In This Program
The Concert
Sunday, December 14, 2025, at 2:00pm
Radu Paponiu conducting
Wattis Foundation Music Director
Johannes Brahms
(orch. Martin Schmeling)
Hungarian Dance No. 5 in G minor (1879)
Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Selections from The Nutcracker, Opus 71 (1892)
Overture
Dance of the Sugar-Plum Fairy
Russian Dance
Pas de deux
Waltz of the Flowers
Traditional
(arr. Jeff Tyzik)
Mis Zeh Hidlik (Behold the Lights)
Johann Strauss II
Tritsch-Tratsch Polka, Opus 214 (1858)
Sergei Prokofiev
Peter and the Wolf, Opus 67 (1936)
Joshua Dela Cruz narrator
Traditional
Carol Sing-Along
Jingle Bells
Rudolph, the Red-nosed Reindeer
We Wish You a Merry Christmas
The Music for Families Series is supported by
About Peter and the Wolf
Sergei Prokofiev wrote his beloved piece Peter and the Wolf for the Moscow Children’s Theater in 1936. Each of the characters in the story is evoked by a specific instrument or group of instruments. The piece was written to teach about the orchestra and is now one of the most often-performed pieces for young listeners. The San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra has been fortunate to have some beloved celebrities narrate the work, including Bobby McFerrin, Linda Rondstadt, John Lithgow, Rita Moreno, Lemony Snicket, Leonard Nimoy, and Robin Williams.
The piece opens with Peter, who is represented by the lilting, naïve strings, entering the yard near his home. Young Peter’s theme music skips through the green meadow until he happens upon his friend, the bird.
Is there any instrument possibly better suited to represent a songbird than the flute? The bird’s song chirps and flits to-and-fro in the treetop, before alighting gracefully on the branches as only a tiny winged creature can. His music is an elaborate birdsong of musical acrobatics.
We then meet the duck, waddles into the pond for a morning swim. Prokofiev again chooses the ideal instrument for our fine feathered friend and her endearing nasality: the oboe. In any other context, this might not be a compliment to oboists, but Prokofiev’s melody is so mellifluous and graceful that to be like a duck here is a great privilege. The only downside of our duck in this story is that she is not very fast. More on that later.
Prowling very slowly through the grass, Peter then spies the cat, represented by the clarinet. Prokofiev brings out his quintessentially feline stealthiness; eyes focused, dainty, velvet paws touching down ever so lightly in the grass. The cat draws nearer and nearer to the bird, when Peter recognizes what is about to happen. “Watch out!” he warns the bird.
But the cat was already prepared. He leaps after the bird and the two creatures twisting around each other, the clarinet and flute twirling and trilling around each other. Thankfully, the cat is thwarted and the bird escapes to safety.
Then Peter’s grandfather, represented by the bassoon, comes out of the house. Grandfather is crotchety, with a limp that makes him walk unsteadily, da-dum, da-dum, da-dum. He warns Peter, “You must be careful, there are wolves around here that will snatch up unsuspecting young boys.” He brings the protesting boy back into their yard.
As Peter watched from the other side of the gate, who should lurk into the meadow but an enormous gray wolf, represented by three French horns. The ominous, menacing chords grow greedier and greedier, just like the wolf’s appetite.
The cat scrambles to the top of the tree, not too close to the bird. And the duck, in her anxious excitement, jumps straight out of the pond. Despite trying to waddle away from the wolf, she is too slow. In one gulp, he swallows her whole!
While the wolf stalks Peter’s two other friends in the tree, Peter climbs up to the tree and tells the bird, “fly around the wolf’s head to distract him, but make sure you don’t get caught!” The bird bravely obliges, taunting the wolf as he jumps and snaps at the bird. While the wolf is distracted, Peter slowly lowers down a rope lasso (which you can hear in the sinewy string section wriggling chromatically downward) toward the wolf’s tail. Peter quickly pulls the lasso tight and catches the wolf!
