The San Francisco Symphony is holding a free concert on Sunday, July 12th, at the Cruise Terminal Plaza on Pier 27.
The concert, which will run from from noon to 2pm, marks the first such public event since the 2.5-acre park opened last fall. It will feature two special guests: Bryce Dessner, of indie rock group The National, and electric guitarist Travis Andrews. Dessner will perform his composition St. Carolyn by the Sea, which was inspired by a passage in Beat poet Jack Kerouac's 1962 novel Big Sur. The book has a neighborhood connection: it's set in the Big Sur home of North Beach poet and City Lights founder Lawrence Ferlinghetti.
Edwin Outwater will conduct the concert, which will also include Beethoven's Symphony No. 1 in C major, Opus 21; David Lang's mountain; and Stravinsky's The Firebird Suite (1919 Revision). “It seems like a gift from the San Francisco Symphony to the whole community," says Stan Hayes, president of Telegraph Hill Dwellers. "It’s a wonderful idea, and we totally support it.”
Some members of the Dwellers, along with other waterfront neighbors, were rankled during 2013's America's Cup festivities, when a temporary amphitheater on the same site hosted loud rock concerts that sometimes ran late. This time, Renee Dunn Martin, spokesperson for the Port of San Francisco, says that neighbors will be sent advance notice of the performance, which will include some sound amplification.
"It’s in the daytime; it starts at noon," said Hayes of his support for the show. It's important to neighbors that it's free, he said, and although there will be amplified music at this performance, “it’s a symphonic concert, it’s not a rock concert.”
Dogs, blankets, lawn chairs, coolers, food and non-alcoholic drinks are all allowed at the park. Portable toilets will be provided, as the Beltline Building toilets at Pier 29 have yet to open. “I hope people enjoy it," Hayes said. "I am hopeful that this will be a wonderful afternoon enjoyed by many folks who live on the Hill as well as everyone else.”
