San Francisco Symphony history

In 1915, Alfred Hertz succeeded Hadley.

In 1923, three years after the 19th Amendment granted women the right to vote, Hertz hired first a woman violinist and then three other women musicians, beginning the orchestra’s leadership in hiring women.

Hertz helped to refine the orchestra and arranged for the Victor Talking Machine Company to record it at their new studio in Oakland in early 1925.

The first broadcast aired on the NBC Pacific Network, on October 24, 1926. and the broadcasts continued for more than 30 years.

After Hertz's retirement in 1930, two conductors, Basil Cameron and Issay Dobrowen, jointly headed the orchestra.

During the Great Depression, the Symphony's existence was threatened by bankruptcy and the 1934–35 season was cancelled; the people of San Francisco passed a bond measure to provide public financing and ensure the organization's continued existence.

Monteux succeeded to the point where NBC began broadcasting some of its concerts and RCA Victor offered the orchestra a new recording contract in 1941.

In 1949, Monteux invited Arthur Fiedler to lead summer "pops" concerts in the Civic Auditorium.

When Monteux left the orchestra in 1952, various conductors led the orchestra, including Leopold Stokowski, Georg Solti, Erich Leinsdorf, Karl Münchinger, George Szell, Bruno Walter, Ferenc Fricsay, and William Steinberg.

In 1954, the board hired Enrique Jordá as music director.

Urged by the Association’s president, J.D. “Dave” Zellerbach, however, the board renewed Jordá’s contract in 1956 for three more years, during which period the orchestral situation went from bad to worse.

In relating the installation of Heinrich Keilholz’ acoustical shell in the Opera House in 1963, Rothe omitted the fact that the design was crucially compromised in a cost-cutting measure.

Another sub-rosa negotiation by Boone went on for nearly six months in 1969 with Ronald Wilford, CEO of Columbia Artists Management, to replace Josef Krips with Seiji Ozawa, both of whom were Wilford’s clients.

Ozawa's guest appearances had generated interest before he became the symphony's director in 1970.

He greatly improved the quality of the orchestra's performances and convinced Deutsche Grammophon (DG) to record the orchestra in 1972.

Thomas had guest conducted the orchestra as far back as 1974, and already had a relationship with the musicians.

Edo de Waart succeeded Ozawa in 1977.

Finally, in 1978, such a leader, Peter Pastreich, was appointed as the Symphony’s executive director.

And Rothe might have mentioned that Davies Hall was not ready at its inauguration in September 1980, because of a strike that had idled the contractors that summer.

He had been offered the position immediately after guest conducting for two weeks in 1984, while he was music director of Staatskapelle Dresden.

Michael Tilson Thomas (known colloquially as "MTT") became music director in 1995, coming from the London Symphony Orchestra.