Edwin Outwater conducts members of the San Francisco Symphony and San Francisco Conservatory of Music Orchestra at a benefit concert for victims of the Los Angeles Fires at Davies Symphony Hall in San Francisco, March 8, 2025. Photo by Minh Connors/San Francisco Chronicle.
In Sunday’s (3/9) San Francisco Chronicle, Zack Ruskin writes, “Bringing together the formidable talents of the San Francisco Symphony, San Francisco Symphony Chorus and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music Orchestra, ‘SF Musicians for LA: A Benefit for Fire Relief’ on Saturday, March 8, attracted nearly 1,900 attendees for the more than two hour concert to raise funds for two organizations supporting those affected by the recent Los Angeles Fires. The symphony’s first violinist Melissa Kleinbart and principal bassist Scott Pingel came up with the idea and net proceeds from ticket sales will be split evenly between the Entertainment Community Fund and Habitat for Humanity of Greater Los Angeles: ReBUILD LA … Pingel addressed the audience … sharing his conviction that music can and does have the power to heal…. Starting with a brief performance of Aaron Copland’s ‘The Promise of Living’ from the 1954 opera ‘The Tender Land,’ which also featured the Symphony Chorus under the guest direction of Elliott James-Ginn Encarnacion, the program’s first half included a turn by pianist and Conservatory faculty member Garrick Ohlsson … Later, [came] the triumphant culmination of Antonin Dvořák’s Symphony No. 9.” Edwin Outwater conducted the concert, which ended with Bernstein’s “Make Our Garden Grow” from “Candide.”
