San Diego Symphony in 2025–26: Rafael Payare leads 13 of 20 Masterworks programs, including monumental works of Bruckner, Mahler, Strauss, and Shostakovich; works by new Composer-in-Residence Jimmy López; two-week spring Brahms Festival; much more

(September 2025) — The San Diego Symphony (SDS) and Music Director Rafael Payarelook forward in 2025–26 to their second season in the orchestra’s new indoor home at the Jacobs Music Center, a nearly 100-year-old theater that underwent a complete renovation before reopening in 2024 with superior acoustics and beautiful aesthetics. The San Diego Union-Tribune declared that the SDS “finally has a San Diego venue that permits it to sound like the world-class orchestra they’ve been since Payare took over.” Taking advantage of the venue’s new flexible presentation capabilities, Payare leads 13 programs over the course of the season, including some of the monumental works of Bruckner, Mahler, and Strauss that have earned him a reputation as “a noted authority on the late-Romantic repertoire” (BBC Music Magazine). He opens the orchestra’s season with a celebration of France and French music – with vocal soloists including mezzo-sopranos Isabel Leonard and Lindsay Ammann and soprano Liv Redpath, making her SDS debut – that pairs Debussy’s The Joyful Isle and The Box of Toys with a semi-staging of Ravel’s The Child and the Magical Spells (L’enfant et les sortilèges) (Oct 3 & 5). Composer-in-Residence Jimmy López, embarking on a two-year residency with both SDS and Payare’s Orchestre symphonique de Montréal (Montreal Symphony Orchestra/OSM), is represented by two works with the SDS this season: his piano concerto Ephemerae, written for and featuring Spanish pianist Javier Perianes (Oct 11 & 12); and his Perú Negro, on a program with Mendelssohn’s “Scottish” Symphony and Berg’s Violin Concerto with soloist Jeff Thayer (May 15 & 16). Other highlights of Payare’s SDS season include Bruckner’s Fourth “Romantic” Symphony along with the SDS debut of Matthias Goerne singing orchestral songs by Mahler (Nov 7 & 8); violinist Augustin Hadelich performing the Sibelius Violin Concerto (Nov 14 & 15); a pairing of Beethoven’s First Symphony with Shostakovich’s Eighth (Jan 24 & 25); Mahler’s Seventh Symphony (Jan 31 & Feb 1); Strauss’s tone poem Ein Heldenleben paired with Gabriela Ortiz’s new cello concerto, Dzonot, written for and featuring Alisa Weilerstein (May 9 & 10); and Strauss’s Also sprach Zarathustra on a program with Bartók‘s Bluebeard’s Castle, sung by mezzo-soprano Karen Cargill and baritone Christopher Purves (May 22 & 24). Payare also leads the SDS next spring in a two-week Brahms Festival, highlighted by A German Requiem (Feb 27 & March 1); all four of the composer’s Symphonies (Feb 28; March 6 & 7); and the Violin Concerto featuring Leonidas Kavakos, likewise making his SDS debut (March 6 & 7).

Martha Gilmer, President and CEO of the San Diego Symphony, comments:

“Now that we have been able to experience the wonderful acoustic of our renovated Jacobs Music Center, it was a great joy to imagine our second season in this marvelous hall. In what was the Fox Movie Theatre, a place famous for its storytelling, Rafael Payare has created a season which is based in telling fabulous stories. We also return to presenting a festival within the season. This season, the festival will focus on the music of Johannes Brahms, including his symphonies, Violin Concerto, and the inspirational German Requiem. It is a season designed to bring joy and to inspire the human spirit.”

Payare adds:

“Our stunning indoor home began life as a glittering movie palace, a theater where stories came to life on the silver screen. In our 2025-26 season we are pleased to continue this tradition by showcasing the power of music to bring stories to life, through incredible orchestral works that use an array of colors.”

