When I started showing up on San Francisco's black-tie circuit several years ago, I was told the golden rule of covering these things is to never be negative. "Don't say if the fish is too fishy," is how one person put it, and that line has rattled around my head at every gala since.
I understand the logic: nobody wants to be the guest who complains about the canapés at a party for an institution this city can't afford to lose. But a review with nothing but compliments is less of a review and more like a thank-you note. So I’m going to start today with the obvious points you should already know: The San Francisco Symphony gave us a perfectly pleasant 2026 gala on Thursday night. The orchestra sounded fantastic and was bolstered, of course, by violinist and living legend Hilary Hahn.
This year’s red carpet was purple; a surprising twist from a repetitive pink one I’ve seen a couple times at this event. The bartenders and waitstaff felt aggressively attentive, serving us everything from caviar and gluten-free sushi to a custom French 75 and citrus NA drink I asked for in champagne glasses in the upstairs VIP room.
Is that enough praise? I hope so. Now here’s what was fishy.
I’ve seen Hilary Hahn twice now at SF Symphony and she is actually flawless. Not only does she deftly handle baroque repertoire like it’s no big deal, but she performs the music in a way I think it sounds in many of our heads. The problem for me is Mendelssohn in E and Bach partitas are both standard Juilliard audition repertoire, and Hilary has been performing them professionally for 21 freaking years.
On Thursday, Hahn got up onstage in sparkles from literal head to toe—complete with a sparkle headband and shoes—and breezed through three movements without a single sheet of music, then encored with a gigue from Bach Partita 3. I sense this is her routine schtick in encores, as I remember she did the same in 2023 with one of my more favored movements from that partita.
I asked two friends who experienced the full evening; both told me the performance was the best part. “It was SO GOOD,” one of the night’s prominent donors told me. “I was so happy I went, and it made me want to go to more symphony performances–particularly the one of Hilary Hahn’s trio that’s coming up.”
My other friend literally said the fish was too fishy, lol. “The space was gorgeous but I think McCalls excels with simpler classic dishes like beef tenderloin and potato purée which wasn’t the case on Thursday night,” she said. “It was fussy and trying to be fancy, and the lobster acorn squash dish did not work for me.”
I can tell you right now that the fashion was fine; very wedding reception feeling. And of course I spotted a recurring handful of people who spent more than $100 to see a gala performance in jeans and sweaters. Likewise, a man in a $30 Temu blazer came up to me during the Wattis Room VIP reception to compliment my ballgown. Because San Francisco.
This incredible dress worn by Pauline Gibson was the one to beat. I did not ask her the designer but it looked custom—she wore a very similar mermaid silhouette and construction for the symphony's 2025 gala, pictured beneath the current one.
My boyfriend fawned over this shimmery brocade maxi coat worn by Shana Penn, made by Los Angeles-based luxury brand Libertine. Penn is seen here alongside Jack Calhoun wearing a copper Tom Ford blazer.
This in fact concludes most of my fashion notes. I'd say the most prominent colors of the night were bright reds and blues, although maybe I'm biased because I wore the latter.
In prominent people watching, we did also spot Daniel Lurie and Scott Wiener, albeit I did note that in her opening remarks, Symphony Chair Prisca Geeslin said simply that "members of city government" were in attendance—without naming them.
I didn't attend the dinner and no longer want to describe experiences I'm gatekept away from witnessing firsthand. There was likewise a "media reception" on the terrace that I'm putting in quotes because I am press and was told I did not have the proper wristband to head out there. Knowing many of the symphony staff by now, I'm sure they would have accommodated had I asked; the experience also just gave me a little whiff of this year at Art Bash.
Saul Sugarman
I think what stuck with me about all this is that in addition to Hahn, I'm aware also SF Chronicle and SF Magazine did sit for food, which to me speaks to SF Symphony courting a certain age demographic that still reads print media. We see a similar dichotomy happening right now at the SF Ballet, where some attendees emphatically applaud the modern works ushered in by one Tamara Rojo. An older crowd, however, decries the departure of Icelandic choreographer Helgi Tómasson, who favored showing ethereal fantasies like Swan Lake and Giselle.
To this I'd like to point out a blunt truth about at least a few of San Francisco's most prominent givers: Barbro and Bernard Osher are 86 and 99(!), respectively. Dede Wilsey is 82. While I hope we keep these people another generation in San Francisco, I also know we almost certainly will not. What, then, is SF Symphony doing to court a younger audience?
Yes: enter new conductor Elim Chan, age 39, who did not debut her first gala on Thursday. Likewise absent was the symphony choir, which I'm not especially sure how often they're featured in these events. But given it was just a year ago the ongoing contract disputes were resolved, it would have been good to see those singers here.
Saul Sugarman
I am reminded a little of my first gala with SF Symphony in 2023. Oakland hip-hop artist Kev Choice and San Francisco's Anthony "Two-Touch" Veneziale went up against an AI program that generated its own rap from three words: hope, peace and love. The audience supplied those words when the duo asked for suggestions for their freestyle. The AI couldn't keep up, running at roughly half the rappers' speed.
During the rap piece, soprano Hila Plitmann made a surprise entrance in a glittery, feathered gown that stood out against the suiting from the orchestra and the rappers. She worked in a recurring bit of Mozart's "Queen of the Night" aria.
Love or hate him, Sam Altman was likely encouraged by this moment to attend the SF Symphony gala a couple years later in 2025—in a rare moment I've seen him captured in front of Drew Altizer's cameras.
OpenAI has likewise been making appearances at recent Met Galas, and I would hate to see such a huge groundswell of money—controversial as it definitely is—run away to instead support philanthropic efforts in New York in favor of doing so in San Francisco.
It is here I'll remind readers the SF Symphony has been a financial supporter of The Bold Italic this year. Thank you to readers who came to our first official collaboration with them. I love the organization. Sitting in the dark on Thursday, listening to Hahn and a spectacular second half by composer Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov, I guess I just had a lot to think about, which is something you always want art to do for you. I hope SF Symphony is thinking about these things, too.
Saul Sugarman is editor-in-chief and owner of The Bold Italic.
The Bold Italic is a not-for-profit media organization, and we publish first-person perspectives about San Francisco and the Bay Area. We operate under a fiscal sponsorship of a 501(c)(3).
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All photos in this article are from Drew Altizer Photography.
Where I've been
I've received a couple comments, mostly from my mother and acquaintances about The Bold Italic being a little quiet. We actually received a $12,000 grant this past month from the California Arts Council, and I have been continuing that work, writing a few more grant proposals and working on our contract with the CAC. I also lead a double life as a fashion designer, so after the Burning Man work came that ballgown for SF Symphony. I make a custom new one to attend their gala every year—even if I'm one of the few who gets fancy fancy.
It is hard running these overlapping projects alone and it's mostly just me alone doing it. But rest assured this is the only work I do; I'm not moonlighting with a different day job, and I'm not going anywhere at all.
