Beyond Borders: North American Music Initiative
Rafael Payare and the San Diego Symphony are launching Beyond Borders: North American Music Initiative, a growing network of artistic relationships connecting San Diego with communities and cultural institutions in Mexico and Canada. The initiative builds on the Symphony’s sustained work in Baja California and expands that cross-border perspective north through a new artistic relationship...
Rafael Payare’s 2026–27 Season Highlights
Conductor Rafael Payare leads full seasons of performances in 2026–27 as Music and Artistic Director of both California’s San Diego Symphony (SDSO) and Canada’s Orchestre symphonique de Montréal (Montreal Symphony Orchestra/OSM), while also returning to the New York Philharmonic, Orchestre de Paris, and San Francisco Symphony. Highlights of Payare’s season with the SDSO include their...
San Diego Symphony & Rafael Payare announce release of Shostakovich Symphony No. 7 on Delos
Marking their first recording with Delos/Outhere Music (OH Music), the San Diego Symphony (SDSO) and Music and Artistic Director Rafael Payare announce the release of Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 7, “Leningrad,” recorded live in May 2025 in the recently renovated Jacobs Music Center and representing the first release to highlight the enhanced acoustics of the celebrated...
SDS and Payare Announce Spring 2027 European Tour
The San Diego Symphony announces a major milestone in its history: the Orchestra’s first-ever European tour, taking place over nine days in spring 2027. Under the direction of Music and Artistic Director Rafael Payare, the Symphony will perform five concerts in some of Europe’s most prestigious venues, introducing international audiences to the “San Diego Sound.”...
Payare and OSM on Tour
Today, the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal begins its 60th international tour, performing at European festivals in Edinburgh, Warsaw, Aarhus, and Hamburg under the direction of Payare. The OSM will be joined by several distinguished soloists for this tour featuring various programs. In two concerts at the Edinburgh International Festival, the OSM will perform Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s...
Payare and OSM Featured in Financial Times Ahead of Edinburgh International Festival Performances
A Financial Times feature on Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s Scenes from The Song of Hiawatha is out now ahead of Rafael Payare and the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal’s performances of the piece at the Edinburgh International Festival on August 19 (with an additional program at the festival on August 20). “I had heard about the piece, but...
Summer Highlights
Shostakovich’s Tenth Symphony will be a cornerstone of Rafael Payare’s performances with the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal (Montreal Symphony Orchestra/OSM) this summer, in Quebec and on tour. They perform three programs at Quebec’s Festival de Lanaudière in July and August, with the first program featuring the Shostakovich along with Beethoven’s Egmont Overture and Gabriela Ortiz’s...
Contract Renewed with OSM Through 2032
Canada’s Orchestre symphonique de Montréal (Montreal Symphony Orchestra/OSM) has just announced the renewal of Music and Artistic Director Rafael Payare’s contract for a five-year term through the 2031–32 season. Payare will devote 14 to 16 weeks each season to the Montreal orchestra. The OSM places a strong emphasis on international tours, studio recordings, and broadcasts,...
