The San Francisco Conservatory of Music's (SFCM) Orchestra Fall 2026 opener begins with the world premiere of the winner of the Composition Department's Highsmith Competition, student Brayden Meng's To Decipher Birdsong. Endowed by James Highsmith, an English teacher and department chair at Lone Mountain College with a lifelong passion for drama, music, and literature, the Competition also reflects Highsmith's friendship with former SFCM President Milton Salkind.
Next, conducting student Grace Wahlen leads the ensemble through Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Jennifer Higdon's blue cathedral. Higdon composed the piece in memory of her younger brother Andrew Blue Higdon, who died of skin cancer in June 1998, later telling The New York Times it was "the most cathartic thing I could have done."
The evening concludes with SFCM Music Director Edwin Outwater helming Sergei Prokofiev's Symphony No. 5 in B-flat Major, Op. 100. Prokofiev elaborated on ideas explored in his previous symphony, working under the looming specter of Russia's involvement in World War II. That context was thrown into sharp relief at the work's January 13, 1945 premiere at the Moscow Conservatory. Conducted by Prokofiev himself, the music was delayed until the sounds of artillery fire that marked the Russian army's crossing into Germany died down.
Free to reserve.
Presented by San Francisco Conservatory of Music