Music .

The San Francisco Symphony is celebrating its centennial season. From the ashes of the great San Francisco earthquake and fire of 1906 rose the passionate desire of a community to embrace music and build an orchestra to restore its spirit. Thus the San Francisco Symphony was born a few years later, and it has spanned the past century to become a cultural gem in one of the most interesting and progressive cities in America and the world. This centennial gala concert program, by acclaimed writer and San Francisco native Amy Tan, features SFS music director Michael Tilson Thomas with guest artists Itzhak Perlman and Lang Lang performing works by Copland, Mendelssohn and Britten. Concert footage is interwoven with short video stories highlighting unique moments in the symphony’s history, as well as interviews with the performers and luminaries in the audience.

Watch Great Performances Friday, March 30, 2012 at 9pm.