Season highlights

As he embarks on his seventh season as SDS Music Director, Payare opens with a flourish, celebrating France and French music with a starry roster of vocal soloists including mezzo-sopranos Isabel Leonard and Lindsay Ammann and soprano Liv Redpath, in her SDS debut. Also featured during the first week of performances in the renovated venue are the San Diego Children’s Choir and the San Diego Symphony Chorus, which made its debut last fall, aided by the new choral terrace in Jacobs Music Hall. On the program are two works by Debussy: The Joyful Isle and The Box of Toys, his charming ballet score for children, juxtaposed with a semi-staging of Ravel’s comic fantasy The Child and the Magical Spells (L’enfant et les sortilèges) (Oct 3 & 5).

A week later, Payare conducts Emmanuel Chabrier’s rhapsody for orchestra, España, along with Composer-in-Residence Jimmy López’s Ephemerae piano concerto, written for and featuring Spanish pianist Javier Perianes, which marks the start of López’s two-year residency. Schumann’s Symphony No. 2 closes the program (Oct 11 & 12). López’s music will be heard again in the spring, when his Perú Negro is presented on a program with Mendelssohn’s “Scottish” Symphony and Berg’s Violin Concerto with SDS Concertmaster Jeff Thayer as soloist (May 15 & 16). The SDS has also co-commissioned, along with OSM, López’s Sixth Symphony, which is inspired by the migratory patterns of Monarch butterflies and will premiere in 2026–27.

Other highlights of Payare’s SDS concerts include Bruckner’s Fourth “Romantic” Symphony paired with selections from Mahler’s The Boy’s Magical Horn (Des Knaben Wunderhorn) sung by baritone Matthias Goerne in his SDS debut, both works prominently featuring Payare’s first instrument, the French horn (Nov 7 & 8); violinist Augustin Hadelich performing the Sibelius Violin Concerto along with Mendelssohn’s The Hebrides and Schubert’s Ninth Symphony (Nov 14 & 15); and a pairing of Beethoven’s First Symphony with Shostakovich’s Eighth (Jan 24 & 25). Mahler’s Seventh Symphony (Jan 31 & Feb 1) and Strauss’s A Hero’s Life (Ein Heldenleben) continue Payare’s focus on both composers in recent seasons, the latter being paired with Gabriela Ortiz’s new cello concerto, Dzonot, written for and featuring Alisa Weilerstein (May 9 & 10). The season closes with another of Strauss’s tone poems, Also sprach Zarathustra, inspired by Nietzsche; along with Béla Bartók‘s one-act opera Bluebeard’s Castle, featuring mezzo-soprano Karen Cargill and baritone Christopher Purves (May 22 & 24).

Under the baton of Robert Spano, the SDS performs a California-themed program celebrating 175 years of statehood through works by three composers, all of whom came from elsewhere to live in California. A fanfare of an overture, Adam Schoenberg’s Cool Cat honors P-22, the world-famous mountain lion who lived for a decade in the hills above Los Angeles. John Adams’s piano concerto Century Rolls recalls the great age of American player-piano recordings, and Rachmaninoff’s Third Symphony draws inspiration from the Hollywood sound (April 10 & 11).

Next follows an all-Beethoven program conducted by Trevor Pinnock, a pioneer in the modern revival of early music performance. Bookended by the composer’s Coriolan Overture and uplifting Seventh Symphony, this features his Fifth Piano Concerto, the “Emperor,” with 18-year-old pianist Alexandra Dovgan as soloist (April 24 & 25).

Brahms Festival

In spring of 2026, Payare leads the San Diego Symphony in a two-week Brahms Festival, comprising four programs of iconic works. Payare’s way with Brahms was recently praised by San Francisco Classical Voice as “electrifying,” reminiscent of “the young Michael Tilson Thomas back in the day, when MTT was all motion and footwork.” The festival will feature Brahms’s A German Requiem with soloists Julie Boulianne – in her SDS debut – and Michael Sumuel and the San Diego Symphony Chorus (Feb 27 & March 1); Symphonies Nos. 1 and 2 (Feb 28); and Symphonies Nos. 4 and 3 in consecutive performances, each paired with the Violin Concerto featuring Leonidas Kavakos, whose 2017 recording of the Brahms Piano Trios with Yo-Yo Ma and Emanuel Ax was lauded by The Guardian as “faultless, larger-than-life music making” (March 6 & 7).

