Press Room

Nov 28, 2022

SAN FRANCISCO, CA—The San Francisco Symphony’s 2022–23 Music for Families series, designed to bring children together with their parents to engage with classical music through interactive themed performances, kicks off Saturday, December 3, with a program titled “Audiobook! Music Inspired by Stories.” The program, conducted by Resident Conductor of Engagement and Education Daniel Bartholomew-Poyser, features music inspired by books, movies, and folktales. The program includes selections from Samuel Coleridge-Taylor's Hiawatha Suite; Aaron Copland’s Billy the Kid; Edward Elgar’s Nursery Suite; James Horner’s score to Apollo 13; Modest Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition; Florence Price’s Symphony No. 1; Sergei Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet; Luis Ramirez’s Mi Piñata; and John Williams’s score to Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.

The series continues Saturday, March 18 with “Discovering Beethoven’s Fifth,” a Music for Families program featuring the talented students of the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra led by Wattis Foundation Music Director Daniel Stewart. On Saturday, May 6, Daniel Bartholomew-Poyser conducts “MADSADGLAD,” a program featuring music that explores our wide range of emotions and expressing our many moods.  

In its second season, Bartholomew-Poyser leads Teen Night at the San Francisco Symphony on Saturday, February 11. Designed for teenagers 13 and up, Teen Night features interactive elements like games, trivia, and prizes alongside an eclectic program of music. The program’s theme is “Music with a Message,” demonstrating the many ways music can convey different types of messages, like political, social justice, romantic, or hidden messages.

About Daniel Bartholomew-Poyser
A passionate communicator, Daniel Bartholomew-Poyser brings clarity and meaning to the concert hall, fostering deep connections between audiences and performers. Bartholomew-Poyser is concurrently the Resident Conductor of Engagement and Education of the San Francisco Symphony, Barrett Principal Education Conductor and Community Ambassador of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Artist in Residence and Community Ambassador of Symphony Nova Scotia, and Principal Youth Conductor and Artistic Partner of Canada's National Arts Centre Orchestra. He served as Assistant Conductor of the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony and Associate Conductor of the Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra. Bartholomew-Poyser has performed with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Carnegie Hall Link-Up Orchestra, Canadian Opera Company, Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, Calgary Philharmonic, Chicago Philharmonic, was cover conductor with the Washington National Opera in 2020, and was Music Director of the Kennedy Center Summer Music Institute in 2022.

In the 2022–23 season Bartholomew-Poyser will debut with the Houston Symphony, the Windsor Symphony, and the London Sinfonia. Host of Canadian Broadcasting Company’s (CBC) nationally broadcast weekly radio show Centre Stage, he also serves on the Board of The Conductor’s Retreat at Medomak, headquartered in Michigan. He is the subject of a multi award-winning CBC documentary Disruptor Conductor, focusing on his efforts to extend the boundaries of the orchestral music world through concerts for Neurodiverse, Prison, African Diaspora, and LGBTQ2S+ populations.

Daniel Bartholomew-Poyser earned his Bachelor in Music Performance and Education from the University of Calgary, and his Master of Philosophy in Performance from the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, England.

About Music for Families
This popular series for Bay Area families was launched in 1993 and is designed to introduce children and their parents to the wonders of live orchestral music. Part performance and part family outing, the series consists of matinee concerts designed to spark the imagination of the whole family through an exploration of different aspects of the orchestra and its repertoire. Music for Families concerts are designed to be educational, engaging, and fun. They include performances of great symphonic music, fascinating musical discoveries, and informative talks about the orchestra, the instruments, the musicians, and the music. Music for Families concerts are geared to ages 5 and up.

CALENDAR EDITORS, PLEASE NOTE:

Tickets
Tickets for concerts at Davies Symphony can be purchased via sfsymphony.org or by calling the San Francisco Symphony Box Office at 415-864-6000.

Location
Davies Symphony Hall is located at 201 Van Ness Avenue in San Francisco.  

Health & Safety Information
Davies Symphony Hall is currently operating at full audience capacity. Based on the advice of the San Francisco Symphony’s Health and Safety Task Force, a face covering and vaccination against COVID-19 are strongly recommended but no longer required for entry into Davies Symphony Hall. These policies are subject to change. Visit sfsymphony.org/safety for the San Francisco Symphony’s complete up-to-date health and safety protocols.

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