre Kantorow as soloist in Shanghai, in his NY Phil debut. Additional repertoire includes Beethoven’s Eroica Symphony, Ravel’s Mother Goose Suite, Debussy’s La Mer, and Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique.

President & CEO Matías Tarnopolsky said: “The importance of international touring cannot be overstated. To return to Asia at this moment — to three great cities — is a powerful statement of cultural outreach and a reaffirmation of our belief in music’s unique ability to build bridges across languages, oceans, and cultures. Over just a few days we will refresh our connection with audiences in Seoul, make new friends in Incheon, and reunite with our partners in Shanghai.”

Starr International Foundation is the Presenting Sponsor of the New York Philharmonic–Shanghai Orchestra Academy and Partnership and the 2025 Asia Tour.

* I'm going to here point out that SFS's endowment in the most recent 990 (filed in July, 2024) was $333 million versus the NY Philharmonic's $236 million. The Philharmonic's net assets are considerably more than those of SFS and I can't explain that. Still, the Philharmonic thinks it's important to tour, SFS says they can't afford it. It is also interesting that the NY Phil musicians won a 30% salary increase over several years in their last contract negotiations, where the SFS musicians have been working without a contract for quite some time.

** Salonen's departure from SFS presumably freed. up enough time for him to go on this tour. Gustavo Dudamel, the incoming music director of the Philharmonic, is presumably busy with the LA Phil this summer.

Belated Museum Mondays

Boys Bathing, by Edvard Munch

Fogg Museum, Cambridge, MA

April, 2025

 

New Artisitic Director at Cal Bach

Less than a year after Paul Flight's departure from Cal Bach, the venerable chorus has appointed a new Artistic Director, Nate Widelitz. Here's the press release:

We are thrilled to announce that Nate Widelitz has been appointed as the new Artistic Director of the California Bach Society.

After a nationwide search, we were delighted to identify Nate from a field of highly qualified candidates. His infectious energy, genuine warmth, and musician’s heart made us smile—and made us think, “Yep, he’s our guy.”

Nate brings to CBS a deep passion for early music, a collaborative spirit, and an artistic sensibility grounded in both scholarship and performance. His values resonate fully with CBS’s long-standing identity—where our core focus on Baroque repertoire blends with adventures in Renaissance, Romantic, and modern works, brought to life with care and curiosity.

Before joining CBS, Nate served as the Associate Director of Choral Activities and Visiting Instructor of Choral Music Education at Millikin University in Decatur, Illinois, where he directed both the Collegiate Chorale and Treble Choir. He is also the Founding Director of the Five Cities Baroque Foundation & Festival, which he launched to create immersive early music experiences that unite musicians and audiences in regional communities.

His previous appointments include Assistant Conductor of both the Yale Glee Club and the Pacific Chorale, along with extensive performing and educational work with the Los Angeles Master Chorale, where he sang as both a soloist and core ensemble member in partnership with the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

Nate holds degrees in Choral Conducting from Yale University (MM) and the University of Southern California (BM, Vocal Arts, summa cum laude), and he was a Fulbright Scholar at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. He is currently completing his Doctor of Musical Arts in Choral Conducting at Yale and is expected to receive the degree in October of this year.

We are proud to welcome Nate to the CBS family. His appointment affirms our commitment to artistic excellence and thoughtful programming—and opens a new chapter in our shared musical journey.

We look forward to introducing you to Nate’s leadership in the 2025–2026 season and beyond.

The Cal Bach web site also has the dates and general themes of their four 2025-26 concerts. 

Friday Photo

Central Synagogue

Lexington Avenue, NYC

April, 2025

 

Pointer Report on Jaap van Zweden

Pointer is a platform in The Netherlands that describes itself this way:

Pointer is the platform for investigative journalism of KRO-NCRV on TV, radio and online. TV and radio makers, data journalists and researchers bring revealing, in-depth stories, with social impact. A platform that makes modern investigative journalism such as crowdsourcing and open source intelligence accessible to all Dutch people. In the middle of society, for and by the people.

