After nearly three decades of a prominent career with San Francisco Symphony, Publications Director Larry Rothe is retiring on March 1. Besides writing and editing program notes and features, Rothe has made many contributions to the SFS, and his work as author of acclaimed books on the music and composers have established him as a leading voice of classical music.
Rothe joined the SFS Publications Department in 1984. During his years with the Symphony, he has worked closely with writers in developing program notes and feature articles, and he has written much of the program book’s content, including musical commentary and essays.
Three books are the products of his Symphony tenure: Music for a City, Music for the World (Chronicle Books, 2011), co-authored with Michael Steinberg the popular essay collection For the Love of Music (Oxford University Press, 2006), and co-edited with Susan Key American Mavericks: Musical Visionaries, Pioneers, Iconoclasts (University of California Press, 2001).
Rothe has provided English translations of all the German texts included in the Symphony’s Grammy-winning cycle of Mahler symphonies. He helped create Symphony exhibits devoted to the orchestra’s centennial, and to the life and work of George Gershwin, and he created content for Symphony websites on Mahler and Stravinsky, as well as a Webby-nominated interactive timeline tracing Symphony history.
Rothe has also contributed articles and program notes to the Boston Symphony, Carnegie Hall, and New York Philharmonic. His fiction has appeared in Story Quarterly, and he recently completed his first novel.
Jeanette Yu, SFS Publications Editor, is succeeding Rothe as Director of Publications.