Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

Sarah Hicks is a conductor, educator, arranger, producer, writer, and speaker committed to creating connections through music. She has collaborated with diverse artists including Hilary Hahn, Dmitri Hvorostovsky, Rufus Wainwright, Ben Folds, Jennifer Hudson, Smokey Robinson, and Sting. Her passion for cross-genre partnerships led to a 2019 album with rap artist Dessa and the Minnesota Orchestra, where she is principal conductor of Live at Orchestra Hall.

Hicks made her San Francisco Symphony debut in July 2009 and has also worked with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Chicago Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Boston Pops, Toronto Symphony, Melbourne Symphony, RTÉ Orchestra, Danish National Symphony, Czech National Symphony, Saint Petersburg Philharmonic, Tokyo Philharmonic, and Malaysian Philharmonic. Her commitment to new music led to a micro-commission project, and her recording of new concertos, Triple Doubles, has been released by the Bridge label. Her interest in the intersection of mental health and music led to the production of a concert titled Music and the Mind.

Born in Japan and raised in Hawaii, Hicks is fluent in Japanese and holds degrees from Harvard University and the Curtis Institute of Music.

Rainer Eudeikis joined the San Francisco Symphony as Principal Cello in 2022 and holds the Philip S. Boone Chair. He was previously principal cello of the Atlanta Symphony and Utah Symphony, as well as for the Mainly Mozart Festival and Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music.

Recent performances include Esa-Pekka Salonen’s Cello Concerto with the SF Symphony (recorded for SFS Media), Shostakovich and Haydn concertos with the Atlanta Symphony, Schumann’s Cello Concerto and Strauss’s Don Quixote with the Utah Symphony, and numerous solo, recital, and chamber music performances across the United States and abroad.

Born in Texas, Eudeikis began cello studies at the age of six. Following studies in Colorado with Jurgen de Lemos, he attended the University of Michigan as a student of Richard Aaron, completing his bachelor of music in three years with highest honors. He received his master of music from Indiana University, where he studied with Eric Kim, and subsequently completed his artist diploma at the Curtis Institute of Music, studying with Carter Brey and Peter Wiley. He has been invited to serve as artist-faculty at the Aspen Music Festival and Brevard Music Center, and is a dedicated teacher and coach.

Pipa master, composer, educator, and improviser Gao Hong graduated from the Central Conservatory of Music. Since coming to the United States, she has performed at the Lincoln Center Festival, Carnegie Hall, and San Francisco Jazz Festival, among many other venues.

She has soloed with the Minnesota Orchestra, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, South Netherlands Philharmonic, Heidelberg Philharmonic, Buenos Aires Philharmonic, Louisville Orchestra, Women’s Philharmonic, Hawaii Symphony, Maryland Symphony, Anchorage Symphony, and many others.

Gao has received a Bush Artist Fellowship, five McKnight Artist Fellowships for Performing Musicians, a Sorel Medallion in Recording, a Sally Award from the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts, and numerous other grants and fellowships. She is the author of the first pipa method book written in English, published and distributed worldwide by Hal Leonard.

Gao teaches at Carleton College, where she is director of the Chinese music ensemble, and serves as guest professor at the Central Conservatory of Music and other conservatories in China. She makes her San Francisco Symphony debut with this performance.