Beyond Borders: North American Music Initiative is reaching a new milestone – as the San Diego Symphony shares the stage with the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal (OSM) for the very first time.  

San Diego Symphony’s Music and Artistic Director, Rafael Payare, also serves as Music Director and Artistic Director of OSM, opening the doors for creative exchange between the two institutions and their communities.

"In the course of my tenure here, I happened to get another position up north in Canada," said Payare. "So, it is wonderful that we will be able to have this cultural initiative. Like the monarch butterfly that makes the migration, we will have this seamless kind of interaction evolving into different things."  

The San Diego Symphony has a decades-long relationship with Mexico. Earlier this month, the Symphony again performed at Centro Cultural Tijuana’s (CECUT). Now the Symphony is welcoming its partners from the North in the initiative's first major collaboration with Montréal. 

On Thursday, October 29th, the San Diego Symphony will present the OSM in San Diego at Jacobs Music Center. This will be the first time OSM has performed in San Diego in 10 years.

OSM is a distinguished leader in the musical life of Quebec and Canada The OSM boasts a long and brilliant history of some fifty tours, across Canada and abroad. The visit to San Diego is the final stop of its 2026 California Tour. 

Renowned violinist Leonidas Kavakos – who will accompany the San Diego Symphony on its first European tour in 2027 – will join the OSM for the October 29 concert to perform Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto in D major.  

On Friday, October 30th, Payare will conduct the two orchestras together for the first time on stage at The Rady Shell at Jacobs Park.  Titled “Sound of Two Cities,” this free performance will feature around 200 musicians in total from the San Diego Symphony and OSM, with up to 145 on stage at a time. This performance gives San Diego audiences a unique opportunity to experience the two orchestra’s distinct musical perspectives.  

Tickets to OSM's performance at Jacobs Music Center can be purchased here.  

Although Friday’s general admission concert is free and not ticketed, RSVPs are encouraged in order to receive up-to-date information about the event.  Preferred seating to the outdoor concert will be offered to those who also attend Thursday’s concert at Jacobs Music Center. 

More on the Beyond Borders Initiative.