S.F. Symphony Hosts 19th Annual Día de los Muertos Celebration

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Conductor José Luis Gómez leads performances of traditional and contemporary Latin American composers, with violinist Francisco Fullana and dancers from Casa Círculo.

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The San Francisco Symphony will present its 19th annual Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) celebration at Davies Symphony Hall on Saturday, November 7. The event features a concert program of traditional and contemporary Latin American music, preceded by a festive array of family-friendly activities.

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José Luis Gómez conducts the San Francisco Symphony in the concert program, which includes music by Carlos Chávez, Evencio Castellanos Yumar, Arturo Márquez, and José Pablo Moncayo García. Violinist Francisco Fullana joins the Symphony to perform Márquez’s Folia Tropical from Fandango for Violin and Orchestra; salterio players David Hernández Pozos and Claudio Israel Vázquez Herrera from Ensamble Típico del Estado de Tlaxcala perform the world premiere of Luis Farfán Carrillo’s El Baile de la Catrina; and dancers from Casa Círculo Cultural are featured throughout the concert.

Every year leading up to the Symphony’s Day of the Dead celebration, the lobbies of Davies Symphony Hall are transformed with immersive art installations and altars built by local artists to honor the living and the deceased. Curated by longtime SF Symphony collaborator Martha Rodríguez-Salazar, this year’s celebration is dedicated to the Mexican state of Tlaxcala, a land of deep ancestral roots, extraordinary cultural richness, and a worldview in which life and death remain in constant dialogue. The event includes preconcert activities for families, including live catrinas and interactive altars.

Tickets can be purchased online at sfsymphony.org , by calling the box office at 415.864.6000, or by visiting the box office located on Grove Street between Van Ness Avenue and Franklin Street. Tickets are 50% off for children and young adults under 18.

The Día de los Muertos Concert is presented in partnership with the San Francisco Arts Commission. The mission of The San Francisco Arts Commission is to invest in an arts community where all artists and cultural workers have the freedom, resources, and platform to share their stories, regardless of race. The San Francisco Arts Commission believes that art is critical to shaping neighborhoods and the urban environment and for fostering social change to confront and resolve the inequities of the past and present to move towards a more equitable future.

Conductor José Luis Gómez makes his San Francisco Symphony debut in the annual Día de los Muertos concert. Dancers from Casa Círculo Cultural are featured throughout the concert, adding to the immersive experience. Gómez opens the program with Carlos Chávez’s exciting, fast-paced Toccata, and Evencio Castellanos Yumar’s El río de las siete estrellas, inspired by a poem by Venezuelan writer and politician Andrés Eloy Blanco. Violinist Francisco Fullana makes his SF Symphony debut performing Arturo Márquez’s Folia Tropical from Fandango for Violin and Orchestra. The composer writes, “Fandango is known worldwide as a popular Spanish dance and specifically, as one of the fundamental parts of flamenco... I had known this music since I was a child, listening to it in the cinema, on the radio and listening to my father, a mariachi violinist, interpret huasteco and mariachi music.” Gómez conducts José Pablo Moncayo García’s Huapango, inspired by the folkloric music of Veracruz, followed by the world premiere of Tlaxcalteca composer and arranger Luis Farfán Carrillo’s El Baile de la Catrina, performed by salterio players David Hernández Pozos and Claudio Israel Vázquez Herrera from the Ensamble Típico del Estado de Tlaxcala. The salterio is Tlaxcala’s most emblematic musical instrument, whose distinctive sound and tradition has been preserved by generations of musicians and artisans. The program closes with Chávez’s Zarabanda from La hija de Cólquide, a ballet score based on Greek mythology and originally commissioned for Martha Graham , and Márquez’s Danzón No. 2, an extremely popular Mexican contemporary classical work.

Venezuelan-born Spanish conductor José Luis Gomez was catapulted to international attention when he won first prize at the International Sir Georg Solti Conductors’ Competition in 2010 in Frankfurt. He quickly earned admiration among the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra’s musicians and their music director Paavo Järvi, launching his conducting career. Music director of the Tucson Symphony since 2016, Gomez has consistently crafted compelling programs, many of which are juxtaposed with lesser-known composers from South America whom he champions, expanding and enriching the orchestra’s repertoire. He has worked diligently to provide innovative and engaging outreach activities and education projects, as well as new commissions. Recent and upcoming highlights include appearances with the National Symphony Orchestra, Rhode Island Philharmonic, Indianapolis Symphony, Houston Symphony, Phoenix Symphony, Puerto Rico Symphony, New Zealand Symphony, Vancouver Symphony, Orquestra Sinfônica Brasileira, Orquesta Filarmónica de Bogotá, and Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional del Perú.