Today, they released a report on Jaap van Zweden, the Dutch conductor who has been the music director of the Dallas Symphony, NY Philharmonic, Hong Kong Philharmonic, and Seoul Philharmonic (among others) and who has guest conducted worldwide. Next year, he's conducting four concerts, including the opening gala, at the San Francisco Symphony, which has also announced that over three seasons (2025-26, 2026-27, and 2027-28), he'll be leading a cycle of the Beethoven symphonies.

Here's the start of the article on Pointer's web site:

In several orchestras where Jaap van Zweden was the conductor, there has been evidence of transgressive behavior. This is evident from research by Pointer (KRO-NCRV) based on conversations with dozens of musicians and other insiders. They outline a pattern of fear in places where the most famous conductor in the Netherlands has been in charge. Watch the extra long broadcast of Pointer on the YouTube channel of Pointer this afternoon at 4 p.m. and on Sunday evening on NPO 2.

In recent months, Pointer journalists spoke to more than 50 musicians, directors and staff members from seven of the orchestras that Jaap van Zweden conducted in the Netherlands and abroad over the past 25 years. Van Zweden's tough, sometimes intimidating manners keep recurring. Individual musicians from the Netherlands and abroad tell of being insulted and belittled in front of colleagues. For a number of them, working with the Dutchman has had a lasting impact.

There were reports about van Zweden behaving in a borderline abusive manner when he was at the Dallas Symphony before he was appointed to the NY Phil position. It was clear at the time that Corinna da Fonseca-Wollheim had him in mind when she wrote her comments for this article, for example. And a friend mentioned that the Dallas News reported on these issues as well; here's a 2014 article about van Zweden.

I own that I have no idea what to make of "the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra became the best orchestra in the world under his leadership in 2019." Maybe Google Translate didn't accurately render that in English, but I do not think it likely that the Hong Kong Phil was somehow better than the Berlin Phil, the VPO, the LSO, Cleveland, etc., etc.

Over the last few years, U.S. musical institutions have shown at least some increased willingness to do something about abusive conductors and musicians. Plácido Domingo was disinvited from San Francisco Opera, Charles Dutoit has barely worked in the United States, the NY Phil appears to have finally fired two of their musicians, etc. I don't know what impact this report will have on van Zweden's future engagements at the San Francisco Symphony, but I do hope it means that he has no chance of being the next music director of SFS. I've never heard any rumors of abusive behavior on the part of Herbert Blomstedt, MTT, or Esa-Pekka Salonen, and I hope that SFS will continue to hire music directors of unimpeachable character.

Cut Circle: Micropolyphony

Cut Circle, a small chorus directed by Stanford music professor Jesse Rodin, is putting on a performance this Friday that I would try to get to if I didn't have a ticket to see Murnau's Nosferatu in San Francisco that evening. It's called "Micropholyphony: Josquin's Experiments with Scale." Here are the details:

Date and Time

Friday May 23rd, 2025
6:30 - 8:00pm

Location

The Knoll
660 Lomita Court, Stanford, CA 94305
CCRMA Stage

About this event

Cut Circle presents 187 syllables in ninety seconds, seventy-four names in eight minutes, and other time-squeezing music from around 1500. The program includes a newly completed motet by Josquin des Prez’s contemporary Jean Richafort, reconstructed from fragmentary sources.

The performance will feature a virtual historical acoustical environment as part of a collaboration between CCRMA (Stanford) and the VALSOUNDS project (University of Oxford/KU Leuven). The event is made possible by the Shenson Fund, CCRMA, the Department of Music, CMEMS, and the France-Stanford Center.

Admission Information

• Free admission.

