San Francisco’s Cultural Heartbeat

Davies Symphony Hall Performance

Text and photos by Stephanie Levin

Amidst the whirlwind of change in San Francisco neighborhoods, one corner of the city has remained steadfast to its cultural heartbeat. Within a four-block radius between Van Ness Avenue and Franklin Street reign a trove of artistic treasures: The SF Jazz Center, San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Sydney Goldstein Theater, Davies Symphony Hall, War Memorial Opera House, Herbst Veterans Building, and the ballet school. Each sprang from an idea, coupled with iconoclasts who wouldn’t take no for an answer.

Let’s start with all that jazz. The modern glass structure on the corner of Fell and Franklin Streets is the San Francisco Jazz Center, better known as SFJAZZ. Architect Mark Cavagnero designed the first performance center in the country dedicated to jazz. SFJAZZ opened in 2023, and while many worked on its extraordinary growth and popularity, the center’s visionary was Randall Kline.

Corner banner of SFJAZZ Center

When Kline motorcycled from New York to San Francisco in 1979, his idea to start a jazz festival was already percolating. The city gave him funds for his first jazz festival, which barely broke even. Undeterred, Kline asked the city for a second chance and again received funds, and Kline has been delivering jazz concerts ever since. Back then, these were called community festivals. My introduction was at the Hearst Theater, where these concerts were then performed. Truthfully, I wasn’t particularly drawn to jazz. It all seemed a bit discordant to my musical sensibility. However, after hearing jazz pianist Ahmad Jamal, I was smitten. Jazz, with all its distinct subgenres, had struck a latent chord, enriching and expanding my love of music.

Omar Sosa and Yilan Cañizares SFJAZZ Performance

SFJAZZ is a place where jazz and musicians freely evolve and change. This became apparent during the COVID pandemic when the shutdown crippled musicians’ opportunities to perform. Kline, who retired in 2023, was deeply connected to both jazz and the musicians. With his staff, he created the Artist Fund and streamed past shows online. SF Jazz members paid $5.00, non-members $10 to bring live-streamed concerts into homes across the country. The one million dollars raised went directly to the musicians to sustain them.

Percussionist extraordinaire and resident artist at SFJAZZ, John Santos

There are two performance venues at SFJAZZ: the Joe Henderson Lab, named after the late, great saxophonist Joe Henderson. This little gem seats 100, and serves as the center for rehearsal space, performances, and the thriving educational program that trains and mentors young jazz musicians. The larger concerts take place in the state-of-the-art, acoustically stellar Miner Auditorium. The 700 circular-seating capacity affords exceptional views of the small stage in a comfortable, informal environment.

SFJAZZ Center, 201 Franklin Street, https://www.sfjazz.org

Interior in the Conservatory of Music

Classical enthusiasts will find a different musical note in the San Francisco Conservatory of Music at 50 Oak Street, also known as the Ann Getty Center, named for its benefactor. The conservatory’s origin dates to 1917 when two musical pioneers, Ada Clement and Lillian Hodgehead, started a piano school in the Laurel Heights home of Lillian’s parents. The beginnings were humble, five teachers and four students. By 1923, recognizing the need for a West Coast music conservatory, the school incorporated and became the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. In 1956, it relocated to 19th Avenue and Ortega Street, where it remained for 50 years. In 2006, the conservatory moved to its permanent home at 50 Oak Street, replete with acoustic spaces for teaching, practicing, recording, as well as a stunning concert hall. The conservatory is home to one hundred Steinway and Yamaha pianos, a collection of Baroque instruments, and the Harris Guitar Collection.

Concert pianos, Conservatory of Music

Committed to a diverse musical community, it offers bachelor’s degrees in a variety of concentrations, from composition and conducting to percussion and piano, to name a few. Through a talented staff, the San Francisco Conservatory Getty Center continues to develop the musical potential and talent of young students from around the world. Weekly concerts are free, and the performances are a musical marvel. San Francisco Conservatory of Music Ann Getty Center, 50 Oak Street. https://sfcm.edu

Entrance to the San Fransico Converatory of Music, 50 Oak Street

With musical hopefuls pouring into San Francisco, the conservatory needed quarters to house students. Thus, the San Francisco Conservatory of Music Bowes Center for Performing Arts opened in 2021. A $46 million donation by philanthropist William K. Bowes spearheaded the 12-story structure. Designed by architect Mark Cavagnero, his signature glass design allows a view from the outside as well as an expansive view from the inside.

