Here's where to watch Esa-Pekka Salonen conduct after S.F. Symphony departure
As the San Francisco Symphony's 2024-25 season comes to an end, so does outgoing Music Director Esa-Pekka Salonen's tenure.
The Finnish conductor and composer, who stepped into the role after Michael Tilson Thomas retired in 2020, announced his impending departure in March 2024. Since then, the institution has been embroiled in controversy — and nowhere near hiring a replacement.
What's more, after Salonen's last scheduled concert on June 14, during which he will conduct Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 2, 'Resurrection,' it doesn't seem Bay Area audiences will be able to catch him again at Davies Symphony Hall anytime soon. While a joint statement from Symphony CEO Matthew Spivey and Salnonen earlier this year noted 'Esa-Pekka's return to conduct the Orchestra in future seasons,' the Symphony's 2025-26 schedule notably does not have the conductor on the calendar.
In the meantime, that means fans must travel — either overseas or as close as Southern California.
Salonen is currently expected to spend much of his summer abroad, starting with five shows at Austria's Salzburg Festival — July 27, Aug. 2, 10, 15 and 18 — where he'll be performing alongside the Vienna Philharmonic.
He will then perform with the Orchestre de Paris during its European Tour in Lucerne, Switzerland, on Aug. 29-30, and in Berlin, Germany, on Sept. 1.
Just after San Francisco Symphony's 2025-26 season is set to begin Sept. 5, Salonen will make a Sept. 7 appearance at the Baltic Sea Festival in Stockholm, Sweden, alongside the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra before returning to the U.S.
He is scheduled to spend October on the East Coast, first with the New York Philharmonic in New York City Oct. 3-5, and 9-11, and then with the Philadelphia Orchestra in its hometown on Oct. 16-18.
After closing out the year with engagements in Paris and Stockholm, Salonen will head back to California in 2026 for performances with the Los Angeles Philharmonic on Jan. 9-11 and Jan. 17-18.
He'll then join the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in Illinois on Jan. 29-Feb. 1 and Feb. 5-7 before retreating to Europe once again.
Appearances with the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra and Orchestre de Paris occupy most of spring 2026, before his last scheduled shows on his website show him appearing with the Danish National Symphony Orchestra in Copenhagen on May 14-15.
Salonen's website will be updated with additional dates as more productions are announced.
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