Music Director Esa-Pekka Salonen and the San Francisco Symphony have announced the appointment of Principal Harp Katherine Siochi, following four rounds of auditions. Siochi joins the San Francisco Symphony this September, performing on the Opening Night Gala and All San Francisco concerts on Sept. 22 and 23. She succeeds former principal harpist Douglas Rioth, who retired in December 2021 after 40 years with the orchestra.
“I feel so incredibly lucky to be joining the musicians of the San Francisco Symphony,” Siochi says. “To make music with an orchestra of this caliber and with [Music Director] Esa-Pekka Salonen, whom I’ve admired for a long time, is a dream come true—especially in a city as unique, beautiful, diverse, and culturally vibrant as San Francisco.”
Siochi was previously principal harp of the Minnesota Orchestra, Kansas City Symphony, and Sarasota Orchestra, and has appeared as a guest with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and New York Philharmonic. She was the gold medalist of the 2016 USA International Harp Competition.
Check out Harp Column’s cover interview with Siochi in our September/October 2016 issue. Read her thoughts about navigating comparison in her Sounding Board article from the March/April 2021 issue of Harp Column. Listen to her discussion with podcast host Kristina Finch on navigating comparison in episode 74 of the Harp Column Podcast. For more information, visit Siochi’s website.
