Judy Falkrod worked as an usher at Davis Symphony Hall for 43 years and has worn a tuxedo to numerous black tie events. Her first job was at the hall’s opening on September 16, 1980. She still remembers her ankle-length skirt, which was part of her usher’s uniform at the time.
“The skirt had kick pleats,” recalls Faulkrodt, now Davis’ interim house manager. “They were unreal, running up and down stairs all night. We were like the Rockets. Thankfully, they didn’t last long.”
The skirt didn’t last long, but the fork rod did. She has worked with the company’s four musical directors, ranging from Mahler’s 10th Symphony conducted by Michael Tilson Thomas (a personal favorite) to concerts with Broadway divas such as Patti LuPone and Patti LuPone. He has been involved in performances by the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra. Bernadette Peters. But this year’s Symphony Gala, conducted by music director Esa-Pekka Salonen, was the first time Folkrodt remembers artificial intelligence being part of the program.
“Bolero” (1928) will be performed by the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra and conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen at the Opening Night Gala Concert on Friday, September 22nd at Davis Symphony Hall in San Francisco. Ru.
Santiago Mejia/The Chronicle“You can’t fight the new. Esa-Pekka has really reached out to a wide range of artists,” Folkrodt said of his latest innovation. “There were some very contemporary shows in the summer that viewers said, ‘Oh, really?'” and came out excited.
There were new thrills all night long at the 112th Season Opening Gala on Friday, September 22nd. Guests mingled with robots placed in the lobby during his cocktail reception and illuminated dancers from his iLuminate in Las Vegas, followed by a 90-minute performance that blended tradition and technology.
Paying homage to tradition, the program included Strauss’ Don Juan Opus 20, Mahler’s L’Ode to the Traveler, and Ravel’s Boléro. But the large screen behind the orchestra still incorporated 21st century technology, projecting a series of computer-generated images by Tony and Olivier Award-winning design His Studio 59 Productions.
Performers at the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra’s Opening Night Gala held at Davis Symphony Hall in San Francisco on Friday, September 22nd.
Santiago Mejia/The ChronicleBut perhaps the most zeitgeist moment of the night came during Oakland hip-hop artist Anders Hillborg’s 2000 composition “Rap Notes.” kev choice and Anthony “Two-Touch” Veneziale of San Francisco, “”freestyle love supreme” went up against an AI program that generated a unique rap from three words: hope, peace, and love.
“I like being talked about,” Salonen said at the gala dinner after the performance. “We’re in San Francisco, a hotbed of invention and imagination. A program like this ties in very organically with what’s happening in the Bay Area.
“Symphony has been around for over 100 years, and many of the inventions that shape our daily lives have been made here. We’re trying to combine them.”
From left: soprano Hilla Plitman, conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen, hip-hop artist Keb Choice, and freestyle artist Anthony “Two Touch” Veneziale perform at the Davis Symphony Orchestra’s opening night performance. Hall performing “Rap Notes” (2000) with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra in concert.
Santiago Mejia/The ChronicleThis technology was much discussed as an addition to the program, but it was noted that the AI program moved at about half the speed of Choice and Veneziale, so it could not compete with the quick freestyles of human artists. Must be.
“Part of my goal was to show human intelligence, flow and resourcefulness, especially in hip-hop,” Choice said. “There are things that we do as humans that are difficult for AI to keep up with, like the energy and spirit of our lyrics.”
One of the moments during Choice and Veneziale’s rap that drew cheers from all corners of the informed audience was when the duo lyrically nods to the symphony orchestra’s musicians’ ongoing union contract negotiations. It was when Sag Atlas Union member. (During the performance, some audience members shouted, “Give me a paycheck!”)
For many, the combination of technology, classical music, and hip-hop was the best choice. Leah Ingram and Ariel Guzman traveled from Santa Cruz and said it was worth the drive.
“They brought the crowd to its feet,” Ingram said of Choice and Veneziale. “It was really unexpected in a symphony orchestra.”
San Francisco Fire Chief Janine Nicholson, who attended the performance with friends Lily Reidy and DK Haas, called the program “medicine for the nervous system.”
Dinner tent designed by Blue Print Studio at the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra Gala next to Davis Symphony Hall.
Santiago Mejia/The ChronicleThe gala tent design by Blue Print Studio explores a futuristic aesthetic with plenty of Dan Flavin-inspired neon tubes, clear plastic furniture, and McCall’s waitstaff wearing psyllium accessories. So technology wasn’t just used for performance programs. The effect was somewhere between “Tron” and elegant rave.
The comparison was not lost on gala co-chairs Amy Cristodoulo and Julie Reagle. They handed out plastic “candy” beaded labor bracelets that spelled out “I Love SF S” (perhaps it was a nod to SF S). Friendship bracelet Swifties has been traded (Taylor Swift’s Elas Tour in progress). Completing this beauty was a special post-dinner performance by iLuminate dancers. No Ecstasy or Molly was offered, but Martha Stewart CBD gummies were handed out as you entered the tent.
As the night drew to a close, Folkrod reflected on the breadth of the symphony’s program.
“The important thing is to make this a place where everyone is welcome. It’s not going to be the same audience forever,” she said.
But even with all the technology and special effects, it ultimately comes down to one thing for Folkrod. “If it’s great music, you can enjoy it.”
Contact Tony Bravo: [email protected]