Just then, a band of hunters, their shots represented by the drums, approach Peter’s home. They see the wolf and raise their guns. But Peter quickly intercepts them. He has a far better idea: “we will take him to the Zoo!” The hunters agree, and the ragtag team of heroes forms a proud processional toward the wolf’s new permanent residence. And if you want to find out what happens to our friend the duck, you will have to listen very closely to the end of the piece. You may just hear her again.
—Alicia Mastromonaco
YOUTH ORCHESTRA DONORS
The San Francisco Symphony gratefully acknowledges the following donors who have made a recent contribution of $500 or more to the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra through September 10, 2025.
Mr. Lee M. Baxter & Ms. Ursula Kaiser
Paul & Kathy Bissinger Oboe Chair in memory of William Bennett
The Boyd Family Foundation
Ms. Marilu Donnici
Vicki & David Fleishhacker
Elizabeth J. Folger
Teri Follett
Ms. Donalynne A. Fuller
Mr. Kenneth J. Gundry
Ms. Xinxin Guo
Mrs. Patricia J. Handeland
Randy Hensley & Allan Hurst
Alan L.# & Carol M. Kaganov♪
Lapporte-Frankel Family Philanthropic Fund of the Jewish Community Foundation
Ms. Jie Li
Mr. & Mrs. Sidney Liebes
Dr. C Lim
Ms. Sharon L. Litsky
Ms. Judy Lo
Mr. Samuel Luckenbill
Ms. Arabella Martinez
National Endowment for the Arts
Mrs. Jigna Sangani
Mr. Jon Steinsson
Mr. Melchor Taburaza
Mr. & Mrs. Alex Wolf
Yee Family Trust honors Kum Mo Kim, Violinist with the SF Symphony
♪Pierre Monteux Society Member
#Deceased
Sing-Along Lyrics
Jingle Bells
Dashing through the snow
In a one-horse open sleigh,
O’er the fields we go
Laughing all the way (ha, ha, ha)!
Bells on bobtail ring,
Making spirits bright.
What fun it is to ride and sing
A sleighing song tonight!
Jingle bells, jingle bells,
Jingle all the way!
Oh what fun it is to ride
In a one-horse open sleigh-eigh!
Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer
Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer
Had a very shiny nose,
And if you ever saw it
You would even say it glows.
All of the other reindeer
Used to laugh and call him names.
They never let poor Rudolph
Join in any reindeer games.
Then one foggy Christmas Eve
Santa came to say,
“Rudolph with your nose so bright,
Won’t you guide my sleigh tonight?”
Then how the reindeer loved him
As they shouted out with glee,
“Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer
You’ll go down in history!”
We Wish You a Merry Christmas
We wish you a merry Christmas,
We wish you a merry Christmas,
We wish you a merry Christmas,
And a happy New Year.
Good tidings we bring to you and your kin.
We wish you a merry Christmas
And a happy New Year.
Now bring us some figgy pudding,
Now bring us some figgy pudding,
Now bring us some figgy pudding,
And bring some out here!
Good tidings we bring to you and your kin.
We wish you a merry Christmas
And a happy New Year.
About the Artists
Radu Paponiu
Radu Paponiu was appointed Wattis Foundation Music Director of the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra in fall 2024. Before that, he completed a five-year tenure as associate conductor of the Naples Philharmonic and a seven-year tenure as music director of the Naples Philharmonic Youth Orchestra. He has also served as music director of the Southwest Florida Symphony, assistant conductor of the Naples Philharmonic, and as a member of the conducting faculty of the Juilliard Pre-College.
As a guest conductor, Paponiu has appeared with the Romanian National Radio Symphony, Teatro Comunale di Bologna Orchestra, Transylvania State Philharmonic, Banatul Philharmonic, Louisiana Philharmonic, Rockford Symphony, Colorado Music Festival Orchestra, North Carolina Symphony, California Young Artists Symphony, and National Repertory Orchestra. He has collaborated with soloists such as Evgeny Kissin, Yefim Bronfman, Emanuel Ax, Gil Shaham, Midori, Vladimir Feltsman, Robert Levin, Charles Yang, Nancy Zhou, Stella Chen, and the Ébène Quartet.
