San Diego Symphony and Orchestre symphonique de Montréal shared a stage together for the first time ever Friday night, joining forces at The Rady Shell at Jacobs Park for a free concert that paired two orchestras, two cities and one conductor who leads them both. The 7:30 p.m. show cost nothing to attend and required no tickets, drawing a crowd to the downtown waterfront venue for a program that split time between each orchestra's own repertoire before bringing both ensembles together after intermission.
That conductor is Rafael Payare, who has led the San Diego Symphony for seven years and has served as music director of the Montreal orchestra since 2022, according to San Diego Symphony. Payare's contract with San Diego runs through 2029, and he recently signed an extension with the Montreal orchestra through 2032, per facts included in the original reporting from the San Diego Union-Tribune. The Friday concert, titled Sound of Two Cities, followed the Montreal orchestra's own San Diego debut the night before at Jacobs Music Center.
A Program Built in Two Halves
San Diego Symphony opened the evening with Bartók's Suite from The Miraculous Mandarin, Op. 19, performed by its own musicians, according to The Rady Shell at Jacobs Park. The Montreal orchestra followed with Ravel's Suite No. 2 from Daphnis et Chloé, also presented separately before the two ensembles combined. After intermission, musicians from both orchestras came together for Prokofiev's Scythian Suite, Op. 20, with San Diego's visiting concertmaster Jeff Thayer and Montreal concertmaster Andrew Wan both on stage, according to the Union-Tribune's reporting. The combined Prokofiev performance numbered 131 musicians, per the same account, with the Montreal orchestra serving as principal musicians for that piece.
Thursday's Montreal program at Jacobs Music Center, a separate ticketed performance ahead of the joint Rady Shell show, opened with Samy Moussa's Elysium, moved into Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto in D Major with Greek violinist Leonidas Kavakos as soloist, and closed with Stravinsky's complete ballet The Firebird, according to San Diego Story.
Leaders Frame the Collaboration as Bridge-Building
San Diego Symphony President and CEO Martha Gilmer said the concert celebrated what the cities shared rather than what separated them, according to the Union-Tribune's reporting. Orchestre symphonique de Montréal CEO Mélanie La Couture said the orchestras sought to build bridges and share their passion for music, and added that Montreal would always welcome the audience, per the same account.
The two-night pairing is part of San Diego Symphony's Beyond Borders: North American Music Initiative, which connects the orchestra's evolving artistic activities across Mexico, Canada and the United States, according to San Diego Symphony. The San Diego Symphony performed a concert in Tijuana in early October, and three performances — including the Thursday and Friday Montreal shows — were part of the Beyond Borders initiative, the Union-Tribune reported.
What Comes Next for Both Orchestras
San Diego Symphony plans a five-city European tour in 2027, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune's earlier coverage of the season opener. The two orchestras have also co-commissioned Jimmy López's Symphony No. 6, titled Monarch, which both ensembles will perform in 2027, according to International Arts Manager.
Montreal's California swing that brought it to San Diego was itself part of a three-city tour that also included stops in San Francisco and Los Angeles, the Union-Tribune reported when Beyond Borders launched in September.
