Beethoven’s 5th Symphony Live w/ SF Symphony & Seong-Jin Cho (Jan. 22-24)

SF Symphony

Finnish conductor John Storgårds makes his San Francisco Symphony debut with an exhilarating program centered on Beethoven’s monumental Fifth Symphony.

Beethoven’s subject wasn’t the individual but the human condition, the fate we heroically create for ourselves, one choice at a time. Has any transition from C minor to C major ever felt more blissful, more fully earned? Less familiar but equally powerful is Finnish composer Outi Tarkiainen’s visceral and life-affirming The Rapids of Life, heard in its US premiere. Pianist Seong-Jin Cho and SF Symphony Principal Trumpet Mark Inouye perform Shostakovich’s sprightly and intelligent Piano Concerto No. 1, an underperformed gem that spans the silly and the sublime. Initially conceived as a trumpet concerto, the work still gives that instrument plenty of love: this is a double concerto in all but name.

Beethoven 5
Thursday-Saturday, January 22-24, 2026 | 7:30p
Davies Symphony Hall, 201 Van Ness Ave. SF
Get Tickets – Starts at $95 (while supplies last)

Concert Extras:

• A preconcert talk will be presented from the stage one hour before the concert. Free to all ticketholders.
• Lead support for this concert series is provided by the Phyllis C. Wattis Fund for New Works of Music.

Program:

• Outi Tarkiainen | The Rapids of Life – United States Premiere
• Dmitri Shostakovich | Piano Concerto No. 1
• Ludwig van Beethoven | Symphony No. 5

Artists:

• John Storgårds | Conductor
• Seong-Jin Cho | Piano
• Mark Inouye | Trumpet
• San Francisco Symphony