Story and Photos by Stephanie Levin.
Feature image: San Francisco Symphony Orchestra Performance in Davies Symphony Hall.
Amid the whirlwind of change in San Francisco’s neighborhoods, one corner of the city has remained steadfast in its cultural heartbeat. Within a four-block radius between Van Ness Avenue and Franklin Street, a trove of artistic treasures reign: The SF Jazz Center, San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Sydney Goldstein Theater, Davies Symphony Hall, War Memorial Opera House, Herbst Veterans Building, and the ballet school. Each sprang from an idea, coupled with iconoclasts who wouldn’t take no for an answer.
SFJAZZ: Let’s start with all that jazz. The modern glass structure on the corner of Fell and Franklin Streets is the San Francisco Jazz Center, better known as SFJAZZ. The first performance center in the country dedicated to jazz was designed by architect Mark Cavagnero. SFJAZZ opened in 2023, and while many worked on its extraordinary growth and popularity, the center’s visionary was Randall Kline.
When Kline motorcycled from New York to San Francisco in 1979, his idea to start a jazz festival was already percolating. The city gave him funds for his first jazz festival, which barely broke even. Undeterred, Kline asked the city for a second chance, again received funds, and has been delivering jazz concerts ever since. Back then, these were called community festivals.
My introduction was at the Herbst Theater, where these concerts were then performed. Truthfully, I wasn’t particularly drawn to jazz. It all seemed a bit discordant to my musical sensibility. However, after hearing jazz pianist Ahmad Jamal, I was smitten. Jazz, with all its distinct subgenres, had touched a latent musical chord, both enriching and expanding my love of music.
SFJAZZ is a place where jazz and musicians freely evolve and change. This became apparent during the COVID pandemic when the shutdown crippled musicians’ opportunities to perform. Kline, who retired in 2023, was deeply connected to both jazz and the musicians. With his staff, he created the Artist Fund and streamed past shows online. SF Jazz members paid $5.00; non-members paid $ 10.00 to bring live-streamed concerts into homes across the country. The $1 million raised went directly to the musicians to support them.
There are two performance venues at SFJAZZ: the Joe Henderson Lab, named after the great saxophonist and San Francisco resident, Joe Henderson. This little gem seats 100, and serves as the center for rehearsal space, performances, and the thriving educational program that trains and mentors young jazz musicians. The larger concerts take place in the state-of-the-art, acoustically stellar Miner Auditorium. The 700-person circular seating capacity affords exceptional views of the small stage in a comfortable, informal environment.
Conservatory of Music: Classical enthusiasts will find a different musical note in the San Francisco Conservatory of Music at 50 Oak Street, also known as the Ann Getty Center, named for its benefactor.
The conservatory’s origins date to 1917, when two musical pioneers, Ada Clement and Lillian Hodgehead, started a piano school in the Laurel Heights home of Lillian’s parents. The beginnings were humble, five teachers and four students. By 1923, recognizing the need for a West Coast music conservatory, the school incorporated and became the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. In 1956, it relocated to 19th Avenue and Ortega Street, where it remained for 50 years. In 2006, the conservatory moved to its permanent home at 50 Oak Street, replete with acoustic spaces for teaching, practicing, and recording, as well as a stunning concert hall. The conservatory is home to one hundred Steinway and Yamaha pianos, a collection of Baroque instruments, and the Harris Guitar Collection. Committed to a diverse musical community, it offers bachelor’s degrees in a variety of concentrations, from composition and conducting to percussion and piano, to name a few. With a talented staff, the San Francisco Conservatory Getty Center continues to develop the musical potential of young students from around the world. Weekly concerts are free, and the performances are a musical marvel.
With musical hopefuls pouring into San Francisco, the conservatory needed quarters to house students. Thus, the San Francisco Conservatory of Music Bowes Center for Performing Arts opened in 2021. A $46 million donation from philanthropist William K. Bowes spearheaded the construction of the 12-story structure. Designed by architect Mark Cavagnero, his signature glass design allows a view from the outside as well as an expansive view from the inside.
