July 23
San Francisco Symphony
with Special Guest Lettuce
SF SYMPHONY
with LETTUCE
SUNDAY JULY 23 @ 2PM
STERN GROVE FESTIVAL
DOORS AT 12PM
WHAT TO KNOW & WHERE TO GO
*This show will not be broadcasted or live streamed.
RESERVATION INFORMATION
Reservations open on June 23 @ 2pm
If you can’t get tickets when reservations open, keep checking back on Eventbrite as we will continue releasing tickets up until the show day.
Reservations are required but don't guarantee entry. Entry is on a first-come, first-served basis
Four Reservation Limit per person
Senior and ADA seating is available on a first come first served basis once on site and is available for 1 senior and 1 guest
Children 2 yrs + require a reservation
Doors open at 12 noon
Concert starts at 2pm
Enter through designated entrances only:
#1. 19th & Sloat
#2. Vale Ave.
#3. 23rd & WawonaYou may bring your own food and beverages
San Francisco Symphony
Program
Edwin Outwater Conducting SF Symphony
Classic “Golden Age” Film Scores
Intermission
Chris Dragon conducting SF Symphony with Special Guest Lettuce
CONDUCTOR: CHRIS DRAGON
CHRISTOPHER DRAGON has a versatile portfolio, ranging from live-to-picture performances of The Nightmare Before Christmas, Jurassic Park, and Mary Poppins, to conducting Danny Elfman’s Violin Concerto and leading the Colorado Symphony’s Classical Top 40 series. Mr. Dragon has worked with Ben Folds, Gregory Alan Isakov, Indigo Girls, Wynton Marsalis, Pink Martini, and the Flaming Lips. His 2015 debut performance at the Sydney Opera House with Josh Pyke and the Sydney Symphony was released on album by ABC Music and won an ARIA award the following year. He has also conducted the Melbourne, Adelaide, New Zealand, and San Diego symphonies, and led the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra alongside Wynton Marsalis at the Perth International Arts Festival. He makes his San Francisco Symphony debut at these performances.
Mr. Dragon began his conducting studies in 2011 and was a member of Australia’s Symphony Services International Conductor Development Program under the guidance of Christopher Seaman. He has also studied with Leonid Grin, Paavo Järvi, and Fabio Luisi.
CONDUCTOR: Edwin Outwater
Edwin Outwater regularly works with the world’s top orchestras, institutions, and artists to reinvent the concert experience. His ability to cross genres has led to collaborations with Metallica, Wynton Marsalis, Renée Fleming, and Yo-Yo Ma. He is music director of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and music director laureate of the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony.
Last season Mr. Outwater made his BBC Proms debut at the Royal Albert Hall. Other international appearances include engagements with the Tokyo Metropolitan Orchestra, Kyoto Symphony, Nagoya Philharmonic, Brussels Philharmonic, New Zealand Symphony, Adelaide Symphony, Malmö Symphony, Mexico City Philharmonic, Orquesta Sinfónica de Xalapa, and Hong Kong Sinfonietta. In Canada he led the National Arts Centre Orchestra and the symphonies of Toronto, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, and Victoria.
Since 2021 Mr. Outwater has been the main conductor for Stewart Copeland’s Police Deranged for Orchestra concerts. In October 2022 he premiered his newest production, Symphony of Terror, with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra and co-host and collaborator Peaches Christ. This December he will present the London premiere of A Christmas Gaiety at the Royal Albert Hall with Peaches Christ and BBC Concert Orchestra.
Mr. Outwater holds a long association with San Francisco Symphony since making his debut in November 2001. The 2021–22 season saw performances in the SoundBox Series, concert appearances with Boyz II Men, and the world premiere of the Judy Garland Centennial concert Get Happy! He was formerly San Francisco Symphony Resident Conductor, Director of Summer Concerts, and Music Director of the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra.
A native of Santa Monica, Mr. Outwater graduated cum laude in English literature from Harvard, where he was music director of the Bach Society Orchestra and the a cappella group Harvard Din and Tonics. He received his degree in conducting from the University of California, Santa Barbara, where he studied with Heiichiro Ohyama and Paul Polivnick; he also studied music theory and composition with John Stewart, Joel Feigin, and Leonard Stein.
Lettuce
Here it is, right on time. Unify. The eighth studio album from Lettuce, it’s also a third consecutive record made at Denver’s Colorado Sound Studios, completing a loose trilogy starting with 2019’s Grammy-nominated Elevate, and continuing with 2020’s Resonate. “Dealing with the pandemic, being in separate places, trying to survive without our best friends, without touring, not to mention the political divide in this country,” says Lettuce drummer Adam Deitch. “We really needed to unify.”
Reunited with Colorado Sound’s esteemed engineer, Jesse O’Brien, Unify is a totally collaborative effort full of the highest of highlights, including its centerpiece track “Keep That Funk Alive,” inspired by the venerable Parliament-Funkadelic bassist, Bootsy Collins, and featuring Collins on bass and vocals. It’s, as well, a benchmark moment for the sextet- Adam Deitch (drums), Ryan Zoidis (saxophone), Adam Smirnoff (guitar), Erick Coomes (bass), Nigel Hall (keyboards/vocals), Eric ‘Benny’ Bloom (trumpet)- approaching thirty years since its humble Boston beginnings.
“We’re just getting tighter and tighter,” says Coomes. “Really, these are the first records made with the six of us as a team, and it’s the best the band has ever been: live and in the studio; the funkiest and the most fun.”
16 songs. Pure Lettuce. Unify will teleport you to a funky galaxy far, far away, where all life coexists as one in peace, love, harmony, and music!
CONCERT SPONSORED BY
SEASON SPONSORS
Tables for this concert are currently sold out.
If you’d like to be placed on the VIP Picnic Table waitlist please email rsvp@sterngrove.org.
*Waitlist is for VIP Table purchase only, NOT for General Admission.
The VIP Stageside Lounge for up to 40 people is still available for purchase.
Call Ilana Vasconcelos (415) 625-6004 for more details or click through here
WHAT TO KNOW & WHERE TO GO
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