San Francisco Symphony Unveils March 2026 Programming with Itzhak Perlman, John Malkovich & More

The San Francisco Symphony has unveiled its March programming lineup, which features three Orchestral Series programs led by guest conductors Philippe Jordan, Andrés Orozco-Estrada, and Daniele Rustioni; a concert with Itzhak Perlman and the SF Symphony in celebration of his 80th birthday season; Aleksey Igudesman’s The Music Critic featuring actor John Malkovich; and Distant Worlds: music from FINAL FANTASY with the SF Symphony and Chorus. 

The month also includes a concert with Joshua Bell and the Academy of St Martin in the Fields; a recital with violinist Pinchas Zukerman and pianist Shai Wosner, a SF Symphony Youth Orchestra program, and free chamber music concerts at the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco and SF Public Library branches. 

Take a look at the full lineup below. Tickets for concerts at Davies Symphony Hall can be purchased via sfsymphony.org or by calling the San Francisco Symphony Box Office at 415.864.6000.   

Orchestral Series

March 13 & 15: Brahms 2 & Dvořák’s Cello Concerto
Daniele Rustioni, principal guest conductor of the Metropolitan Opera, makes his Orchestral Series debut conducting Antonín Dvořák’s passionate Cello Concerto with Daniel Müller-Schott, who also makes his Orchestral Series debut in this program. Dvořák conceived the concerto while living in the United States and rewrote its ending as a tribute to his sister-in-law after her passing. The program also includes Johannes Brahms’s Symphony No. 2, a largely sunny work composed during a summer holiday in a small Austrian village. Rustioni, Müller-Schott, and the SF Symphony perform this program at UC Davis’s Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts on March 14.

March 20–22: Orozco-Estrada Conducts Dvořák 7 
Andrés Orozco-Estrada, general music director of the City of Cologne and Gürzenich Kapellmeister and principal conductor of Orchestra Sinfonica Nationale della RAI, conducts Antonín Dvořák’s dark Symphony No. 7, which was strongly influenced by Brahms. Jan Lisiecki joins Orozco-Estrada and the Orchestra to perform Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's expressive Piano Concerto No. 9, an early masterpiece among his instrumental works. The program opens with the intense overture from Carl Maria von Weber’s opera Euryanthe. 

March 26–28: Symphonie fantastique & Jean-Yves Thibaudet 
Philippe Jordan, music director of Vienna State Opera, leads the Orchestra in Hector Berlioz's Symphonie fantastique, a virtuosic orchestral showpiece filled with imaginative visions of a love affair gone wrong. Jean-Yves Thibaudet plays Camille Saint-Saëns’s Piano Concerto No. 5, Egyptian, most of which the composer wrote while on vacation in Luxor. The program opens with Claude Debussy's sensual symphonic poem Prélude à L’après-midi d’un faune.

Special Events

March 5: Itzhak Perlman with the San Francisco Symphony 
Violinist Itzhak Perlman returns to Davies Symphony Hall in his 80th birthday season to conduct and play a special one-night-only concert with the SF Symphony. Known for a warm sound, welcoming demeanor, and unparalleled virtuosity that have made him a household name for six decades and counting, Perlman presents a program featuring Johann Sebastian Bach’s Violin Concerto No. 1, Johannes Brahms’s Academic Festival Overture, and Antonín Dvořák’s Symphony No. 8. 

March 6: John Malkovich in Aleksey Igudesman’s The Music Critic 
Emmy Award-winning actor John Malkovich joins the San Francisco Symphony for The Music Critic, written and conceived by violinist Aleksey Igudesman. The show combines performances of classical works with negative reviews written by real critics when the works first premiered. Accompanied onstage by Igudesman and the Orchestra, Malkovich takes on the role of a sardonic critic, taking no prisoners as he hilariously critiques Ludwig van Beethoven, Johann Sebastian Bach, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and more.  

March 17: Distant Worlds: music from FINAL FANTASY    
Celebrating FINAL FANTASY XIV and XVI 
The San Francisco Symphony performs Distant Worlds: music from FINAL FANTASY on March 17. This celebration of the music of FINAL FANTASY XIV and XVI by renowned composer Masayoshi Soken will be led by conductor Arnie Roth, performed by the San Francisco Symphony and Chorus, and joined by FINAL FANTASY XIV & XVI original vocalist Amanda Achen. This program also features iconic works by Nobuo Uematsu, Masashi Hamauzu, Yoko Shimomura, and other composers from throughout the FINAL FANTASY series. This special concert includes HD video created by SQUARE ENIX specifically for this tour.

Great Performers Series 

March 1: Joshua Bell & Academy of St Martin in the Fields 
Violinist Joshua Bell leads the Academy of St Martin in the Fields in performing Iain Farrington’s arrangement of Charles Ives’s Variations on America, Johannes Brahms’s Violin Concerto, and Robert Schumann’s Symphony No. 1, Spring. 

March 15: Pinchas Zukerman & Shai Wosner  
Pinchas Zukerman and Shai Wosner present a duo recital featuring works of Johannes Brahms, including Violin Sonata No. 1 in G major, Violin Sonata No. 2 in A major, Scherzo in C minor from F-A-E Sonata, and Violin Sonata No. 3 in D minor. 

San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra

March 8: San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra
Wattis Foundation Music Director Radu Paponiu leads the SFSYO in Jean Sibelius’s tone poem Finlandia, a piece that inspired national pride and brought Sibelius personal fame and sweeping popularity, and Jennifer Higdon’s blue cathedral, written in memory of Higdon’s younger brother. Paponiu and the SFSYO are joined by soprano Hannah Cho in Gustav Mahler’s expressive Symphony No. 4, in which the composer reflects on memories of his youth. Comprised of more than 100 musicians ranging in age from 12 to 21 and representing communities from throughout the Bay Area, the SFSYO is recognized internationally as one of the finest youth orchestras in the world. The SFSYO provides a tuition-free orchestral experience of preprofessional caliber to talented young Bay Area musicians, with weekly rehearsals led by Paponiu.

Chamber Music Concerts 

All Community Chamber Concerts are free and open to the public. 

March 3, 7, 12, & 28: Free Concerts at Jewish Community Center of San Francisco and San Francisco Public Libraries 
The San Francisco Symphony's free Community Chamber Concert series features small ensembles from the Symphony performing at community spaces across San Francisco. These concerts are an opportunity for audiences to get to know SF Symphony musicians and see them perform in an intimate setting.  

On March 3 at 1:00pm at the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco, first violin Melissa Kleinbart (Katharine Hanrahan Chair) and Assistant Principal Cello Amos Yang (Karel & Lida Urbanek Chair) perform a Community Chamber Concert. 

On March 7 at 12:00pm at the San Francisco Public Library’s Bayview Branch, Associate Principal Cello Anne Richardson (Peter & Jacqueline Hoefer Chair), Assistant Concertmaster Wyatt Underhill (75th Anniversary Chair), and violist Matthew Young perform a Community Chamber Concert and engage in a Q&A with the audience.  

On March 12 at 5:00pm at the San Francisco Public Library’s Excelsior Branch, Associate Principal Cello Anne Richardson (Peter & Jacqueline Hoefer Chair) and Associate Principal Bass Daniel G. Smith perform a Community Chamber Concert and engage in a Q&A with the audience. 

On March 28 at 2:30pm at the San Francisco Public Library’s Presidio Branch, first violins Florin Parvulescu and Victor Romasevich perform a Community Chamber Concert and engage in a Q&A with the audience.