American Mavericks

Under the leadership of charismatic music director Michael Tilson Thomas, the San Francisco Symphony has championed Modern-era American composers. Principal trumpeter Mark J. Inouye opens Henry Cowell’s Synchrony with a brilliant three-minute unaccompanied performance before the frequently otherworldly orchestral component is added. Jeremy Denk masterfully navigates the soloist role in Cowell’s enthralling Piano Concerto, while Paul Jacobs’ dynamic and searching keyboarding matches the ever-shifting playing of the percussion orchestra in Lou Harrison’s concerto. Varèse’s Amériques, with its famed use of a siren, is in good hands here.