Perry So returns to the San Francisco Symphony on February 11 and 12 to conduct an original program in which all the works will be performed by the orchestra for the first time. This program of San Francisco Symphony premieres opens with with Bounce!!, by Texuu Kim. Pipa virtuoso Wu Man will then join the orchestra for the Concerto for Pipa with String Orchestra by Lou Harrison, which will be followed by Nim,by Younghi Pagh-Paan, and The Age of Birds, by Takashi Yoshimatsu. The program closes with Zhou Long’s lively The Rhyme of Taigu, celebrating the energy and spirit of Japanese Taiko drumming. This concert is a recovery of the one scheduled for February 12 and 13, 2021, which was canceled due to the pandemic that has overcome us for the past two years.
Perry So’s debut with the San Francisco Symphony also took place in the month of February 2020 (February is definitely Perry’s month in San Francisco). On that occasion, the event celebrated the Year of the Mouse with a Chinese New Year Concert in commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the Symphony’s signature heritage event, which bridges East and West traditions with the universal language of music. The annual event is an elegant and colorful celebration of the Lunar New Year, drawing upon vibrant Asian traditions, past and present. Conductor Perry So made his San Francisco Symphony debut leading the orchestra in a program with traditional folk music and works by Asian composers, including the U.S. premiere of Huang Ruo’s Folk Songs for Orchestra and Bright Sheng’s Red Silk Dance.
Perry So will soon return to Spain to conduct the Symphony Orchestra of the Principality of Asturias with pianist Nikolai Luganski, in a program that includes Medtner’s Piano Concerto No. 3 in E minor “Ballade”, Op. 60, and Schumann’s Symphony No. 2 in C major, Op. 61.