The San Francisco Ballet Orchestra has been internationally recognized as one of the world’s finest ballet orchestras. Founded in October 1975, the orchestra has played for numerous recordings including, in order of most recent release:
CDs
Dvořák & Tchaikovsky
Soloist/Orchestra: John-Henry Crawford (cello), San Francisco Ballet Orchestra
Conductor: Martin West
Release Date: June 28th, 2024
Label: Orchid Classics
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Swimmer
SwimmerComposer: Shinji Eshima
Artists: San Francisco Ballet Orchestra and Martin West
Release Date: June 14, 2023
Available on Amazon, Spotify, and Apple Music.
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Frankenstein
Composer: Lowell Liebermann
Artists: San Francisco Ballet Orchestra and Martin West
Label: Reference Recordings
Release Date: November 19, 2021
Review: https://shorturl.at/dvDHN
Available on Amazon, Spotify, and Reference Recordings.
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Moritz Moszkowski: From Foreign Lands
- Composer: Moritz Moszkowski
- Artists: San Francisco Ballet Orchestra and Martin West
- Label: Reference Recordings RR-138
- Release Date: September 9, 2016
- Get it on Amazon: http://amzn.to/2aHgOID
- Review: http://www.concertonet.com/scripts/cd.php?ID_cd=3825
Reference Recordings: http://referencerecordings.com
“Moritz Moszkowski (1854-1925) is most known for his scintillating piano compositions. He also composed an opera, a full-length ballet, three orchestral suites, a symphony (still in manuscript form), songs, concertos, and chamber music—almost all of which remain neglected or forgotten. How unfortunate!
“San Francisco Ballet Orchestra music director and principal conductor, Martin West, approached Reference Recordings with the hope that there were enough orchestral works by Moritz Moszkowski to record a CD-length program. After identifying and locating numerous scores, this project of re-discovering the music of Moritz Moszkowski became a reality. Using From Foreign Lands as a starting point, we were able to assemble an intriguing program of, largely, first recordings of Moszkowski’s most memorable and melodious orchestral compositions. This delightful program is the San Francisco Ballet Orchestra’s fourth release with Reference Recordings and 2016 marks the 40th anniversary of the SF Ballet orchestra!” — Reference Recordings
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Debuts as #1 on iTunes!!
Conversations With Nijinsky, Ghosts, A Parting Grace
On Spotify: https://sptfy.com/Nhwc
SFBO Musicians: In the Studio With Kip Winger
C.F. Kip Winger Celebrates the Life of Dancer and Choreographer Vaslav Nijinsky:
http://prn.to/1SvUZLN (Recorded at Skywalker Sound on March 11 and 12, 2015.)
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Ask Your Mama: Twelve Moods for Jazz
- Best Classical Compendium — GRAMMY Nominee
- Best Engineered Album, Classical — GRAMMY WINNER
- Producer of the Year, Classical — GRAMMY WINNER
Composer: Laura Karpman
Based on the Langston Hughes poem
Recorded (2014) at Skywalker Sound featuring vocalists Angela Brown, Janai Brugger, Nneena Freelon, and Medusa with Questlove (drummer for The Roots), pianist David Loeb, and San Francisco Ballet Orchestra. George Manahan (Conductor)
Label: Avie Records. Release Date: July 3, 2015
Official website – http://www.askyourmama.com/
See post: https://www.sanfranciscoballetorchestra.org/ask-your-mama-twelve-moods-for-jazz/
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Clarinet Concerti No. 1 & 2, Concertino for Clarinet in E flat major
Composer: Carl Maria von Weber
Label: Bridge Records, Recorded at Skywalker Sound, Marin County, California
Release Date: 10/08/2013
Conductor: Martin West
Soloist/Orchestra: Alexander Fiterstein (clarinet), San Francisco Ballet Orchestra
Available on: Amazon, Challenge Records
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Symphony In C, Jeux D’enfants, Variations Chromatiques
Composer: Georges Bizet
Label: Reference Recordings, Release Date: 09/10/2013
Recording Location: Skywalker Sound, Marin County, California
Conductor: Martin West
Orchestra/Ensemble: San Francisco Ballet Orchestra
Additional credits
Available on: Amazon, Spotify, Reference Recordings
Tom Sawyer: A Ballet in Three Acts
Composer: Maury Yeston
Label: PS Classics
Release Date: August 27, 2013
Recorded March 13, 2013 to March 15, 2013 at Skywalker Sound, Marin County, California
Conductor: Martin West
Orchestra/Ensemble: San Francisco Ballet Orchestra
Available on: Amazon, PS Classics
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Triple Concerto Opus 56 /Piano Trio in E-flat Major, Op. 1 No. 1 (Claremont Piano Trio)
Composer: Ludwig van Beethoven
Label: Bridge Records, Recorded at Skywalker Sound, Marin County, California
Release Date: December 11, 2012, Conductor: Martin West
Orchestra/Ensemble: Claremont Trio (Emily Bruskin – violin, Julia Bruskin – cello, Andrea Lam – piano), San Francisco Ballet Orchestra
Available on: Amazon, Challenge Records, iTunes
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Coppélia/Sylvia Extended Suites from the Ballets
Composer: Leo Delibes
Label: Reference Recordings , Recorded at Skywalker Sound, Marin County, California
Release Date: March 13, 2012
Conductor Martin West
Orchestra/Ensemble: San Francisco Ballet Orchestra
Available on: Amazon, Arkiv Music, Reference Recordings
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RAkU
Composer: Shinji Eshima
Label: San Francisco Ballet
Release Date: March 13, 2012
Recorded at Skywalker Sound, Marin County, California, April 22, 2011
Conductor Martin West
Orchestra/Ensemble: San Francisco Ballet Orchestra, Chanters of the San Francisco Zen Center
Available on: Amazon, San Francisco Ballet
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My First Ballet Collection
Composers: Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Louis Ferdinand Herold, Felix Mendelssohn, Adolphe Adam
Choreography: Various
Release Date: October 27, 2009
Label: Opus Arte
Conductors: Valeriy Ovsyanikov, Martin West, Anthony Twiner, Stewart Kershaw
Orchestra/Ensemble: Royal Opera House Covent Garden Orchestra, San Francisco Ballet Orchestra, BBC Concert Orchestra
Available on: Amazon
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Russian Masterpieces for Cello and Orchestra (Shostakovich Cello Concert, Tchaikovsky Rococo Variations, etc., Zuill Bailey, Cello)
Composers: Dmitri Shostakovich, Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Label: Telarc
Release Date: January 27, 2009, Recorded at Skywalker Sound, Marin County, California
Conductor: Martin West
Soloist/Orchestra: Zuill Bailey with San Francisco Ballet Orchestra
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The Nutcracker Op. 71
Composer: Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Label: Koch International Classics, Recorded at Skywalker Sound in Marin County, CA, Fall, 2007.
