About the Series

Keeping Score investigates the compelling stories behind and intertwined with classical music. Regardless of your musical background, the San Francisco Symphony and Michael Tilson Thomas are ready to conduct you through the fascinating history and modern interpretations of these masterworks.

Season 3, Mahler: Origins & Legacy, presents two one-hour documentary-style episodes and two live concert programs which begin airing nationally on PBS stations in Summer 2011 (check local listings). Two one-hour documentary-style television episodes shot on location in the Czech Republic, Austria, New York, and San Francisco reveal the life story and music of one of music’s most enigmatic composers and conductors, and provide viewers with an unprecedented journey through his music and the influences that shaped it. Each episode is followed by a one-hour San Francisco Symphony concert program, the first concert featuring a complete performance of his Symphony No. 1 and the second, a Mahler Journey, tracing the origins and influences of his music in variety of orchestral and vocal works.

Season 2, Revealing Classical Music, included three one-hour documentary-style episodes and two live concert programs, exploring the music and stories of Hector Berlioz, Charles Ives and Dmitri Shostakovich, composers who each struggled with musical language as a unique expression of their ideas. Shot in a variety of locations throughout the world, the Keeping Score programs offer audiences a unique journey into the lives and music of the featured composers.

Season 1, Revolutions In Music, focused on the meaning of music, with episodes devoted to Beethoven, Stravinsky, and Copland, highlighting what made their music so revolutionary, and why it is still so powerful today.

Keeping Score is a presentation of KQED San Francisco and is produced by inCA productions for the San Francisco Symphony.