Press Room

Dec 8, 2022

SAN FRANCISCO, CA—The San Francisco Symphony’s Shenson Spotlight Series, now in its second season, features ascendant artists in their Davies Symphony Hall recital debuts. Soloists presented by the Shenson Spotlight Series January–May 2023 include cellist Sterling Elliott with pianist Elliot Wuu, violinist Johan Dalene with pianist Giorgi Gigashvili, pianist Alexander Malofeev, and violinist Bomsori with pianist Julia Okruashvili.  

On January 18, cellist Sterling Elliott is joined by pianist Elliot Wuu for a program featuring Johann Sebastian Bach’s jubilant Cello Suite No. 6 in D major, BWV 1012 and Felix Mendelssohn’s romantic and elegant Cello Sonata No. 2 in D major. Over the course of his young career, Sterling Elliott has appeared with the Philadelphia Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, the Boston Symphony, the Cleveland Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Detroit Symphony, and the Dallas Symphony. In the 2022–23 season, he debuts with the Colorado Symphony, Cincinnati Symphony, North Carolina Symphony, Fort Worth Symphony, and more. He is currently pursuing his Master of Music degree as a Kovner Fellow at the Juilliard School. Acclaimed for his "power, speed and finesse of artists twice his age" (Tribune-Star), Elliot Wuu debuted at age 16 with the Hilton Head Symphony Orchestra. Since then, Wuu has appeared as a soloist with the Lansing Symphony, Columbus Indiana Philharmonic, Terre Haute Symphony, Symphony Parnassus, Arad State Philharmonic in Romania, and more. 

On January 31, violinist Johan Dalene and pianist Giorgi Gigashvili perform Edvard Grieg’s exuberant Violin Sonata No. 3, Arvo Pärt’s haunting Fratres, and Maurice Ravel’s jazz-inspired Violin Sonata in G major. Violinist Johan Dalene is already making an impact on the international scene, performing with leading orchestras and in celebrated recital halls both at home and abroad. In addition to his Shenson Spotlight Series recital in January, Dalene will join Esa-Pekka Salonen and the San Francisco Symphony on tour in Paris and Hamburg in March 2023, performing Samuel Barber’s Violin Concerto. Recent and upcoming performances include his debut at the BBC Proms with the BBC Symphony with Jordan de Souza, his debut with the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra with Sakari Oramo, Czech Philharmonic with Semyon Bychkov, London Philharmonic with Karina Canellakis, and more. Born in Tbilisi, Georgia in 2000, Giorgi Gigashvili’s career took off in 2019 when he won First Prize at the Vigo International Piano Competition. Gigashvili writes electronic music in addition to his pianistic career, and in the 2022–23 season he is an artist in the Classeek Ambassador Program.

On March 22, pianist Alexander Malofeev presents a solo recital performing Ludwig van Beethoven’s Piano Sonata in C-sharp minor, Opus 27, no.2, Moonlight; Mieczysław Weinberg’s melancholic Piano Sonata No. 4; and Sergei Rachmaninoff’s immense and virtuosic Piano Sonata No. 2. At age 13, Malofeev won the 2014 International Tchaikovsky Competition for Young Musicians. His recent performances include an Asia tour with the Lucerne Festival Orchestra under Riccardo Chailly, performances with the Orchestra del Teatro Lirico di Cagliari under Mikhail Pletnev, concerts in the UK with the Bournemouth Symphony and Kirill Karabits, and concerts in Italy with the RAI National Symphony and Fabio Luisi. In the 2022–23 season, Malofeev debuts at the Verbier Festival, Ravinia Festival, Aspen Music Festival with Vasily Petrenko, and Tanglewood Music Festival with Michael Tilson Thomas.

On May 10, violinist Bomsori is joined by pianist Julia Okruashvili for a program including Henryk Wieniawski’s dynamic Polonaise de concert, Opus 4; Claude Debussy’s last completed work, the Sonata in G minor; Karol Szymanowski’s refined yet chaotic Nocturne and Tarantella, Opus 28; Selections from Jean Sibelius’s texturally complex Six Pieces for Violin and Piano, Opus 79; and Henryk Wieniawski’s dramatic Fantasia on Themes from Gounod’s Faust, Opus 20. This is Bomsori’s second appearance in Davies Symphony Hall; she performed Chen Gang and He Zhanhao’s The Butterfly Lovers Concerto on the San Francisco Symphony’s Lunar New Year concert in February 2022. Hailing from South Korea, Bomsori attended Seoul National University where she studied with Young Uck Kim. She then received her Master of Music degree and Artist Diploma at the Juilliard School where she studied with Sylvia Rosenberg and Ronald Copes. Bomsori has appeared as a soloist at various international venues, including Musikverein Golden Hall in Vienna, Tchaikovsky Hall in Moscow, Philharmonic Hall in St. Petersburg, Finlandia Hall in Helsinki, the Herkulessaal and the Prinzregententheater in Munich, Berlin Philharmonic, Rudolfinum and Smetana Hall in Prague, and Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center in New York. Born in Moscow, Julia Okruashvili studied at the Moscow Conservatory, the Verdi Conservatory in Milan, and the music conservatory in Frankfurt, under notable professor Lev Natochenny. She has won various piano competitions including the International Maria Yudina-Competition in St. Petersburg, the Firkusny International Competition in Prague, and the “Citta di Pinerolo” in Italy, and she has appeared as a soloist with the Chamber Orchestra Moscow Virtuosi, Vienna Chamber Orchestra, the Philharmonic Orchestra of the Nations, and the Hessian State Orchestra.

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. Single ticket prices for Shenson Spotlight Series recitals are $45; subscriptions including all four concerts are available for $160.

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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