SF Symphony will launch its 98th season and the beginning of the Bay Area arts season on Wednesday, September 9 with a festive Opening Night Gala. All proceeds from the event will benefit the Orchestra’s education and community programs, which provide music education to over 75,000 Bay Area children each year, as well as a comprehensive music education program to every single 1st- through 5th-grade student in the SF Unified School District. The celebration begins with cocktail events at 5:30 PM, followed by three elegant dinners—the Patrons’ Dinner, Symphony Supper, and Symphonix Dinner. At 8:30 PM, Michael Tilson Thomas and the SF Symphony will open the 2009–10 season with a special gala performance featuring classical music sensation Lang Lang. The program showcases Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 3 in C major and a diverse trio of waltzes, including Liszt’s Mephisto Waltz No. 1, Ravel’s La Valse, and Rodgers’s Carousel Waltz. For Promenade Package tickets call 415-864-6000. For dinner/concert packages, please call 415-503-5500. 

Photographer: Kristen Loken

Makeup: Miles Berdache of Artists’ Services

Location: Davies Symphony Hall 

Hair: Tony Tantillo of 77 Maiden Lane Salon & Spa