Release Date: 10/14/2008
Conductor: Martin West
Orchestra/Ensemble: San Francisco Ballet Orchestra, San Francisco Boys Chorus
Available on: Amazon, San Francisco Ballet
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The Dinner Music Series: The Nutcracker Ballet
Composer: Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Label: Menus & Music/O’Brien Enterprises, Release Date: 2005
© Copyright – Menus and Music Productions, Inc. / Menus and Music Productions, Inc.
Conductor: Denis de Coteau
Ensemble/Orchestra: San Francisco Ballet Orchestra
Available on: Menus & Music
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Claude Debussy: Rediscovered, Premiere Orchestral Recordings
Composer: Claude Debussy
Label: Arabesque Records
Release Date: Release Date Mar 07, 2000, Recorded 1999 at Skywalker Sound, Marin County, California
Conductor: Emil de Cou
Orchestra/Ensemble: San Francisco Ballet Orchestra
Available on: Amazon
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Handel, Schoenberg, Spohr & Elgar – Works for String Quartet & Orchestra
- Producer of the Year, Classical — Adam Abeshouse, GRAMMY WINNER
Composers: George Frideric Handel, Arnold Schoenberg, Louis Spohr and Edward Elgar
Label: Arabesque Records
Release date: February 23, 1999.
Recorded at Skywalker Sound, Marin County, California.
Conductor: Jean-Louis LeRoux.
Orchestra/Ensemble: San Francisco Ballet Orchestra with the Lark String Quartet (Diane Pascal: violin, Jennifer Orchard: violin, Anna Kruger: viola, Astrid Schween: cello)
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Othello—Suite from the Ballet by Elliot Goldenthal, Lar Lubovitch’s Othello
Composer: Elliot Goldenthal
Label: Varese Sarabande Records
Release Date: June 2, 1998
Recording Location: Davies Symphony Hall, San Francisco, CA
Conductor: Emil de Cou
Orchestra/Ensemble: San Francisco Ballet Orchestra
Available on: Amazon
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Christmas Cookies: The Nutcracker Ballet
Composer: Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Also released as: Nutcracker Sweet
© Copyright – Menus and Music Productions, Inc. / Menus and Music Productions, Inc.
Label: O’Brien Enterprises, Release Date: 1992
Conductor: Denis de Coteau
Ensemble/Orchestra: San Francisco Ballet Orchestra
Available on: Amazon, Menus & Music
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The Nutcracker
Composer: Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Label: O’Brien Enterprises
Recorded at Skywalker Sound in Marin County, CA in 1988 (The first orchestral recording at Skywalker Sound.)
Conductor: Denis de Coteau
Ensemble/Orchestra: San Francisco Ballet Orchestra
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The Tempest—Complete Ballet by Paul Chihara
Composer: Paul Chihara
Label: Reference Recordings, Format: LP/CD – Michael Smuin’s The Tempest, Recording by the Moss Group. 2-record set. Released in 1982. Recorded April 7, 1981.
Conductor: Jean-Louis LeRoux
Orchestra/Ensemble: San Francisco Ballet Orchestra recorded this under the name “Performing Arts Orchestra” in 1981
Review: http://www.allmusic.com/album/paul-chihara-the-tempest-mw0000877281
Available on: Amazon, Reference Recordings
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Ballet DVDs Featuring San Francisco Ballet Orchestra
The Little Mermaid: San Francisco Ballet
Composer: Lera Auerbach
Choreography: John Neumeier
Release Date: November 15, 2011
Label: C Major
Conductor: Martin West
Orchestra/Ensemble: San Francisco Ballet Orchestra
Filmed at the San Francisco War Memorial Opera House
DVD format: Regular and Blu-ray
Available on: Amazon, San Francisco Ballet
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The Nutcracker: San Francisco Ballet
Composer: Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Choreography: Helgi Tomasson
Release Date: November 18, 2008
Label: Opus Arte
Conductor: Martin West
Orchestra/Ensemble: San Francisco Ballet Orchestra
Filmed at the San Francisco War Memorial Opera House
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Othello: San Francisco Ballet
Composer: Elliot Goldenthal
Choreography: Lar Lubovitch
Release Date: June 10, 2003
Label: Kultur Video
Conductor: Emil de Cou
Orchestra/Ensemble: San Francisco Ballet Orchestra
Filmed at the San Francisco War Memorial Opera House
Broadcast (TV) – Co-produced by KQED (San Francisco) and WNET (New York) for the PBS series “Dance in America” series, aired on June 18, 2003.
DVD format: Regular and Blu-ray
Available on: Amazon