FROM THE CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

October 2026 

Dear Friends,

Every season of concerts our orchestra plays is thoughtfully and carefully put together, with many contrasting voices participating in the discussion and different objectives in mind. Led by our Music and Artistic Director Rafael Payare, we plan in conversation with one another, exchanging ideas, listening to the (often strong!) opinions of our wonderful musicians, and responding to the kaleidoscope of suggestions that come from you—our audience—as well as from our friends, donors, and colleagues throughout our organization. Different ideas often arrive as exciting challenges, spurring us to find exactly the right opening piece, for example, or spin a whole series of thoughts into what eventually becomes a beautiful season—a story with a beginning, a middle and an end.   

I have experienced this process for decades and it is one of the most rewarding explorative processes you can imagine. Through it, we learn from one another: from our reactions to what has been played, from our dreams of what should be played, and from the challenge of constructing a season that is not only a beautiful experience in itself but leads the orchestra and audience to new worlds of listening and excitement. 

Looking at the scope of this new season, I see so many paths. For instance, we will explore all sorts of ideas around the question of What is a symphony? —from the 18th-century Vienna of Mozart’s Jupiter Symphony to the modern America of Copland’s Third Symphony. We also continue our deep dive into the great symphonies of Shostakovich, each one different from all the others, and each deeply personal and tinged with history. And we take a further step in our exploration of the gorgeously romantic symphonies of Anton Bruckner, in which he hear not only his orchestral mastery but the colors and swelling melodies that he loved to play himself as one of the greatest church organists of his age. 

We end the season with one of the most revolutionary and best-loved symphonies of all time: Beethoven’s Ninth, with its legendary finale for orchestra, chorus and soloists, setting the great poet Schiller’s Ode to Joy, with its call for collective action, freedom, and spiritual hope. 

We will hear wonderful soloists performing concertos with the orchestra, including three of our very own San Diego Symphony Orchestra musicians: Concertmaster Jeff Thayer in Bartók Violin Concert No. 1, English horn player Andrea Overturf in Ned Rorem’s concerto, and Principal Harpist Julie Phillips, who is celebrating her 20th anniversary with the SDSO, performing Nino Rota’s delicious and evocative harp concerto. You may know Nino Rota as one of the most famous film composers of the 20th century, but he was also a master of concert music. 

In October we welcome the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal. Their visit is part of our expanding commitment to colleagues across Northa America, north and south, building on our relationships in Mexico and creating new opportunities for collaboration with Canada. That commitment also includes Rafael Payare and the SDSO growing our presence in Tijuana, Tecate and Mexicali. As part of the same desire to take the name of this city and its wonderful orchestra across the globe, we will also embark on our first European tour, taking the orchestra to audiences in Spain, France, Germany and Ireland. This will be a historic and extraordinary moment in our already rich history. 

There is always more to discuss, and I am always enriched by the conversations we have together. I love personal contact, and I am uplifted when I see our audiences come together with friends, or meet new people, in our wonderful halls and right across the community. We spend so much time planning, discussing and imagining these concerts. The whole point is that we experience the wonder of music all together!   

To me, that is as important as the music that we hear!   

So let us all look forward to the coming season and to the thrill of experiencing it together. 

Martha A. Gilmer
President and Chief Executive Officer