Born in Romania, Paponiu began his musical studies on the violin at age seven, came to the United States at the invitation of the Perlman Music Program, and later completed two degrees in violin performance at the Colburn School. He went on to earn a master's degree in orchestral conducting at New England Conservatory, where he studied with Hugh Wolff.
Joshua Dela Cruz
Joshua Dela Cruz is narrating Peter and the Wolf for the second year, after making his debut with the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra last season. He is the host of Nickelodeon’s Emmy Award–winning Blue’s Clues & You! Most recently, he starred in Paramount+’s Blue’s Big City Adventure alongside the two previous hosts of Blues Clues, Steve Burns and Donovan Patton (Joe). The New York Times called Dela Cruz “spectacular” and the “real highlight” of the film.
Dela Cruz is a powerhouse triple threat who made his Broadway debut in Disney’s Aladdin as an understudy and ensemble member—later taking over for Aladdin himself. Other notable theater performances include Here Lies Love under the direction of Alex Timbers at the Public Theatre, Merrily We Roll Along at New York City Center Encores, and Theatre Group Asia’s Into the Woods. Additionally, he has helped develop shows like the Tony-winning musical Maybe Happy Ending, and also participated in numerous workshops directed by Christopher Ashley, Sarna Lapine, and Billy Berry. Dela Cruz has also appeared in Law & Order Toronto: Criminal Intent, Netflix’s Fubar, CBS’s Bull, and ABC’s Time After Time. He graduated from Montclair State University with a BFA in musical theater.
SAN FRANCISCO SYMPHONY YOUTH ORCHESTRA
The San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra is recognized internationally as one of the finest youth orchestras in the world. Founded by the San Francisco Symphony in 1981, the SFSYO’s musicians are chosen from more than 200 applicants in annual auditions. The SFSYO’s purpose is to provide an orchestral experience of preprofessional caliber, tuition-free, to talented young musicians. The more than 100 musicians, ranging in age from 12 to 21, represent communities from throughout the Bay Area. The SFSYO rehearses and performs at Davies Symphony Hall under the direction of Radu Paponiu, who joined the San Francisco Symphony as Wattis Foundation Music Director of the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra in the 2024–25 season. Jahja Ling served as the SFSYO’s first Music Director, followed by David Milnes, Leif Bjaland, Alasdair Neale, Edwin Outwater, Benjamin Shwartz, Donato Cabrera, Christian Reif, and Daniel Stewart.
As part of the SFSYO’s innovative training program, musi-cians from the San Francisco Symphony coach the young play-ers each Saturday afternoon in sectional rehearsals, followed by full orchestra rehearsals with Radu Paponiu. Youth Orchestra members regularly meet and work with world-renowned artists: Esa-Pekka Salonen, Michael Tilson Thomas, Herbert Blomstedt, Kurt Masur, John Adams, Yo-Yo Ma, Valery Gergiev, Isaac Stern, Yehudi Menuhin, Wynton Marsalis, Midori, Joshua Bell, Mstislav Rostropovich, Simon Rattle, and many others have worked with the Youth Orchestra. Of equal importance, Youth Orchestra members are able to speak with these prominent musicians about their professional and personal experiences, and about music. The ensemble has toured Europe and Asia, given sold-out concerts in such legendary halls as Berlin’s Philharmonie, Vienna’s Musikverein, Saint Petersburg’s Mariinsky Theater, and Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, and won first prize in Vienna’s International Youth and Music Festival.