Event Sponsor

Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics
Department of Music
Center for Medieval and Early Modern Studies
France-Stanford Center for Interdisciplinary Studies

San Francisco Opera Orchestra

St. Joseph's Arts Society

Formerly St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Church

Photo by Lisa Hirsch

The San Francisco Opera Orchestra, under Music Director Eun Sun Kim, played a lovely concert on Saturday, May 17, at St. Joseph's Arts Society. I wrote about it for the S.F. Chronicle, not a review, but a report on what happened and what it was like. I really enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere, with children and adults wandering around during the performance and talking to the musicians before and after.

The orchestra played Wagner's Siegfried Idyll, the Rondeau from Purcell's Abdelazar, and Britten's Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra (Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Henry Purcell), which, right, is the Rondeau from Abdelazar. I thought the performances were terrific; the orchestra sounded great; it was fantastic to be sitting ten feet from the orchestra. Eun Sun Kim's multitasking––conducting, holding a microphone, and calling out the instruments in the Britten––was astonishing. Stephen Smoliar was there too and wrote it up for his blog.

Dalia Stasevska at SFS

Dalia Stasevska conducts; Johannes Moser plays cello.

Anna Thorvaldsdottir, Before we fall

San Francisco Symphony, May15, 2025

Photo: Kristen Loken, courtesy of San Francisco Symphony

There wasn't room in my review for a number of things I would have liked to mention about Anna Thorvaldsdottir's new cello concerto, Before we fall, which Johannes Moser and Dalia Stasevska brought to life last week at San Francisco Symphony, mostly to do with the orchestration. The percussion included two thunder sheets, two bass drums (played by mallets including superball mallets), and bundles of dried eucalyptus leaves, but did not include timpani. The double reeds included an English horn and bassoons, but not oboes. There were a pair of flutes and alto flute.

The scores takes several pages to explain different playing techniques, including tongue ram (flutes) and tongue slap (clarinets). Lastly, if you read my review in the S.F. Chronicle, you'll see the work styled as "Before We Fall," where SFCV has Before we fall. Style guides differ! The score has:

Before we fall

Neither Stasevska nor Thorvaldsdottir is on next year's SFS schedule, which I'm sorry about.

• Lisa Hirsch, SFCV
• Joshua Kosman also heard a relationship between RVW's Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis and Before we fall and is enthusiastic about the concerto.
• DB at Kalimac's Corner.
• Stephen Smoliar, The Rehearsal Studio

Opera Saratoga 2025

I cannot attend Opera Saratoga's summer season, but it's awfully interesting looking. I would love to see La vie Parisienne; Offenbach's operettas are not done much in the U.S., and the English National Opera's Orpheus in the Underworld in November, 2019, was fantastic. Also, "vividly immersive thriller" is quite intriguing!

La Vie Parisienne at Universal Preservation Hall

Friday, June 20, 2025 at 7:30 pm

Sunday, June 22, 2025 at 2:00 pm

Thursday, June 26, 2025 at 7:30 pm

Saturday, June 28, 2025 at 7:30 pm

She Loves Me at Universal Preservation Hall

Saturday, June 21, 2025 at 7:30 pm

Wednesday, June 25, 2025 at 7:30 pm

Friday, June 27, 2025 at 7:30 pm

Saturday, June 28, 2025 at 2:00 pm

Sunday, June 29, 2025 at 2:00 pm

In a Grove at Ferndell Pavilion in Saratoga Spa State Park

Music by Chris Cerrone, libretto by Stephanie Fleischmann

Described as a "vividly immersive thriller," so yeah I'd love to see this.

Wednesday, May 28, 2025 at 5:00 pm & 7:00 pm

Thursday, May 29, 2025 at 5:00 pm & 7:00 pm

Rain date: Saturday, May 31, 2025 at 5:00 pm & 7:00 pm

Mass for Women in Bathrooms at Universal Preservation Hall

Sunday, June 22, 2025 at 7:30 pm

Friday, June 27, 2025 at 2:00 pm

Museum Mondays

Altar of St. Anne, 1516

German, artist unknown

Fogg Museum, Harvard

Cambridge, MA

April, 2025

 

Music Director Updates

I'm probably missing some, but here are some more music directors in motion:

• Semyon Bychkov to leave the Czech Philharmonic when his contract expires at the end of the 2027-28 season.
• Alexander Shelley departs the National Arts Centre Orchestra of Canada in 2026.
• Kazuki Yamada to step down from the Orchestre Philharmonique of Monte-Carlo when his contract ends in August, 2026.