Like many artistic treasures, the Bowes Center has its own community history. Originally, the land where the Bowes Center now stands once housed 27 low-income apartments, many with families. The promise to these families which was to house them during construction and build apartments on the Bowes property for their return was fulfilled. The Bowes Center is completely soundproofed including the auditorium, smaller performance spaces, and the beautifully designed apartments for music students and visiting artists. KDFC’s classical music station also has its home in the building. While the Oak Street Conservatory offers a large auditorium and stage, Bowes Center offers smaller venues for single instruments as well as intimate chamber concerts, all free, or for a donation.

Bowes Center San Francisco Conservatory of Music

Bowes Center for Performing Arts, 200 Van Ness Avenue, https://sfcm.edu

If conversation and a catalyst to new ideas appeal to you, mosey on down the block to Hayes and Franklin Streets to the unassuming white building lined with photos of artists. This is the Sydney Goldstein Theater, formerly known as the Nourse Theater and Auditorium. The 1926 Spanish Revival Style building boasts a checkered history. Before it assumed its rightful place among the cultural stars, it hosted high school events, intermittent pageants, a temporary courtroom, and served as a 30-year storage space for the San Francisco Unified School District.

A street view advertising one of the many guests at City Arts & Lectures

In 1980, civic-minded Sydney Goldstein founded City Arts & Lectures. Goldstein’s distinctive vision was to invite compelling and diverse personalities to be interviewed on stage by her. Some of the early invitees were Susan Sontag, Joan Didion, and Robin Williams. Determined to induce luminaries to her stage, Goldstein typed invitation on her typewriter, followed by a phone call and resolute coercion. She invited some of the country’s most notable and thought-provoking individuals to be interviewed. Some accepted enthusiastically. Others took years to accept as a Goldstein continued to build City Arts and Lectures to the standout series it is today.

Interior Sydney Golstein City Arts and Lecture, photo courtesy Wikipedia

Until 2011, City Arts & Lectures held events at the Herbst Theater on Vanness Ness Avenue. When it closed for repairs in 2011, both SFJAZZ and the City Arts & Lectures were forced to seek new homes. Goldstein single-handedly oversaw the daunting renovation of the Nourse Theater for her program. The building was piled with boxes, papers, file cabinets, a wonky floor, and no stage. But Goldstein had a vision, and in 2013, the two-tiered auditorium opened its doors with a 1,687-seat capacity.

José Andrés, Michelin-Starred chef, founder World Food Kitchen

José Andrés in conversation with Laurene Powell Jobs

The theater has the feel of an intimate talk salon with notable artists, scientists, and writers, each in conversation with a different host. Sydney Goldstein died in 2018, and the Nourse was renamed in her honor. The Zen format remained true to Goldstein’s vision: two armchairs on the large stage, one for the guest, the other for the interviewer. For 90 minutes, the audience is privy to a comfortable conversation with some of the most stimulating individuals in their field. It is in this lovely theater that I saw the retired, San Francisco native, Supreme Court Justice, Stephen Bryer, authors Richard Powers, Abraham Verghese, Isabel Wilkerson, as well as renowned chefs, physicians and scientists. The conversations inform and stimulate, leaving the audience with kernels of knowledge and a desire to learn more.

If you are unable to obtain a ticket, (events can sell out quickly) the series is broadcast on public radio one week after each event. Sydney Goldstein Theater 275 Hayes Street, https://www.cityarts.net

Whether you are passing through San Francisco or are a resident, you’ve surely noticed the two cultural pillars dominating the corners of Van Ness Avenue and Grove Street. For the classical music enthusiast, Davies Symphony Hall commands one corner while the San Francisco War Memorial Opera House reigns on the opposite corner.

Davies Symphony Hall

War Memorial Opera House

By the turn of the 20th century, interest in having a symphony in San Francisco had peaked. The first concerts were only matinees because the musicians played at local night venues to earn money. In 1915, San Francisco hosted the World’s Fair, and the Boston Symphony travelled across the country to perform to much acclaim. The German conductor, Alfred Hertz, who had conducted at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, became the first major conductor of the San Francisco Symphony. Dynamic and innovative, Hertz brought American contralto, Marion Anderson, to the stage at a time when she was barred from performing in Washington, D.C. because she was black. Hertz conducted the symphony until 1930.

