In This Program
The Concert
Saturday, September 13, 2025, at 7:30pm
Edwin Outwater conducting
Lyle Lovett guitar and vocals
and his Acoustic Group
San Francisco Symphony
Celebrating Hardly Strictly Bluegrass:
Lyle Lovett and his Acoustic Group
with the San Francisco Symphony
This program will be announced from the stage.
There will be one intermission.
This concert is presented in partnership with Hardly Strictly Bluegrass, in celebration of their 25th anniversary.
This concert is presented in partnership with
About the Artists
Edwin Outwater
Edwin Outwater regularly works with the world’s top orchestras, institutions, and artists to reinvent the concert experience. His ability to cross genres has led to collaborations with Metallica, Wynton Marsalis, Renée Fleming, and Yo-Yo Ma. He is music director of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and music director laureate of the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony.
Recent appearances include the New York Philharmonic, Cleveland Orchestra, Chicago Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, San Diego Symphony, Seattle Symphony, and the New World Symphony, as well as the Royal Philharmonic in a multi-concert series opening the Steinmetz Hall in Florida. He also served as a producer and musical advisor for the National Symphony Orchestra’s 50th Anniversary Concert at the Kennedy Center. In December 2022, he premiered A Christmas Gaiety at the Royal Albert Hall with Peaches Christ and the BBC Concert Orchestra, and returned in 2023.
Outwater has held a long association with San Francisco Symphony since making his debut in November 2001, having served as Resident Conductor, Director of Summer Concerts, and Music Director of the SF Symphony Youth Orchestra.
Hardly Strictly Bluegrass
Founded in 2001 by Warren Hellman as a gift to San Francisco, Hardly Strictly Bluegrass has become a treasured annual tradition in Golden Gate Park. Conceived initially as a showcase for his favorite bluegrass artists, the festival soon broadened its embrace to include Americana, folk, soul, rock, and more. Presented over three days and multiple stages, free of charge and without commercialization, the event celebrates the joy of music and the bonds of community. Beloved for both its annual favorites and unexpected discoveries, Hardly Strictly Bluegrass continues to embody Hellman’s vision: a gathering place where artists and audiences come together in a spirit of creativity, discovery, and delight.
Lyle Lovett
A singer, composer, and actor, Lyle Lovett has broadened the definition of American music in a career spanning 14 albums. Coupled with his gift for storytelling, the Texas-based musician fuses elements of country, swing, jazz, folk, gospel, and blues in a convention-defying manner that breaks down barriers.
Whether touring as a duo, with his Acoustic Group, or with his Large Band, Lovett’s live performances show not only the breadth of his talents, but also the diversity of his influences, making him one of the most compelling and captivating musicians in popular music.
Since his self-titled debut in 1986, Lovett has evolved into one of music’s most vibrant and iconic performers. Among his many accolades, including four Grammy Awards, he was given the Americana Music Association’s inaugural Trailblazer Award, and was named Texas State Musician. His works, rich and eclectic, are some of the most beloved of any artist working today.
A portion of the proceeds from this concert will go towards the SF Symphony’s Music and Mentors program.
This initiative supports San Francisco public-school orchestras, bands, and world music instrumental programs for grades 6–12, through coaching, mentorship, instrument supplies, and repairs, covering 100 percent of the cost. The program works with music teachers to improve students’ instrumental skills, increase their proficiency and confidence as young musicians, and deepen their engagement with music.
To make a bigger impact, make a gift here:
sfsymphony.org/giving
In Celebration
With gratitude for her energy, generosity, and support, this performance honors the memory of Nancy Hellman Bechtle (1937–2021) and the lasting impact she made on both the San Francisco Symphony and Hardly Strictly Bluegrass.
A beloved member of the SF Symphony’s Board of Governors beginning in 1984 and the Symphony’s president from 1987 to 2001, Bechtle was known for clear vision, straight talk, and a talent for assessing problems quickly and proposing solutions thoughtfully but matter-of-factly. Her humor, her intelligence, and her focus on the human element all played into the successes of her tenure. So did her love of music, love of the SF Symphony, and love of San Francisco itself.
Bechtle was the younger sister of Hardly Strictly Bluegrass’s founder Warren Hellman, who created the free music festival in 2001. A devotee of bluegrass, Bechtle performed at the festival with her band, Nancy and the Lambchops, from 2015 to 2019, and as part of the Go To Hell Man Band, which featured family and friends of Warren Hellman, from 2014 to 2019. She was also a vital force in building connections between the SF Symphony and Hardly Strictly Bluegrass. Over the years, members of the SF Symphony family, including Concertmaster Alexander Barantschik and Michael Tilson Thomas’s husband Joshua Robison, performed at the festival, joining Bechtle on stage with Nancy and the Lambchops.
