Mr. Thomas made a graceful request to the audience at Davies Hall to be as quiet as possible, and everyone complied admirably.
The construction of Davies Hall allowed the symphony to expand to a full-time, year-round schedule.
Her passionate lectures in Davies Hall, usually with over 100 students, inspired and awed them.
(Occasionally the sound is damaged by the recording venue, the infamous Davies Hall in San Francisco, an acoustical catastrophe that finally underwent total renovation last summer.)
The San Francisco Symphony performs at Davies Hall from September through July.
In a two-year, $10.2 million renovation project, the interior of Davies Hall has been opened up with aisles and tightened with new walls and fewer seats.
The puzzle of opera-in-concert as a medium - solo singers and a loud orchestra competing toe to toe on a level stage - is finessed at Davies Hall.
This American festival, which runs through June 29, began with an orchestral program on Friday and Saturday in Davies Hall.
It was completed in August 1987 and given its premier that year on 7 October conducted by Michael Tilson Thomas in Davies Hall.
This became possible as San Francisco now had two major classical venues, Davies Hall and the War Memorial Opera House.