Davies Symphony Hall

Davies Symphony Hall opened in 1980 and was named after Louise M. Davies, the benefactor who raised the money to build a permanent home for the symphony. The first concert performed was named “Hard Hat Concert” because everyone who had worked on the construction of Davies was invited to the concert to honor their contribution to the City’s Symphony. The architecture combines both classic and contemporary styles. The sweeping glass lobbies offer extraordinary views of the city both day and night. There are two entrances, the main on Grove Street, or a second-floor entrance that eases into the elegant fan-shaped concert hall, where the musical magic happens.

Some of my favorite performances were conducted by the well-loved, and late Michael Tilson Thomas, known as MTT. Yet, everyone from the fiery Gustavo Dudamel to the cerebral Esa-Pekka Salonen has taken the podium with their batons.

Davies Symphony Hall, 201 Van Ness Avenue, https://www.sfsymphony.org

Poster for the Don Quixote Ballet

The War Memorial Opera House might seem like a peculiar name for the beautiful Beaux-Arts structure where the ballet and opera perform. The Doric elements and grand columns, which greet attendees, was constructed in 1932 to honor World War I Veterans. This California Historical Landmark is the site where the first assembly organized the United Nations in 1945, and where the Treaty of San Francisco was signed to establish peaceful relations after World War II.

Entrance to War Memorial Opera House

Inside, a grand entrance hall designed with a vaulted ceiling welcomes opera and ballet aficionados. To ready the viewers for the performance, the entry hall is often decorated to represent the theme of the current opera or ballet. The tiered theater is crowned by a massive aluminum and glass chandelier on the ceiling while gilded figurative sculptures decorate the arches of the 3,146-seat theater.

Artist's entrance to the War Memorial Opera House, and the reflection

The opera performs in the fall and summer, and the ballet in the winter and spring. The San Francisco Ballet, which is the oldest professional ballet school in the country, is located on the corner of Fulton and Franklin Streets.

Upper view of the San Francisco Ballet School

The San Francisco ballet is set apart in the dance world by two incidents. Foremost, the company broke the mold of classical dance under the 37-year tenure of the recently retired artistic director and choreographer, Helgi Tomasson. Before Tomasson’s tenure, the ballet struggled financially, and in 1977, the Ballet Board made the decision to close the ballet without informing the dancers. Little did the Board realize the determination and tenacity of the dancers. They went rogue and took to the streets, performing everywhere. They journeyed down to Hollywood asking for support. Lloyd Bridges was the first actor to contribute. When the famous American broadcaster, Walter Cronkite, broadcast the dancers’ plight on national TV, the Board pirouetted and had a change of heart. Today, the San Francisco Ballet is considered the premier dance company in the United States. The new Spanish artistic director and choreographer, Tamara Rojo, continues to innovate as she takes the company to new heights.

San Francisco Ballet's contemporary Mere Mortals focuses on AI and its ethical dilemmas

War Memorial Opera House, 301 Van Ness Avenue, https://www.warmemorial.org

San Francisco Ballet School, 455 Franklin Street, https://www.sfballet.org

Side view of the War Memorial Veterans Building

Adjacent to the War Memorial Opera House, separated by a garden, stands the Veterans Building, which serves as both a community and performance space. The 900-seat Herbst Theater dominates the first of the four floors. Music, performances, lectures, receptions, and graduations are held throughout the building. The beautiful Green Room hosts private events, and the San Francisco Arts Collection Gallery is located on the second floor of the building. Every year in October, SF Music hosts a full day of musical genres throughout the Veterans Building, free to the public.

Stained Glass tribute to veterans, War Memorial Veteran’s Building

War Memorial Veteran’s Building, 401 Van Ness Avenue, https://sfwarmemorial.org

On any given evening, Mozart’s Requiem might waft through Davies Symphony Hall at the same time Verdi’s Rigoletto La donna è mobile aria fills the Opera House while guitar virtuosos thrill the audience in the Herbst Theater, an abundance of the very best on the same block.

If you adore the arts and architecture, or your heart’s desire is a night or afternoon out, the menu of stellar performances that enlighten and entertain are all within walking distance.

**This story appeared in Travel Examiner, where you can view dozens of award-winning national and international travel destination articles. Visit here: https://travelexaminer.com/. **Originally published at https://travelexaminer.net on April 15, 2026.