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Esa-Pekka Salonen, music director of the San Francisco Symphony since 2020, announced Thursday that he will resign when his contract expires next year, citing differences with the orchestra’s board of directors.
Salonen, 65, an innovative conductor who promoted new music and experimented with virtual reality and artificial intelligence, said he no longer saw a way forward.
“I have decided not to continue as music director of the San Francisco Symphony because I do not share the same goals for the future of the institution as the Board of Governors,” he said in a statement. “I am sincerely looking forward to the many exciting programs we have planned for my final season as music director and am proud to continue working with the world-class musicians of the San Francisco Symphony.”
Disputes between teachers and management rarely come to light, and this division is notable because of Salonen’s stature: a revered conductor and composer, he has been a leading force in efforts to redefine the modern symphony orchestra. In San Francisco, he appointed a team of what he called “collaborating partners” from a variety of genres and oversaw a steady stream of releases.
The rift between Salonen and the board of directors appeared to stem from cost-cutting efforts, which include reducing the number of concerts and commissions, as well as suspending tours. The orchestra is also looking to make unspecified changes to programming to generate revenue. That approach raised broader questions about whether Salonen could achieve his expansive vision for the orchestra. (Salonen declined to comment for this article.)
Matthew Spivey, executive director of the San Francisco Symphony, said in an interview that the orchestra had different challenges and priorities than when Salonen was named the orchestra’s music director in 2018. The pandemic exacerbated long-standing budget problems, he said, and there were “significant financial problems.” pressures on the organization that have become impossible to ignore.” He said the orchestra would need to “evolve in a number of ways to respond to those pressures.”
Spivey said that because of the change in strategy, management understood Salonen’s decision to leave.
“Clearly these decisions are taking the organization in a somewhat different direction than we might have anticipated in 2018,” he said. “Given all this, it is understandable that Esa-Pekka is ending his tenure as musical director..”
The orchestra’s announcement of Salonen’s final season of programming on Thursday included no comment from him. He issued a separate statement announcing his departure. On Wednesday, after a rehearsal, he informed the orchestra musicians of his decision to leave.
Salonen, who is from Finland, came to San Francisco with a mission to change the whole, saying at one point that there was “potential for something powerfully transformative to happen here.”
It tapped into the creative energy of Silicon Valley and hired experts in robotics and artificial intelligence to help reimagine the concert experience. And when he was hired, he recruited eight artists, including Nico Muhly, Claire Chase and Esperanza Spalding, to serve as collaborative partners.
Although their appointments were a tenet of Salonen’s vision, the group announced Thursday that the partnerships would end in June. “The relationships we have built with these artists have a lasting impact,” the orchestra said in a statement, “and the symphony will always welcome continued collaborations.”
During the pandemic, the orchestra canceled hundreds of performances and lost millions in expected revenue. Salonen’s debut as a musical director came online, with the virtual premiere of Muhly’s “Throughline,” a work conceived for a digital medium.
However, before the closure, the orchestra had been dealing with budget shortfalls and a sharp decline in subscribers, which have traditionally been a major source of income. The outfit has also grappled with rising expenses and fundraising problems: The average contribution and number of donors have declined in recent years.
Still, the group has been able to increase its endowment, which is one of the largest in the field: it amounted to about $315 million last year, compared to $273 million in 2019. And it has continued with exploration of the possibility of renewing the Davies Symphony. Hall, his long-time home.
The return of audiences has given the orchestra, which operates on a budget of about $83 million, a boost in ticket revenue, which is expected to surpass pre-pandemic levels this season. The team has had 74 percent attendance so far this season, slightly higher than before the shutdown. But the orchestra also offers fewer performances: 178 this season compared to 202 in 2018-19.
In a letter obtained by The New York Times, Spivey wrote to the board, orchestra, choir and staff in January, outlining a series of cuts, including canceling a planned European tour and limiting commissions to no more than five a year. and reduce overall spending.
“Absent fundamental changes to our business model and revenue streams, we will maintain increasingly unmanageable deficits in the years ahead,” Spivey wrote. “Given the magnitude of these challenges, we are examining every aspect of the organization’s activities.”
It’s unclear what Salonen will do next. Until he got the job in San Francisco, he didn’t seem interested in conducting another major orchestra. Before that, he had been music director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic for 17 years, developing its reputation as one of the most innovative ensembles in the country.
His departure is a serious loss for the California music scene, which will see the departure of other notable masters in the coming years. Gustavo Dudamel, who conducts the Los Angeles Philharmonic, leaves for New York in 2026, and James Conlon announced this week that he would leave his position as music director of the Los Angeles Opera that same year.