![\"French](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/sut-l-music-morlot-01.jpg\")
French conductor Ludovic Morlot, who makes his home in Los Angeles, will conduct the San Diego Symphony on Oct. 16 and 17. (Lisa Marie Mazzucco)<\/p>\nThe San Diego Symphony will begin the 2026-27 season at its Jacobs Music Center downtown with a compelling set of October concerts. Highlighting legendary masterpieces sprinkled with a few unfamiliar works, the new season also boasts 15 debut performers and 15 debut pieces.<\/p>\n
Conducting the Oct. 16 and 17 concerts will be French conductor Ludovic Morlot. The music director of the Barcelona Symphony Orchestra and a frequent guest conductor around the world, Morlot and his wife and two daughters have made Los Angeles their home for about eight years.<\/p>\n
Given his busy schedule, Morlot could be forgiven for not remembering when he last performed here with the San Diego Symphony. But when asked during a recent conversation, he did not miss a beat.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe week of January 25, 2024,\u201d Morlot responded immediately. \u201cI was guest conducting and we lost our home \u2014 like so many people \u2014 to the Palisades fire.\u201d<\/p>\n
French conductor Ludovic Morlot, who makes his home in Los Angeles, will conduct the San Diego Symphony on Oct. 16 and 17. (Lisa Marie Mazzucco)<\/p>\n
San Diego Symphony Music and Artistic director Rafael Payare wasn\u2019t in town at the time but heard about it from the symphony\u2019s CEO, Martha Gilmer.<\/p>\n
\u201cLudovic entered the rehearsal, and his family phoned and said that the fires were approaching,\u201d Payare said. \u201cBy the end of the rehearsal, their house was already gone.\u201d<\/p>\n
Suddenly homeless, Morlot\u2019s family joined him in San Diego during the rehearsals and concerts. They and the orchestra understood that he still wanted to conduct.<\/p>\n
\u201cMusic has always been the best companion in either great moments or more tragic,\u201d Morlot said, speaking from a tour stop in Denmark. \u201cI was grateful that I could continue making music. That was the best way to heal.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"San](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/sut-l-music-symphony-014.jpg\")
San Diego Symphony Music Director\/Artistic Director Rafael Payare, right, and President\/CEO Martha Gilmer at the San Diego Symphony on Jan. 20, 2026. (Nelvin C. Cepeda \/ The San Diego Union-Tribune)
\nShowcasing the symphony<\/p>\n
The first concert of the 2026-27 season will be on Saturday, with Russian composer Sofia Gubaidulina\u2019s Fairytale Poem. Yefim Bronfman will then play Mozart\u2019s Piano Concerto No. 24 and the concert will conclude with Strauss\u2019 A Hero\u2019s Life.<\/p>\n
\u201cHaving Yefim with us is always an absolute pleasure,\u201d Payare said. \u201cThe concerto is almost operatic. And having the Fairytale Poem and the tone poem from Strauss, it\u2019s like stories coming all together. This concert uses the orchestra\u2019s different sections and showcases our wonderful San Diego Symphony.\u201d<\/p>\n
This season will see important milestones for the orchestra. The September release of the Payare-led recording of Shostakovich\u2019s Symphony No. 7 and its upcoming 2027 tour of Europe are significant steps toward being a world-class symphony.<\/p>\n
\u201cRecording and touring are two ways that an orchestra can grow artistically beyond just building great performances each week,\u201d said Morlot. He was music director of the Seattle Symphony, which earned five Grammy Awards during his tenure from 2011 to 2019. He is currently the orchestra\u2019s Conductor Emeritus.<\/p>\n
\u201cRecording is so demanding in terms of the preparation,\u201d Morlot continued. \u201cAnd, for the players to play in different halls with different acoustics for different audiences \u2013 they can learn a lot. Touring\u2019s also a valuable exercise in getting to know each other better.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Sergey](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/SUT-L-MUSIC-SDSYMPHONY-0201-01_4b250c.jpg\")
Sergey Khachatryan will be the featured soloist on Khachaturian\u2019s Violin Concerto at the San Diego Symphony\u2019s Oct. 10 and 11 concerts. (Marco Borggreve)<\/p>\n
At the Oct. 11 and 12 San Diego Symphony\u2019s concerts, mid-century Soviet-Armenian composer Aram Khachaturian\u2019s violin concerto will be played by Sergey Khachatryan. When he played here with the orchestra two years ago, the Armenian violinist asked his friend Payare, if he could play the rhythmic, folk-dance inspired piece.<\/p>\n
