Jacob Nissly

Jacob Nissly is a percussionist appearing as soloist with the San Francisco Symphony in the world premiere of Rene Orth's Concerto for Harp and Percussion, led by Esa-Pekka Salonen. He is known in the orchestral world as a principal percussionist with a major American orchestra, and this engagement places him in the rare role of concerto soloist rather than section player.

In this program, listeners will hear Nissly step out from the orchestra's percussion section to the front of the stage for Rene Orth's newly commissioned Concerto for Harp and Percussion, a piece that pairs two instrument families rarely featured together as soloists. Expect the percussion writing to explore contrasts between pitched instruments, such as mallet instruments that ring out melodies, and unpitched drums or cymbals that punctuate rhythm. As a world premiere, the concerto offers no recorded precedent, so the performance itself sets the interpretive template. The second half turns to Berlioz's Symphonie fantastique, a work full of vivid orchestral color, including offstage effects and thunderous timpani passages near its close, where a strong percussion section shapes the piece's dramatic final movements.