{"id":60735,"date":"2025-11-19T19:40:06","date_gmt":"2025-11-19T19:40:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/60735\/"},"modified":"2025-11-19T19:40:06","modified_gmt":"2025-11-19T19:40:06","slug":"san-diego-symphony-extends-music-director-rafael-payares-contract-through-2029-san-diego-union-tribune","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/60735\/","title":{"rendered":"San Diego Symphony extends Music Director Rafael Payare\u2019s contract through 2029 \u2013 San Diego Union-Tribune"},"content":{"rendered":"

The San Diego Symphony is extending the tenure of Music Director Rafael Payare through its 2028-29 season and changing his title to Music and Artistic Director.<\/p>\n

San Diego Symphony unveils 2025-26 season featuring \u2018a series of musical menus\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n

The Venezuelan-born conductor \u2014 who became a naturalized US. citizen last year on the stage of the symphony\u2019s Jacobs Music Center concert hall \u2014 began his tenure here with the orchestra in late 2019.<\/p>\n

His arrival was followed by the 2021 opening of the symphony\u2019s $85 million outdoor concert venue, The Rady Shell at Jacobs Park, and the $163 million rebuilding of the Jacobs Music Center, which reopened last fall after four years of redesign work and construction.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are delighted that Rafael has extended his time with us,\u201d Symphony President and CEO Martha Gilmer said in a statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cRafael\u2019s vision for the orchestra and his inspiring musicianship have transformed our orchestra, deepening both the artistic excellence our musicians regularly bring to the stage as well as our bond with the San Diego community.\u201d<\/p>\n

Payare expressed similar enthusiasm, saying: \u201cThe artistic partnership I share with my wonderful San Diego Symphony continues to thrive, and I\u2019m proud to be part of shaping the orchestra\u2019s evolving sound. The extraordinary venues here in San Diego inspire us and allow us to explore and present music in new ways. Together, we\u2019ll continue to deepen the orchestra\u2019s artistry, achieve new heights, and keep expanding the repertoire. I am so very happy to share this remarkable journey with our audiences.\u201d<\/p>\n

Payare had previously signed a four-year contract extension to remain with the orchestra through this year, followed by another extension for one year. In 2021, he became the new music director for the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, where he succeeded Kent Nagano. He has since divided his time between San Diego and Montreal, as well as doing guest conducting performances across Europe.<\/p>\n

His new contract with the San Diego Symphony will extend Payare\u2019s tenure to the conclusion of the 2028-29 season, marking a full decade since he came on board here. He began directing the orchestra just a few months before the COVID-19 pandemic-fueled shutdown of live events in San Diego and around the world.<\/p>\n

San Diego Symphony extends music director Rafael Payare\u2019s contract until 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

During Payare\u2019s time here, the symphony has added 26 new members to its ranks and performed at New York\u2019s Carnegie Hall for only the second time in the orchestra\u2019s 115-year history. In 2022, the symphony released its first album in five years, a recording of Shostakovich\u2019s Symphony No. 11 titled \u201cThe Year 1905.\u201d It was culled from two February 2020 concerts, both conducted by Payare, that marked the final two performances at Jacobs Music Center before the pandemic shuttered the venue.<\/p>\n

\u201cExpanding our reach in our region, nationally and internationally, and developing a deeper connection with audiences is our top priority,\u201d Gilmer said. \u201cAs Rafael has always said, \u2018The sky\u2019s the limit\u2019 and we continue to set our sights high. We look forward to this next chapter of extraordinary collaboration and creativity.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The San Diego Symphony is extending the tenure of Music Director Rafael Payare through its 2028-29 season and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":60736,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[4388,36784,74,76,75,25937],"class_list":{"0":"post-60735","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-diego","8":"tag-contract-extension","9":"tag-rafael-payare","10":"tag-san-diego","11":"tag-san-diego-headlines","12":"tag-san-diego-news","13":"tag-san-diego-symphony"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60735","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=60735"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60735\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/60736"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=60735"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=60735"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=60735"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}