Gemma New makes San Francisco Symphony subscription debut

For Immediate Release

SAN FRANCISCO (May 6, 2024) –  New Zealand-born conductor Gemma New will make her San Francisco Symphony subscription debut, stepping in for Marta Gardolińska in the symphony’s upcoming May 10 and 12, 2024 performances at Davies Symphony Hall and May 11, 2024 performance at UC Davis’ Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts. The program, which remains the same, includes Grażyna Bacewicz’s Overture; Edward Elgar’s Cello Concerto, with Pablo Ferrández; and Felix Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 3 “Scottish.” Gardolińska has regretfully had to withdraw from the program due to a family illness.

Gemma New previously conducted the San Francisco Symphony in two programs during the 2019 summer season at Stanford Live’s Frost Amphitheater.

The 2023/24 season marked New’s ninth and final season as Music Director of the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra, and her second season as Artistic Advisor and Principal Conductor of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra. In addition to the upcoming San Francisco Symphony debut, New has made subscription debuts this season with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Vancouver Symphony and Orchestre National de France.

New’s summer 2024 performances include leading the world premiere of Huang Ruo’s immersive City of Floating Sounds with the BBC Philharmonic and Factory International in Manchester from June 6 to 8 and a return to The BBC Proms to lead the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra with clarinetist Anthony McGill in Mozart and Mendelssohn’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream on August 16, 2024 at Royal Albert Hall.

Performance Details
San Francisco Symphony Orchestral Series – Mendelssohn’s Scottish Symphony
Friday, May 10, 2024, at 7:30pm (Davies Symphony Hall)
Saturday, May 11, 2024, at 7:30pm (UC Davis Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts)
Sunday, May 12, 2024, at 2:00pm (Davies Symphony Hall)

Program:
Grażyna Bacewicz – Overture
Edward Elgar – Cello Concerto
Felix Mendelssohn – Symphony No. 3 “Scottish”

Gemma New, conductor [Orchestral Series Debut]
Pablo Ferrández, cello [Orchestral Series Debut]
San Francisco Symphony

Broadcast / Archived Stream:  A broadcast of these performances will air Sunday, July 21, at 7pm on Classical KDFC 90.3 San Francisco, 104.9 San Jose, 89.9 Napa, and kdfc.com where it will be available for on-demand streaming for 21 days following the broadcast. 