Open positions:

• Orchestre Philharmonique of Monte-Carlo, in August, 2026 
• National Arts Centre Orchestra of Canada, in 2026 when Alexander Shelley leaves.
• Czech Philharmonic, when Semyon Bychkov leaves in 2028
• Symphony Tacoma when Sara Ionnides leaves in 2026
• Boston Baroque, when Martin Pearlman leaves.
• Berkeley Symphony, when Joseph Young leaves.
• Milwaukee Symphony, when Ken-David Masur leaves.
• New Jersey Symphony, when Xian Zhang leaves at the end of the 2027-28 season.
• Ulster Orchestra, when Daniele Rustioni leaves
• Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, when Daniel Harding leaves
• Oslo Philharmonic, when Klaus Mäkelä moves on in 2027
• Orchestre de Paris, when Klaus Mäkelä moves on in 2027
• Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, when Santu-Matias Rouvali leaves in 2025
• Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra because of the departure of Lorenzo Viotti in 2025
• Netherlands Chamber Orchestra, because of the departure of Lorenzo Viotti in 2025
• Dutch National Opera, because of the departure of Lorenzo Viotti in 2025
• English National Opera
• Bergen Philharmonic
• LA. Opera, at the end of 2025-26
• San Francisco Symphony, at the end of 2024-25
• Phoenix Symphony
• Cleveland Orchestra, as of June, 2027
• Lahti Symphony, when Dalia Stasevka leaves.
• Antwerp Symphony, with the departure of Elim Chan.
• Paris Opera is currently without a music director.
• Nashville Symphony, when Giancarlo Guerrero leaves.
• Deutsche Oper Berlin, when Donald Runnicles leaves.
• Rottedam Philharmonic, when Lahav Shani leaves.
• Los Angeles Philharmonic, as of 2026-27, when Gustavo Dudamel leaves for NY.
• Teatro Regio Turin: Open now with departure of Gianandrea Noseda. The Teatro Regio has not named a new music director.
• Marin Symphony, at the end of 2022-23.
• Vienna Staatsoper, when Philippe Jordan leaves at the end of 2025.

Conductors looking for jobs (that is, as of the near future, or now, they do not have a posting). The big mystery, to me, is why an orchestra hasn't snapped up Susanna Mälkki. Slightly lesser mystery: Henrik Nanasi, whose superb Cosi fan tutte is still lingering in my ears.

• Ken-David Masur
• Joseph Young
• Kirill Karabits
• Marc Albrecht
• Markus Stenz
• Esa-Pekka Salonen, if he wants such a position again
• James Conlon, if he wants such a position again.
• Dalia Stasevska (though her contract at Lahti has been extended by a year)
• Elim Chan
• Kirill Karabits
• Tito Muñoz 
• Andrey Boreyko
• Osmo Vänskä
• Susanna Mälkki, who left the Helsinki Philharmonic at the end of 2022-23.
• MGT (apparently does not want a full-time job, as of early 2022)
• Miguel Harth-Bedoya (seems settled in at Baylor)
• Sian Edwards
• Ingo Metzmacher
• Jac van Steen
• Ilan Volkov
• Aleksandr Markovic
• Lothar Koenigs
• Henrik Nanasi
• Philippe Jordan, eventually
• Franz Welser-Möst, if he wants such a job

And closed:

• Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra, with the appointment of Markus Poschner
• Orquesta y Coro Nacionales de España, with the appointment of Kent Nagano
• Eugene (OR), with the appointment of Alex Prior
• Utah Symphony, with the appointment of Markus Poschner.
• Bournemouth Symphony appoints Mark Wigglesworth as Chief Conductor (some time ago).
• Colorado Symphony appoints Peter Oundjian, effective with the 2025-26 season.
• Pacific Symphony appoints Alexander Shelley to succeed Carl St. Clair, starting with the 2026-27 season.
• Milwaukee Symphony, when Ken-David Masur leaves at the end of 2025-26.
• Seattle Symphony, with the appointment of Xian Zhang as of the 2025-26 season.
• Edward Gardner starts as music director of Norwegian National Opera this season,
• Sarasota Orchestra: Giancarlo Guerrero has been named music director, as of 2025.
• Hong Kong Philharmonic: Tarmo Peltokoski becomes music director in 2026.
• Tokyo Symphony, with the appointment of Lorenzo Viotti.
• Oakland Symphony, where Kedrick Armstrong succeeds the late Michael Morgan.
• Minnesota Opera: closed with the appointment of Christopher Franklin.
• The Chicago Symphony Orchestra gets to share Klaus Mäkelä with the Concertgebouw.
• The Hallé Orchestra's next conductor will be Kahchun Wong.
• Marin Alsop becomes principal guest conductor of the Philadelphia Orchestra, I believe succeeding Nathalie Stutzmann.
• Simon Rattle becomes principal guest conductor of the Czech Philharmonic.
• John Storgards will becomes chief conductor of the Turku Philharmonic.
• Update and correction: San Francisco Chamber Orchestra was unable to hire Cosette Justo Valdés. Instead, Jory Fankuchen, a violinist in the orchestra, has been named Principal Conductor and will lead this season's programs.
• Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra: Cristian Mačelaru becomes music director in 2025.
• Indianapolis Symphony hires Jun Markel, effective September 1, 2024.
• Andris Nelsons renewed his contract with the Boston Symphony. He's now on an evergreen rolling contract, which will continue as long as he and the orchestra are happy with each other. MTT had one of these at SFS.
• Shanghai Symphony, with the appointment of Long Yu.
• Virginia Symphony, with the appointment of Eric Jacobsen.
• Warsaw Philharmonic, with the appointment of Krzysztof Urbański.
• Bern Symphony, with the appointment of Krzysztof Urbański.
• Berlin State Opera, with the appointment of Christian Thielemann.
• Dresden Philharmonic, with the appointment of Donald Runnicles.
• New York Philharmonic, with the appointment of Gustavo Dudamel. Note that Jaap van Zweden leaves in 2024 and there will be a two-season gap before Dudamel arrives.
• Helsinki Philharmonic: Jukka-Pekka Saraste to succeed Susanna Mälkki.
• Staatskapelle Dresden, with the appointment of Daniele Gatti.
• Seoul Philharmonic appoints Jaap van Zweden.
• Royal Opera appoints Jakub Hrůša to succeed Antonio Pappano.

Recent SFS Reviews

Davies Symphony Hall

I reviewed two recent San Francisco Symphony concerts.

• Giancarlo Guerrero: Saariaho, Stravinsky, Respighi. Note that Pines of Rome is on the September, 2025 season-opening gala, which will make the third time in three years that the orchestra has played this thing, and can't they find something better?
• Dalia Stasevska: Vaughan Williams, Thorvaldsdottir, Sibelius. The other commissioning orchestras of Anna Thorvaldsdottir's new cello concerto, Before we fall, the Iceland Symphony, Helsinki Philharmonic, Odense Symphony, and BBC Proms. They are getting their money's worth. Other interesting information that had to be omitted: As far as I can tell, this is the composer's first concerto of any kind. And she herself is a cellist. (Watch for a full media roundup later this week.)

Meanwhile, at the LA Phil, Esa-Pekka Salonen led a tribute to Pierre Boulez, and you have to wonder whether SFS's administration nixed a similar program here.

 

Friday Photo

Boston Public Library

Main Branch, Copley Square

Boston, MA

April, 2025