Music Director Michael Tilson Thomas Returns to the San Francisco Symphony, 4/7

Seventy years after its first Carnegie Hall appearance, the San Francisco Symphony (SFS), led by Music Director Michael Tilson Thomas (MTT), returns to perform works by Cage, Bartók, and Shostakovich on Friday, April 7, at 8 p.m. and an all-Mahler program on Saturday, April 8, at 8 p.m. The Fridayprogram features Cage's The Seasons, Shostakovich's Cello Concerto No. 1 performed with soloist Gautier Capuçon, and Bartók's Concerto for Orchestra, to be followed the next evening by Mahler's Adagio from Symphony No. 10 and a complete performance of Symphony No. 1.

Tickets, priced at $41-$126, are available at the Carnegie Hall Box Office, 154 West 57th Street, or can be charged to major credit cards by calling CarnegieCharge at 212-247-7800 or by visiting the Carnegie Hall website, carnegiehall.org. The April 7 concert is being broadcast live on Classical 105.9 FM WQXR, and streamed on wqxr.org and carnegiehall.org/wqxr as part of the Carnegie Hall Live series. It will be heard later on radio stations across the country through the WFMT Radio Network.

SFS first performed at Carnegie Hall under then-Music Director Pierre Monteux on April 11, 1947, and MTT and the orchestra open the upcoming April 7 program with a work written that same year, John Cage's avant-garde ballet, The Seasons. Throughout his career, MTT has been a staunch advocate of Cage's music, championing the composer's works with the SFS and other ensembles. MTT and the SFS previously highlighted Cage's music at Carnegie Hall as part of the American Mavericks series in 2012, performing the composer's Song Books (Solos for Voice 3-92) in honor of the orchestra's centennial. MTT also led the New World Symphony, of which he is Co-Founder and Artistic Director, in a week-long celebration of Cage's 100th birthday during the 2012-13 season, leading to the creation of a specially curated web site devoted to the composer, Making the Right Choices: A John Cage Celebration, which was unveiled in 2015.

The next work on the April 7 program, Shostakovich's Cello Concerto No. 1, will feature French cellist Gautier Capuçon, who made his SFS debut in 2009 and has received a Borletti-Buitoni Trust Award and multiple ECHO Klassik Awards, among other honors. Mr. Capuçon has recorded both Shostakovich cello concertos with the Mariinsky Orchestra conducted by Valery Gergiev for a 2015 release on Erato, and these works also feature in MTT's discography, namely a 1994 recording with the London Symphony Orchestra and cellist Mischa Maisky for Deutsche Grammophon. Mr. Capuçon last appeared with the SFS in 2015 performing the Elgar Cello Concerto under Charles Dutoit, though he performed under MTT earlier this season in a Chicago Symphony Orchestra concert. His instrument is a 1701 Matteo Goffriller cello.

To conclude the concert, MTT leads the SFS in Bartók's Concerto for Orchestra, which the Symphony recorded in 1993 under then-Music Director Herbert Blomstedt.

The all-Mahler program on Saturday, April 8, juxtaposes the composer's earliest and latest works in the symphonic genre-Symphony No. 1 (1887-88) and the opening Adagio of Mahler's otherwise incomplete Symphony No. 10 (1910). MTT is regarded as one of the world's foremost Mahler interpreters, and this performance continues a recent MTT and SFS tradition of performing Mahler at Carnegie Hall. MTT regularly conducts Mahler's works and led the SFS in a seven-time Grammy Award-winning Mahler recording cycle. MTT first encounterEd Mahler's music as a 13-year-old and was immediately stricken. "I could not believe that such symphonic music existed," he said. MTT has also hosted a Mahler-themed episode of SFS's Keeping Score television program on PBS.

The San Francisco Symphony, widely considered to be among the most artistically adventurous and innovative arts institutions in the US, celebrates its 22nd season with Music Director Michael Tilson Thomas in the 2016-17 season. The SFS presents more than 220 concerts annually, and reaches an audience of nearly 600,000 in its home of Davies Symphony Hall, through its multifaceted education and community programs, and on national and international tours.

Since MTT assumed his post as the SFS's eleventh Music Director in September 1995, he and the SFS have formed a musical partnership hailed as one of the most inspiring and successful in the country. His tenure with the orchestra has been praised for outstanding musicianship, innovative programming, highlighting the works of American composers, and bringing new audiences to classical music. MTT is now the longest-tenured music director for a major American orchestra, and the longest-serving music director in SFS history.

The orchestra's recordings on SFS Media continue to reflect the artistic identity of its programming, its commitment to performing the work of American maverick composers alongside that of the core classical masterworks. In addition to 15 Grammy awards, seven of them for the Mahler recording cycle, the SFS has won some of the world's most prestigious recording awards, including Japan's Record Academy Award, France's Grand Prix du Disque, and Germany's ECHO Klassik Award. For more information, visit: https://www.sfsymphony.org/

Michael Tilson Thomas is Music Director of the San Francisco Symphony, Co-Founder and Artistic Director of the New World Symphony, and Conductor Laureate of the London Symphony Orchestra. In addition to conducting the world's leading orchestras, MTT is also noted for his work as a composer and a producer of multimedia projects that are dedicated to music education and the reimagination of the concert experience. He has won 11 Grammys for his recordings, is the recipient of the National Medal of Arts, and is a Chevalier dans l'ordre des Arts et des Lettres of France. For more information, visit: http://michaeltilsonthomas.com/

Cellist Gautier Capuçon is acclaimed internationally for his deeply expressive musicianship and exuberant virtuosity. During 2016-17 he performs with orchestras including the London Symphony and Philharmonia orchestras, Berliner Philharmoniker, Russian National Orchestra, Staatskapelle Dresden, Münchner Philharmoniker, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and Los Angeles Philharmonic. Mr. Capuçon records exclusively for Erato (Warner Classics) and has won multiple ECHO Klassik Awards. For more information, visit: http://www.gautiercapucon.com/