San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra
First Violins
Euisun Hong, Co-Concertmaster
Lawrence V. Metcalf Chair
Andrew Zhang, Co-Concertmaster
Lawrence V. Metcalf Chair
Ethan Chang
Christina Hong
Hyesun Hong
Maximilian Huang
Kayla Hwang
Constance Kuan
Sydney Li-Jenkins
Aaron Ma
Magdalena Masur
Henry Miller
Carolyn Ren
Yujin Shin
Calliope Smith
Jenna Son
Henry Stroud
Kate Vo
Lucas Wang
Lucy Wang
Second Violins
Asher Cupp, Co-Principal
Lisa Saito, Co-Principal
Léopoldine Bréard
Maggie Cai
Janet Chan
Dylan Chua
Udo Funke
Brandon Gao
Evelyn Holmes
Katherine Jang
Sarah Kumayama
William Liang
Veronica Qiu
Serena She
Oliver Spivey
Braden Wang
Yihe Wang
Junnosuke Yanagisawa
Katherine Yoo
Riona Zhu
Violas
Bryan Im, Co-Principal
Yufei Shen, Co-Principal
Rebekah Sung, Co-Principal
Harper Berry
Colin Breshears
Jamie Cheung
Timothy Cheung
Olivia Haddick
Jaydon Li
Haoching Liu
Olivia Park
Galen Russell
Rohan Sangani
Laurelin Stroh
Nicole Targosz
Cellos
Melissa Lam, Co-Principal
Ethan Lee, Co-Principal
Claire Topper, Co-Principal
Ya-Ching Chan
Timothy Huang
Anthony Jung
Donghu Kim
Blanche Li
Lukas Masur
Yoonsa Park
Cara Wang
Bass
Rouyan Lechner, Co-Principal
Allison Prakalapakorn, Co-Principal
Alec Blair
Haku Homma
Hani Khayatei Houssaini
Vera Kolodko
Yoav Konig
Rudie Sheehy
Raiden Tan
Eric Zhang
Flutes
Diego Fernandez
Esther Kim
Emilie Yoo
Wanruo Zhang
Oboes
Gabriel Chodos
Jesse Spain
Liam Ta
Asher Wong
Clarinets
Ryan Beiter
Subin Kim
Hanting Liu
Adam Thyr
Bassoons
Matthew Chan
Adam Erlebacher
Stuthi Jaladanki
Aya Watanabe
Horns
Daniel Cooper
Elinor Cooper
Owen Ellis
Violet MacAvoy
Owen Sheridan
Trumpets
James Lee
Julian Moran
Brady Phan
Ivan Sokolenko
Trombones
Harvy Chang
Ethan Moran
Lenel Elison Gomintong,
Bass Trombone
Tuba
Cameron Strahs
Percussion & Timpani
Garrett Guo
Jeffrey Lee
Derick Shu
Alexander Xie
Aeneas Yu
Harps
Jessica Cheung
Camille Chu
Keyboard
Dylan Hall
Radu Paponiu,
Wattis Foundation Music Director
Coaching Faculty
David Chernyavsky, Violin
In Sun Jang, Violin
Chen Zhao, Violin
Adam Smyla, Viola
Jill Brindel, Cello
David Goldblatt, Cello
Stephen Tramontozzi, Bass
Catherine Payne, Flute
Russ de Luna, Oboe
Brooks Fisher, Oboe
Matthew Griffith, Clarinet
Jerome Simas, Clarinet
Justin Cummings, Bassoon
Jack Bryant, Horn
Jeff Biancalana, Trumpet
Jonathan Seiberlich, Trombone & Tuba
Jacob Nissly, Percussion & Timpani
Marty Thenell, Percussion & Timpani
Katherine Siochi, Harp
Marc Shapiro, Keyboard
Youth Orchestra Administration
Daniel Hallett, Associate Director,
Youth Orchestra Program
Katie Lee, Youth Orchestra
Administrative Apprentice
Hung-Yu Lin, Youth Orchestra
Administrative Apprentice
Charlotte Lopez, Youth Orchestra
Library Apprentice
Lily Wang, Youth Orchestra
Library Apprentice