San Diego Symphony 2025–26

All concerts take place at the Jacobs Music Center in San Diego, California, and are conducted by Rafael Payare unless otherwise noted.

Oct 3 & 5
Isabel Leonard, mezzo-soprano
Liv Redpath, soprano (SDS debut)
Lindsay Ammann, mezzo-soprano
Meridian Prall, mezzo-soprano
Tasha Hokuao Koontz, soprano
Angel Raii Gomez, tenor
Elliot Madore, baritone
Christian Simmons, bass-baritone
San Diego Symphony Chorus (Maurice Boyer, Chorus Master)
San Diego Children’s Choir (Ruthie Millgard, Artistic Director)
Directed by Gerard McBurney
DEBUSSY: The Joyful Isle (L’isle joyeuse)
DEBUSSY (orch. Caplet): The Box of Toys (La boîte à joujoux)
RAVEL: The Child and the Magical Spells (L’enfant et les sortilèges)

Oct 11 & 12
Javier Perianes, piano
CHABRIER: España, Rhapsody for Orchestra
Jimmy LÓPEZ: Ephemerae, Concerto for Piano and Orchestra
SCHUMANN: Symphony No. 2, Op. 61, in C

Nov 7 & 8
Matthias Goerne, baritone (SDS debut)
MAHLER: Selections from The Boy’s Magical Horn (Des Knaben Wunderhorn)
BRUCKNER: Symphony No. 4, “Romantic” in E-flat

Nov 14 & 15
Augustin Hadelich, violin
MENDELSSOHN: The Hebrides (Fingal’s Cave), Op. 26
SIBELIUS: Violin Concerto in D minor, Op. 47
SCHUBERT: Symphony No. 9 in C, D 944, “The Great”

Jan 24 & 25
BEETHOVEN: Symphony No. 1 in C, Op. 21
SHOSTAKOVICH: Symphony No. 8 in C minor, Op. 65

Jan 31 & Feb 1
MAHLER: Symphony No. 7

Feb 27–March 7: SDS Brahms Festival

   Feb 27 & March 1
Julie Boulianne, soprano
Michael Sumuel, bass-baritone
San Diego Symphony Chorus
BRAHMS: A German Requiem (Ein deutsches Requiem), Op. 45

   Feb 28
BRAHMS: Symphony No. 1
BRAHMS: Symphony No. 2

   March 6
Leonidas Kavakos, violin (SDS debut)
BRAHMS: Violin Concerto in D, Op. 77
BRAHMS: Symphony No. 4

   March 7
Leonidas Kavakos, violin
BRAHMS: Symphony No. 3
BRAHMS Violin Concerto in D, Op. 77

April 10 & 11
Robert Spano, conductor
Conrad Tao, piano
Adam SCHOENBERG: Cool Cat
John ADAMS: Century Rolls
RACHMANINOFF: Symphony No. 3

April 24 & 25
Trevor Pinnock, conductor
Alexandra Dovgan, piano
BEETHOVEN: Coriolan Overture
BEETHOVEN: Piano Concerto No. 5, “Emperor”
BEETHOVEN: Symphony No. 7

May 9 & 10
Alisa Weilerstein, cello
Gabriela ORTIZ: Dzonot
R. STRAUSS: A Hero’s Life (Ein Heldenleben), Op. 40

May 15 & 16
Jeff Thayer, violin
Jimmy LÓPEZ: Perú Negro
BERG: Violin Concerto
MENDELSSOHN: Symphony No. 3, “Scottish” in A minor, Op. 56, MWV N 18

May 22 & 24
Karen Cargill, mezzo-soprano
Christopher Purves, baritone
R. STRAUSS: Also sprach Zarathustra, Op. 30
BARTÓK: Bluebeard’s Castle