A native of Mallorca, Spain, Francisco Fullana is a distinguished performer, leader, and innovative educator. As a soloist he has appeared with the Bavarian Philharmonic, Munich Radio Orchestra, and Simón Bolívar Symphony under Gustavo Dudamel . He has also appeared with the Birmingham Symphony, Charlotte Symphony, SWR Deutsche Philharmonie, Pacific Symphony, Buffalo Symphony, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Apollo’s Fire, and Metropolis Ensemble. Fullana is artist in residence of the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia and artistic advisor and curator at the Orchestra of San Antonio. Recent and upcoming highlights include appearances with the Tucson Symphony, Florida Orchestra, Phoenix Symphony, Jalisco Symphony, and Indianapolis Symphony. Fullana received the 2023 Darioush and Shahpar Khaledi Prize from Festival Napa Valley and first prizes at the Johannes Brahms, Julio Cardona, and Japan’s Munetsugu Angel competitions. A graduate of the Royal Conservatory of Madrid, the Juilliard School, and USC’s Thornton School of Music, he performs on the 1735 “Mary Portman” ex-Kreisler Guarneri del Gesù violin, on loan from the Stradivari Society of Chicago.

David Hernández Pozos is a salterio player, educator, and advocate for the traditional music of Tlaxcala, with more than 20 years of experience dedicated to preserving and promoting the instrument. Raised in Atltzayanca, he graduated from the Escuela de Música del Estado de Tlaxcala (EMET) as an instrumentalist. His work encompasses both salterio performance and the preservation of traditional salterio-making. Hernández Pozos has worked with children in his community as a musical accompanist at the preschool level and as a teacher of music theory at the Escuela de Salterio. He is currently a member of the Ensamble Típico de la Escuela de Música del Estado de Tlaxcala and the group Salterios de Atltzayanca, through which he promotes salterio music and the transmission of its traditions to younger generations. He has performed at national and international events, including at the Embassy of Mexico in Berlin, as well as festivals such as the Guelaguetza, Festival de las Almas, Festival Mikilis, and Festival de Música Raíz México. He has also accompanied folkloric dance groups from Tlaxcala at performances throughout Mexico. He makes his San Francisco Symphony debut with this performance.

Claudio Israel Vázquez Herrera is a salterio player, educator, and advocate for the traditional music of Tlaxcala. Born in Tlaxcala and raised from an early age in Atltzayanca, where the salterio is part of a multigenerational musical tradition, he began studying the instrument at age 11 with Leonardo Sánchez Valencia. Since then, he has dedicated his career to performing, teaching, preserving, and developing the salterio tradition. In 2021, he graduated with honors from the Escuela de Música del Estado de Tlaxcala (EMET), specializing in salterio. He has participated in concerts, festivals, and cultural projects in Mexico and the United States. His recordings include work with the salterio ensembles Ayer, Hoy y Siempre, and Huellas de Arte, as well as projects featuring traditional and contemporary music for salterio. In 2025, he participated in the International Salterio Festival of Tlaxcala, where he performed two world premieres of contemporary works for the instrument. He is the founder of the Escuela Nacional de Salterio in Tlaxcala, dedicated to academic training in salterio, harp, vihuela, and guitarrón, and currently serves as deputy director of EMET. Through these institutions, he works to preserve, teach, and promote the salterio tradition while supporting new works and artistic approaches for the instrument. He is currently leading efforts to establish the first salterio-making workshop at EMET, scheduled to open in late 2026. He makes his San Francisco Symphony debut with this performance.

Ensamble Típico del Estado de Tlaxcala is a faculty ensemble of Escuela de Música del Estado de Tlaxcala (EMET), an institution with more than 30 years of experience in professional music education. The ensemble is dedicated to preserving, revitalizing, and promoting the traditional music of Tlaxcala and Mexico, creating new arrangements for traditional instruments that have gradually fallen out of common use but remain essential to the region’s musical and cultural identity. In its three years of activity, the ensemble has performed at important venues and festivals throughout Mexico, including the Centro Cultural Los Pinos in Mexico City, Teatro de la Ciudad in San Cristóbal de las Casas, the International Bolero Festival, and the International Book Festival in Xalapa. Its members are accomplished performers and educators who have also brought their music to audiences nationally and internationally through concerts, workshops, and lectures. Through both performance and education, the ensemble contributes to the preservation and transmission of Mexico’s musical traditions while developing new approaches to teaching these historic instruments at EMET.

Casa Círculo Cultural, based in Redwood City, is a grassroots, multidisciplinary arts organization dedicated to celebrating and preserving Mexican culture and the arts. Since its founding in May 2009, it has served as a vital bridge between Mexican traditions and the local community, offering diverse cultural programming that reflects the richness and experiences of Latino communities across the Bay Area. With a strong record of hosting vibrant cultural celebrations, Casa Círculo Cultural produces theater, concerts, visual arts exhibitions, and music classes, and also operates a community radio station. Deeply committed to fostering creativity and opportunity, the organization provides after-school programs and adult classes that empower underserved Latino youth and adults to thriv

_Originally reported by [BroadwayWorld](https://www.broadwayworld.com/san-francisco/article/SF-Symphony-to-Present-19th-Annual-Da-de-los-Muertos-Celebration-20261006)._