San Francisco Symphony
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"Up" is the number of experts who agree that the nonprofit has had the most impact in the
field. "Down" is the number of experts who disagree that the nonprofit has had the most impact in field.
Headquarters Location: San Francisco, CA
Founded: 1911
Mission: The San Francisco Symphony sets the highest possible standard for excellence in musical performance at home and around the world; Enriches, serves, and shapes cultural life throughout the spectrum of Bay Area communities; Maintains financial stability and gains public recognition as a means of ensuring its ability to fulfill its mission.
Tags:
bay area, arts & culture, production, symphony, arts education, youth outreach, community concerts, youth orchestra
Summary
Stories
Expert Reviews
Leadership
From the Nonprofit
Leadership
Brent Assink.
Brent Assink, Executive Director of the San Francisco Symphony (SFS), leads one of North America’s most forward-looking arts organizations with a unique combination of business skills and musical passion. He brings almost 30 years of experience in orchestra management to his role at the SFS helm as he continues to steer the organization in new directions, forging a path for…
See full bio.
Financial Data
Charity Navigator Rating:
(profile)
(profile)
Overhead Ratio:
17.92%
Total Revenue:
$82,265,718
From the Nonprofit
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Contact Info
Website:
E-Mail:
messages AT sfsymphony.org
Phone:
415-864-6000
Facebook:
Address:
Davies Symphony Hall
San Francisco, CA 94102, USA
Twitter:
Story:
Did you know San Francisco Symphony was created due to the wake of the 1906 earthquake? Read about their founding story:
In the wake of the 1906 earthquake, establishment of a permanent orchestra was high on the civic agenda, and in December 1911, the San Francisco Symphony (SFS) gave its first concerts, revitalizing San Francisco’s cultural life. The Orchestra grew in stature and acclaim under a succession of distinguished music directors, beginning with Henry Hadley and including Pierre Monteux, Seiji Ozawa, Edo de Waart, Herbert Blomstedt, and, since 1995, Michael Tilson Thomas (MTT).
The San Francisco Symphony knows that music lovers of tomorrow are molded today. To fill the gap left by cuts in school music programs, the Symphony provides the most extensive education and community programs offered by any American orchestra today. In 1988, the Symphony established the innovative Adventures in Music education program (AIM), which introduces music to every first- through fifth-grade child in the San Francisco Unified School District. In 2002, the SFS launched SFSKids.org, a comprehensive and interactive online music education resource for children, schools, and families. Nearly 30,000 students throughout the Bay Area hear the San Francisco Symphony each year in its Concerts for Kids program, which began in 1919.
(Learn more about this significant organization at: http://www.sfsymphony.org/about/default.aspx?id=140)
Expert Reviews of San Francisco Symphony
Evidence of Impact Summary:
The San Francisco Symphony's impact can be measured by the number of concerts performed, the quality of the concerts, the audience size, their radio broadcasts, the Keeping Score TV/DVD/Website project on PBS, the Adventures in Music Program, the SFS Media CD project (e.g. all the Mahler symphonies) and their national and international touring. The SF Symphony is one of the most recognized and best performing organizations in the world.See expert comments.
Organization Strengths Summary:
Experts think the San Francisco Symphony is so strong because of it's strong leadership: artistic director, board of directors, administrative leadership, etc. They have excellent marketing and online materials and are excellent at fundraising with individual donors.See expert comments.
Areas for Improvement Summary:
The SF Symphony could improve by broadening its school programming, developing more workshops for teachers, building a bigger endowment, developing its retail store, lowering ticket prices to reach a broader audience, and improving their musician participation.See expert comments.
Expert Comments: Evidence of Impact
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Impact |
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They put on extraordinary educational programming and they are continually reinventing themselves as a leader in the orchestral field. | ||
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The SF Symphony's impact can be measured by the number of concerts performed, the quality of the concerts, the audience size, their radio broadcasts, the Keeping Score TV/DVD/Website project on PBS, the Adventures in Music Program, the SFS Media CD project (e.g. all the Mahler symphonies) and their national and international touring. | ||
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The San Francisco Symphony produces high quality programming: both as a presenter and also through its education programs in the San Francisco Unified School District. | ||
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The AIM program provides every child in San Francisco public (and some parochial) schools with several opportunities to hear live musicians - and the materials for these concerts and the Family Concert series are well developed and easy to use. | ||
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Michael Tilson Thomas and his Mahler project means the SF Symphony is one of the most recognized and has become one of the three or four best performing organizations in the world. | ||
Expert Comments: Organization Strengths
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Researchers and Faculty (R)
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Nonprofit Senior Staff (N)
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Other (consultants, journalists, policy makers) (O)
Great Marketing |
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It has a strong and stable artistic, executive, and board leadership, and strong staff. It is a leader in the field for social networking and the use of its web site. The upcoming centenary is an opportunity to look forward as well as reflect on a century's achievements. | ||
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The leadership and experience of the education department staff and their willingness to support the efforts of other arts non-profits (especially those in education) is exceptional- and the marketing of their programs, especially via the website and materials, is very accessible to families and young children. | ||
All Around Outstanding Leadership |
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The organization has the key trio: excellent music director, excellent and rich board, and superior management. The SFS has a board of directors that's the envy of many other organizations in N. California. The senior management has been widely regarded in the field as among the best, if not the very best, since Peter Pastreich was hired 30+ years ago; now, under Assink, they do more than ever. In my opinion, in the last 30 years, the SF Symphony has displaced the SF Opera as the dominant performing arts organization in N. California. | ||
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They have outstanding musical (professional) leadership and administrative leadership in both the performing program and the education programs. | ||
Leader in the Field |
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In the past 25 years, the San Francisco Symphony has moved from being an also-ran in the world of orchestras to a position among the leaders. It has excellent artistic, administrative, and trustee leadership. It has successfully melded the best of the orchestra's world traditions with the dynamic, if chaotic, over-caffeinated, and distracted world we live in now through a variety of web, tv, radio, and other delivery systems. People will look back on the 1980's - 2010's as a golden age at this organization, something the new York Times, for one, certainly gets. | ||
Great Fundraising |
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Its fundraising staff and strategies are amazing, especially in regards to individual donors. | ||
Expert Comments: Areas for Improvement
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Foundation Professionals (F)
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Researchers and Faculty (R)
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Nonprofit Senior Staff (N)
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Other (consultants, journalists, policy makers) (O)
Improve Musician Participation |
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They could strengthen musician participation through the management of the institution to be less bound by traditional labor relationships when facing the future. | ||
Get Bigger Endowment and Improve Retail Store |
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The Symphony needs a bigger endowment. The performing arts are undercapitalized vis a vis museums; this is true nationally because visual art is accessible whenever, and for however long viewers choose to see it. They could also do a much better job with the retail store. I understand they have space issues at Davies Symphony Hall but the retail store is something museums get that orchestras never have. | ||
Develop and Evaluate More School Programs |
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They should broaden the scope of their school programs. | ||
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If they developed workshops for teachers, it would help the teachers better utilize the materials, and it would help the SFS evaluate how their programs impact music within the school culture (assessing whether or not preparation occurs before performances, how often, what happens, etc.). | ||
Lower Ticket Prices |
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Their tickets are too expensive for too many of the City's citizens. | ||
Leadership
Brent Assink
Executive Director
Executive Director
From the Nonprofit
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