Bowes Center: Like many artistic treasures, it has its own community history. Originally, the land where the Bowes Center now stands housed 27 low-income apartments, many of which were occupied by families. The promise to these families, which was to house them during construction and build apartments on the Bowes property for their return, was fulfilled. The Bowes Center is completely soundproofed, including the auditorium, smaller performance spaces, and the beautifully designed apartments for music students and visiting artists. KDFC’s classical music station also has its home in the building. While the Oak Street Conservatory offers a large auditorium and stage, the Bowes Center offers smaller venues for individual instruments and intimate chamber concerts, all free or by donation.
Sydney Goldstein Theater: If conversation and a catalyst to new ideas appeal to you, mosey on down the block to Hayes and Franklin Streets to the unassuming white building lined with photos of artists. This is the Sydney Goldstein Theater, formerly known as the Nourse Theater and Auditorium. The 1926 Spanish Revival Style building boasts a checkered history. Before it assumed its rightful place among the cultural stars, it hosted high school events, intermittent pageants, and a temporary courtroom, and served as a 30-year storage space for the San Francisco Unified School District.
In 1980, civic-minded Sydney Goldstein founded City Arts & Lectures. Goldstein’s distinctive vision was to invite compelling and diverse personalities to be interviewed on stage by her. Some of the early invitees were Susan Sontag, Joan Didion, and Robin Williams. Determined to induce luminaries to her stage, Goldstein typed an invitation on her typewriter, followed by a phone call and resolute coercion. She invited some of the country’s most notable and thought-provoking individuals to be interviewed. Some accepted enthusiastically. Others took years to accept, as Goldstein continued to build City Arts and Lectures into the standout series it is today.
Until 2011, City Arts & Lectures held events at the Herbst Theater on Van Ness Avenue. When it closed for repairs in 2011, both SFJAZZ and the City Arts & Lectures were forced to seek new homes. Goldstein single-handedly oversaw the daunting renovation of the Nourse Theater for her program. The building was piled with boxes, papers, and file cabinets, with a wonky floor and no stage. But Goldstein had a vision, and in 2013, the two-tiered auditorium opened its doors with a 1,687-seat capacity.
The theater has the feel of an intimate talk salon with notable artists, scientists, and writers, each in conversation with a different host. Sydney Goldstein died in 2018, and the Nourse was renamed in her honor. The Zen format remained true to Goldstein’s vision: two armchairs on the large stage, one for the guest, the other for the interviewer. For 90 minutes, the audience is privy to a comfortable conversation with some of the most stimulating individuals in their field. It is in this lovely theater that I saw the retired Supreme Court Justice, San Francisco native Stephen Breyer, authors Richard Powers, Abraham Verghese, and Isabel Wilkerson, as well as renowned chefs, physicians, and scientists. The conversations inform and stimulate, leaving the audience with kernels of knowledge and a desire to learn more. If you are unable to obtain a ticket (events can sell out quickly), the series is broadcast on public radio one week after each event.
Davies Symphony Hall: The Davies Symphony Hall opened in 1980 and was named after Louise M. Davies, the benefactor who raised the money to build a permanent home for the symphony. The first concert performed was named “Hard Hat Concert” because everyone who had worked on the construction of Davies was invited to the concert to honor their contribution to the City’s Symphony. The architecture combines both classic and contemporary styles. The sweeping glass lobbies offer extraordinary views of the city both day and night. There are two entrances: the main one on Grove Street, or a second-floor entrance that opens into the elegant, fan-shaped concert hall, where the musical magic happens.
Some of my favorite performances were conducted by the well-loved and now retired Michael Tilson Thomas, known as MTT. Yet, everyone from the fiery Dudamel to the cerebral Esa-Pekka Salonen has taken the podium with their batons.
War Memorial Opera House: Whether you are passing through San Francisco or are a resident, you’ve surely noticed the two cultural pillars dominating the corners of Van Ness Avenue and Grove Street. For the classical music enthusiast, Davies Symphony Hall commands one corner while the San Francisco War Memorial Opera House reigns on the opposite corner.