The Oct. 11 and 12 concerts conclude with Bruckner\u2019s symphony No. 9, conducted by Payare.<\/p>\n
\u201cRafael adores Bruckner,\u201d symphony CEO Gilmer said. \u201cEach one of this season\u2019s programs is there for a reason. We\u2019re making sure that we\u2019re representing great symphonic music, and each year builds on the previous year.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gilmer is especially excited about the upcoming April performances led by her longtime friend, the esteemed conductor Sir Mark Elder.<\/p>\n
\u201cMark loves to talk to audiences about the music he and the orchestra are performing,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
![\"Jimmy](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/SUT-L-MUSIC-SDSYMPHONY-0201.jpg\")
Jimmy Lopez is the San Diego Symphony\u2019s Composer-in-Residence for its 2026-27 season. (Anda Chu\/Bay Area News Group)
\nWelcoming the trombone<\/p>\n
Morlot takes the baton from Payare on Oct. 16 and 17 for two concerts of French music, with one notable exception. The second piece, Shift, is by San Diego Symphony composer-in-residence, Jimmy Lopez. The soloist is Dutch trombonist J\u00f6rgen van Rijen.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m very happy about this program,\u201d said Morlot, who is a friend and frequent collaborator of cellist Alisa Weilerstein, who is Payare\u2019s wife. \u201cI haven\u2019t done any music by Jimmy Lopez and I like that it features the trombone. I welcome the chance to work with different instruments. How many weeks do we have violin, piano or cello?\u201d<\/p>\n
The rest of the works by Debussy, Poulenc and Ravel are appropriately French. Morlot and the Barcelona Symphony are about to finish recording all of Ravel\u2019s works.<\/p>\n
\u201cSan Diego wanted me to explore French repertoire and I love this music,\u201d the Lyon-born conductor said. \u201cI\u2019ve been swimming in the music of Ravel for so many months now that I wanted to do his Alborada del gracisoso and Rapsodie espagnole.\u201d<\/p>\n
The title of the October 16 and 17 concerts is \u201cSpain through French Glasses.\u201d Poulenc\u2019s suite from his ballet, \u201cThe Does (les biches),\u201d is also on the program.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe suite, which is five movements, is just stunning,\u201d Morlot said.<\/p>\n
![\"Andrea](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/sut-l-music-andrea-overturf.jpg\")
Andrea Overturf has been the Principal English Horn player for San Diego Symphony since 2009. She will be the featured soloist for a pair of concerts Jan. 16 and 17. (Todd Rosenberg)
\n\u2018Thrilled to be back\u2019<\/p>\n
The San Diego Symphony will be spotlighting three of its principal musicians this season. In January, Principal English horn Andrea Overturf will perform the concerto for her instrument by the late American composer Ned Rorem.<\/p>\n
The following month, harpist Julie Phillips marks her 20th anniversary with the orchestra. She will celebrate with a concerto by Nino Rota, who won an Oscar for the film score of \u201cGodfather II.\u201d<\/p>\n
Concertmaster Jeff Thayer, whose annual solo performance is in May, is also featured in this season\u2019s first concert.<\/p>\n
\u201cA Hero\u2019s Life has a huge violin solo,\u201d Payare said. \u201cIt\u2019s very prominent because Jeff takes on the role of Strauss\u2019 wife Pauline, and then of Strauss himself.\u201d<\/p>\n
In addition to Ravel, Morlot is recording with the Barcelona Symphony a library of works by past and present women composers. In keeping with the symphony\u2019s full name, National Orchestra of Catalonia, it is building a library of Catalan composers.<\/p>\n
Morlot has also worked with Portugal\u2019s Porto Symphony Casa da M\u00fasica and will become its Chief Conductor Designate early next year. Building a library of Porto\u2019s regional works is on the horizon.<\/p>\n
The French conductor doesn\u2019t believe in bad luck and has no hesitation in returning here.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been a bit of a rollercoaster since last year, trying to rebuild our lives,\u201d Morlot said. \u201cBut I\u2019m thrilled to be back in San Diego. Music is always saving the day.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Pianist](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/sut-l-classical-yefim-bronfman-01.jpg\")
Pianist Yefim Bronfman will perform Mozart\u2019s Piano Concerto No. 24 with the San Diego Symphony on Saturday, Oct. 3. (Dario Acosta)
\nSan Diego Symphony 2026-27 Jacobs Masterworks season\u00a0<\/p>\n