by the El Reportero staff
Three years after making his San Francisco Symphony debut, Venezuelan conductor Rafael Payare is returning to Davies Symphony Hall, this time at the helm of one of Canada’s most celebrated orchestras, the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal.
Payare will lead the Montreal Symphony on Sunday, Oct. 25, as part of the San Francisco Symphony’s 2026–27 season. Acclaimed Greek violinist Leonidas Kavakos will join the orchestra for Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto, while Payare will also conduct Shostakovich’s powerful Symphony No. 10.
The appearance marks another chapter in a remarkable international career that El Reportero followed when Payare made his San Francisco Symphony debut in May 2023.
Born in Barcelona, Venezuela, Payare entered the world of classical music through El Sistema, Venezuela’s internationally recognized music education program. He began studying the French horn at age 14 and eventually became principal horn of the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra, performing under some of the world’s most distinguished conductors.
His path eventually moved from playing in the orchestra to standing in front of it.
Payare studied conducting with El Sistema founder José Antonio Abreu and attracted international attention after winning first prize at Denmark’s Malko Competition for Young Conductors in 2012. Since then, his career has taken him to major concert halls and orchestras throughout Europe and North America.
Today, Payare serves as Music and Artistic Director of the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal and Music Director of the San Diego Symphony. His work has placed the Venezuelan musician among a prominent generation of Latin American conductors who have achieved international recognition in classical music.
His October visit also brings Payare back to a hall where Bay Area audiences have already seen him at work. In 2023, he conducted the San Francisco Symphony in Richard Strauss’ Ein Heldenleben during his debut engagement with the orchestra.
This time, however, he arrives with his own Montreal ensemble, giving local audiences an opportunity to hear the musical partnership he has developed with the orchestra he has led since 2022.
For Bay Area Latino audiences, Payare’s return carries an additional connection: a Venezuelan musician whose beginnings in a publicly supported youth music program ultimately led to the podiums of some of the world’s leading orchestras.
The Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, conducted by Rafael Payare, performs Sunday, Oct. 25, at Davies Symphony Hall, 201 Van Ness Ave., San Francisco.
Photo caption: Venezuelan conductor Rafael Payare returns to Davies Symphony Hall Oct. 25 leading the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal. Photo courtesy of OSM.
