PHOTO CREDIT: Agency Moanalani Jeffrey  

Chinese New Year celebrations are spectacular sights to be seen all around San Francisco, from the famous Chinese New Year parade to all of the festivities in between.  Celebrations traditionally run from the evening preceding the first day, to the Landern Festival  on the 15th day of the first calendar month. In 2017, the first day of the Chinese New Year was on Saturday, 28 January, initiating the Year of the Rooster.  One of the most grand Bay Area events to ring in the Lunar New Year was presented by The San Francisco Symphony.  

This year’s Lunar New Year celebration, held on Saturday, February 4 at Davies Symphony Hall, began with a reception at 3 p.m. in the Davies Symphony Hall lobbies with family-friendly entertainment and activities including arts and crafts, lion dancing, games, complimentary food, desserts, and tea bars. Following the family fun was the concert, Lead by Guest Conductor Mei-Ann Chen, featuring  guest soloist Tang Jun Qiao performing the dixi [a Chinese bamboo flute].

Ed Lee, Patti Lee-Hoffmann and Gorretti Lui

Over 500 guests attended the post-concert Imperial Dinner at the Zellerbach Rehearsal Hall at Davies. The celebration, chaired by Patricia Lee-Hoffmann, was made possible through the generous support of FLUTTER Eyewear and event underwriters, Thao & Jerome Dodson and Dr. Peter & Mindy Sun, and concert underwriters John & Sherry Chen. Catered by McCalls and designed by Blueprint Studios and Got Light, the Imperial Dinner was is presented in partnership with the San Francisco Arts Commission. 

Proceeds from the Lunar New Year celebration will benefit the Symphony’s myriad of community outreach and education programs, which offer comprehensive music education in all of San Francisco’s public elementary schools, free training to talented young musicians in the Youth Orchestra, and low-cost children’s concerts that reach thousands of students across Northern California.

The San Francisco Symphony Presents Its Lunar New Year Celebration on February 4, 2017

Jun Qiao Tang

Luo Linquan and Qiao Li

Thao Dodson, Patti Lee Hoffman and Pauline Le

Lisa Kieu and Joanna Michel