Gaffigan Conducts Beethoven 9

Beethoven wanted his Ninth Symphony--led here by James Gaffigan--to enact a journey of transformation, exploring themes of struggle and salvation, community and compassion. Although he wasn't religious in the conventional sense, he found spiritual sustenance in his art. Even in our hyperpolarized times, Beethoven's Ninth feels like a unifying force across the globe, a cultural common good. For its creator, who drafted, revised, and perfected his final symphony over more than 30 years, its meaning was urgent, immediate, vital: In those decades he saw the humanist ideals of the French Revolution trampled by repressive regimes.

Artists

James Gaffigan
Conductor

Jessica Faselt
Soprano

Kelley O'Connor
Mezzo-soprano

Thomas Cooley
Tenor

Peixin Chen
Bass

San Francisco Symphony Chorus

San Francisco Symphony

Jenny Wong
Director, San Francisco Symphony Chorus

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Rehearsal Tickets: https://www.sfsymphony.org/Buy-Tickets/2025-26/OR-GAFFIGAN-CONDUCTS-BEETHOVEN-9
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Program

Ludwig van Beethoven
Symphony No. 9