b'WELCOMEFrancesco Lecce-Chong, Music Director & ConductorG reetings, and welcome to this Santa Rosa Symphony performance! My colleagues and I are thrilled to be taking the stage for the 97 thseason of the orchestra and look forward to sharing many exciting musical experiences with you. Now entering my seventh season as Music Director and fourth year as a Santa Rosa resident, I can say with certainty that for the first time in my life, I have found my musical, spiritual, and physical home all in the same place! I am so grateful to have found you all and this community-focused organization so committed to the future of the orchestral art form and the next generation of listeners. Photo by Susan and Neil Silverman PhotographyAs the largest regional Bay Area orchestra, this season sees us continuing to expand our artistic impact and aspirations. We will be taking on immense challenges with several multi-year projects this season, including the complete symphonies of Rachmaninoff, Beethoven, and Mahler. Our commitment to American composers of today continues to be unparalleled with our performances of Katherine Balch and Jonathan Leshnoff bringing us to nine commissions during just my tenure. Most importantly, we continue to innovate and grow with our communitybe sure to check out our new Snoopy Family Concert Series, which I will lead; our season-ending Road to 100 picnic; and the new pop-up performances around Santa Rosa.I purposely avoid having a season based around a single theme, but still, the music is often a reflection of my state of mind and view of the world at a particular moment. One could say that a common thread in our 2024-2025 season is how we find inspiration in each other. You will see it in Romeo and Juliet, told by Prokofiev; Bernsteins Age of Anxiety, inspired by young people during WWII; Mahlers letters to his wife; and so many other ways this season. I find that our constantly online world makes it far too easy to divide and separate ourselves by words and actions. Music bypasses those standard means of communication, and a concert can provide a place for clashing viewpoints to exist in powerful ways. Music, at its best, reminds us of our common humanity. My hope is that this seasons programming can foster this shared understanding by celebrating the intersection between audience, performer, and art. Thank you for helping make the Santa Rosa Symphony a home for community, inspiration, and empathy.Sincerely yours,Francesco Lecce-Chongsrsymphony.org2024-2025 Season 5'