The Vienna Philharmonic is coming to California for an exclusive residency and tour this March.
Presented by Cal Performances at UC Berkeley and the Philharmonic Society of Orange County, the Maria Manetti Shrem and Elizabeth Segerstrom orchestra residency will bring the Vienna Philharmonic and conductor Yannick Nézet- Séguin to
Zellerbach Hall hosted by Cal Performances March 5–7, and to Orange County with two performances at the Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall March 9 and 11, hosted by Philharmonic Society.
The five concerts are the Vienna Philharmonic’s only 2025 appearances in the United States outside of a visit to Carnegie Hall. Grammy Award-winning pianist Yefim Bronfman will join the orchestra in both venues for performances of Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 3.
Also in both venues, the Vienna Philharmonic will perform Richard Strauss’ epic Ein Heldenleben (A Hero’s Life); Schubert’s Symphony No. 4, Tragic; and Dvořák’s Symphony No. 9, From the New World.
Both Cal Performances and the Philharmonic Society will celebrate the residency with a host of festivities, including the Cal Performances Gala on March 7, 2025, and a Viennese Ball as part of the Philharmonic Society’s annual gala event on March 9, 2025.
The spring 2025 Vienna Philharmonic residency in California is the vision of Cal Performances Executive and Artistic Director Jeremy Geffen and Philharmonic Society President and Artistic Director Tommy Phillips. It is made possible by major funding from longtime leading California arts philanthropists Elizabeth Segerstrom of Orange County and Maria Manetti Shrem from the San Francisco Bay Area.
According to information from Segerstrom Center, the exceptional level of generosity and support from Manetti Shrem and Segerstrom has been instrumental for both Cal Performances’ and Philharmonic Society’s artistic endeavors and their missions to bring world-renowned artists to California residents.
There is perhaps no other musical ensemble more closely associated with the history and tradition of European classical music than the Vienna Philharmonic, among the most respected and admired musical ensembles in the world today.
The Vienna Philharmonic first appeared at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts in 2002 with conductor Bernard Haitink. The orchestra returned in 2011 with Semyon Bychkov, and most recently in 2014 with Lorin Maazel.
A highly regarded and dynamic conductor, Yannick Nézet-Séguin has enjoyed a long relationship with the Vienna Philharmonic since he first led them in performances in 2010. Nézet-Séguin concurrently holds the prestigious positions of Music Director of the Metropolitan Opera; Artistic and Music Director of the Philadelphia Orchestra; and Music Director and Principal Conductor of the Orchestre Métropolitain of Montreal in his home province of Quebec, Canada.
“The longtime support and commitment of Elizabeth Segerstrom and Maria Manetti Shrem to each of our organizations has been invaluable,” said the Philharmonic Society’s Tommy Phillips. “We are thrilled that these two arts lovers have come together to share their passion for classical music and are making this vision a reality for our audiences.”
Elizabeth Segerstrom is Co-Managing Director of C.J. Segerstrom & Sons and serves on the Board of Directors of Segerstrom Center for the Arts. Born in Olsztyn, Poland, she holds a doctoral degree in psychology and is an accomplished entrepreneur and published author.
After moving to Orange County in 2000, she and her late husband Henry Segerstrom partnered with the Philharmonic Society of Orange County on initiatives that resulted in greatly enhanced musical and cultural offerings in Southern California.
In 2003, she was involved in the final design of the Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall, which opened in 2006 and is home to the Pacific Symphony, Pacific Chorale, and Philharmonic Society of Orange County.
She chaired the six-week opening celebration of the new concert hall as well as the opening of the more intimate Samueli Theater. She and her husband helped create the Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall.
The year it opened, the two were instrumental in bringing a three-week Mariinsky Festival that featured the first Southern California presentation of Wagner’s Ring Cycle. The following year, they launched the new Elizabeth and Henry Segerstrom Select Series with the Philharmonic Society of Orange County, which continues to bring the highest quality of internationally acclaimed performances to the Segerstrom Center for the Arts.
In 2007, she was honored for her contributions to the region by the Guilds of the Center, a support group for the Orange County Performing Arts Center. In 2011 she received the Golden Baton Award from the Philharmonic Society for her extraordinary dedication to the arts in Southern California.
In addition to supporting Segerstrom Center for the Arts and the Philharmonic Society of Orange County, she is an active supporter of many other organizations, including American Ballet Theatre, Carnegie Hall, LA Opera, Turnaround Arts: California, and American Friends of the Louvre, among others. In 2022, she underwrote and co-presented Reunited in Dance, followed by the United Ukrainian Ballet in 2023.
Maria Manetti Shrem has had an influential career in the fashion industry, establishing Gucci as a globally revered brand. Today, her focus is philanthropy, as she and her husband, Jan Shrem, plan to give away the bulk of their wealth during their lifetimes: “We are determined to give with warm hands, and not cold ones after passing,” Maria Manetti Shrem declared. “We intend to motivate youth and inspire other benefactors to do the same.”
Since the mid-1990s, organizations, including Cal Performances, across the fields of fine arts, education, science, and music, located in the San Francisco Bay Area, New York, the United Kingdom, and Manetti Shrem’s home country of Italy, especially Florence, have been the beneficiaries of their largesse. A deep admirer of performing artists, Manetti Shrem has fostered many professional and personal connections among musicians and counts sopranos Renée Fleming and Nadine Sierra, and tenor Michael Fabiano, as personal friends.
Note: The March 9 concert is sold out, but tickets are available for the March 11 concert. Visit www.philharmonicsociety.org.