By the turn of the 20th century, interest in having a symphony in San Francisco peaked. The first concerts were only matinees because the musicians played at local night venues to earn money. In 1915, San Francisco hosted the World’s Fair, and the Boston Symphony traveled across the country to perform to much acclaim. The German conductor, Alfred Hertz, who had conducted at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, became the first major conductor of the San Francisco Symphony. Dynamic and innovative, Hertz brought American contralto, Marion Anderson, to the stage at a time when she was barred from performing in Washington, DC because she was black. Hertz conducted the symphony until 1930.
The War Memorial Opera House might seem like a peculiar name for the beautiful Beaux-Arts structure where ballet and opera are performed. The Doric elements and grand columns that greet attendees were constructed in 1932 to honor World War I Veterans. This California Historical Landmark is the site where the first assembly of the United Nations was held in 1945, and where the Treaty of San Francisco was signed to establish peaceful relations after World War II. Inside, a grand entrance hall designed with a vaulted ceiling welcomes opera and ballet aficionados. To prepare viewers for the performance, the entry hall is often decorated to reflect the theme of the current opera or ballet. The tiered theater is crowned by a massive aluminum-and-glass chandelier, while gilded figurative sculptures decorate the arches of the 3,146-seat theater.
The opera performs in the fall and summer, and the ballet in winter and spring. The San Francisco Ballet, which is the oldest professional ballet school in the country, is located on the corner of Fulton and Franklin Streets. The ballet is set apart in the dance world by two incidents. Foremost, the company broke the mold of classical dance under the 37-year tenure of the recently retired artistic director and choreographer, Helgi Tomasson. Prior to Tomasson’s tenure, the ballet struggled financially, and in 1977, the Ballet Board decided to close it without informing the dancers. Little did the Board realize the determination and tenacity of the dancers. They went rogue and took to the streets, performing everywhere. They journeyed down to Hollywood asking for support. Lloyd Bridges was the first actor to contribute. When the famous American broadcaster, Walter Cronkite, broadcast the dancers’ plight on national TV, the Board pirouetted and had a change of heart. Today, the San Francisco Ballet is considered the premier dance company in the United States. The new Spanish artistic director and choreographer, Tamara Rojo, continues to innovate as she takes the company to new heights.
Veteran’s Building and Herbst Theater: Adjacent to the War Memorial Opera House, separated by a garden, stands the Veterans Building, which serves as both a community and performance space. The 900-seat Herbst Theater dominates the first of the four floors. Music, performances, lectures, receptions, and graduations are held throughout the building. The beautiful Green Room hosts private events, and the San Francisco Arts Collection Gallery is located on the building’s second floor. Every year in October, SF Music hosts a full day of music from various genres throughout the Veterans Building, free to the public.
On any given evening, Mozart’s Requiem might waft through Davies Symphony Hall at the same time Verdi’s Rigoletto La donna è mobile aria fills the Opera House while guitar virtuosos thrill the audience in the Herbst Theater, an abundance of the very best on the same block. If you adore the arts and architecture, or your heart’s desire is a night or afternoon out, the menu of stellar performances that enlighten and entertain is all within walking distance.
IF YOU GO: SFJAZZ Center, 201 Franklin Street, https://www.sfjazz.org; San Francisco Conservatory of Music Ann Getty Center, 50 Oak Street. https://sfcm.edu; Bowe’s Center for Performing Arts, 200 Van Ness Avenue, https://sfcm.edu; Sydney Goldstein Theater 275 Hayes Street, https://www.cityarts.net; Davies Symphony Hall, 201 Van Ness Avenue, https://www.sfsymphony.org; War Memorial Opera House, 301 Van Ness Avenue, https://www.warmemorial.org; San Francisco Ballet School, 455 Franklin Street, https://www.sfballet.org; War Memorial Veteran’s Building, 401 Van Ness Avenue, https://sfwarmemorial.org.
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