San Francisco Symphony music director Esa-Pekka Salonen.
Chris Pizzello/Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP
The San Francisco Symphony announced Thursday the resignation of its music director, Esa-Pekka Salonen.
The famed Finnish conductor and composer said he plans to leave when his contract expires at the end of the 2024-25 season.
“I have decided not to continue as music director of the San Francisco Symphony, because I do not share the same goals for the future of the institution as the Board of Governors does,” Salonen said in a statement shared by his publicist with NPR. “I am sincerely looking forward to the many exciting programs we have planned for my final season as music director, and am proud to continue working with the world-class musicians of the San Francisco Symphony.”
San Francisco Symphony board chair Priscilla Geeslin called Salonen’s decision “bittersweet” in a press release. “This has been an exciting era for the symphony and we’re so grateful for Esa-Pekka’s thoughtful leadership and collaborative approach,” Geeslin said.
The San Francisco Symphony hired Salonen in 2018, and he began his tenure with the orchestra in the 2020-21 season. Building on the work of his longtime predecessor Michael Tilson Thomas, Salonen solidified the group’s reputation as a major force in American classical music during his short directorship.
He brought on a diverse group of artistic advisors including Nico Muhly, Claire Chase and Esperanza Spalding, and mixed classics with innovative programming often fused with technology.
But like many arts organizations, the orchestra has been struggling financially in recent years. It lost millions of projected dollars in income during the Covid pandemic, and had…
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