The Symphony's Lunar New Year Concert Lands on Lunar New Year Itself

Overview

The San Diego Symphony's Lunar New Year family concert — "Music in Full Bloom" — is on Saturday, February 6, 2027 at 11 a.m. at the Jacobs Music Center.

February 6, 2027 is Lunar New Year itself.

That's a small thing that matters. Plenty of orchestras programme a Lunar New Year concert in the general vicinity of the holiday. Putting it on the actual morning, at an hour a child can manage, is a different kind of decision.

It runs one hour, it's built for children aged six to twelve, and the crafts and cultural activities beforehand are included in the ticket.

The Programme

Six pieces, conducted by Michelle Di Russo with the San Diego Symphony Orchestra:

| | |

|---|---|

| Li Huanzhi | Spring Festival Overture |

| Claude Debussy (orch. Arthur Luck) | Clair de lune |

| Ludwig van Beethoven | "Awakening of Cheerful Feelings on Arrival in the Country" from Symphony No. 6, Pastorale |

| Dai Wei | Awakening Lion |

| Viet Cuong | Across the Bridge |

| An-Lun Huang | Saibei Dance |

That is a better-built hour than most family concerts manage.

The Spring Festival Overture is the piece Chinese audiences actually associate with the new year — it opens the programme for the same reason a carol service opens with a carol. Then two pieces of European repertoire that any child will find easy to listen to, and three contemporary works by composers writing now.

Dai Wei's Awakening Lion is the one to watch the room for. Lion dancing is the sound and image most children already connect to Lunar New Year, and hearing it come out of a full orchestra instead of a street is the kind of thing that sticks.

Viet Cuong is one of the most-performed living American composers writing for orchestra and wind ensemble, so this isn't a token contemporary slot.

Before the Concert

"Join us one hour early for pre-concert activities featuring crafts and activities, included with ticket purchase."

That's the Symphony's own line, which puts activities at around 10 a.m. No exact start time is published, so arrive at ten and you'll be early at worst.

Crafts, cultural activities and family photo spots. For a six-year-old, that hour is doing real work — it turns up the anticipation and burns off the fidgeting before anyone has to sit still.

Tickets

Here's the honest position: the single-ticket price is not published.

The event page has a ticket price field and it renders as "--". The only figure the Symphony publishes anywhere is $78 for the three-concert Family Concert Series subscription — so if you'd go to more than one, that's the number to weigh.

What we do know:

• Handling and facility fees are included in whatever price is displayed at checkout
• Exchanges or reprints cost $5 per ticket for non-subscribers, free for subscribers
• Individual concert tickets cannot be exchanged or refunded
• The Symphony's $33 ticket sale does not apply — Family Concerts are explicitly excluded

No on-sale date or presale information is published either. Call the box office on 619.235.0804, or start from the event page.

Who Needs a Ticket — Check This

The Symphony publishes two different answers to this, and for a family concert that's the question that matters most.

• The event page and the Concerts for Families page say children aged 2 and over need a ticket, and children under 2 may sit on an adult's lap at no charge
• The Jacobs Music Center FAQ says children two and under enter free if held without a seat, and children three and older need a ticket and a seat

So the paid threshold is either 2 or 3 depending on which page you read. If you have a two-year-old, call the box office before you book.

Getting There

• Jacobs Music Center, 750 B Street, San Diego, CA 92101. The hall entrance is on the northeast corner of 7th and B
• Pre-paid parking is available through the Symphony's parking partner. Garages named: 701B, Sixth & A, and 707 Broadway/Chase Building
• Metered street parking runs Monday to Saturday until 8 p.m.; Sunday metering is free all day
• Trolley: the Fifth Avenue stop on C Street between Sixth and Fifth serves both the Blue and Orange lines, a few blocks away

Parking prices aren't published. Note that the Symphony's valet service runs only for Jacobs Masterworks concerts on Friday and Saturday evenings, so it won't be operating for an 11 a.m. family concert.

Accessibility

The Jacobs Music Center publishes this properly, and some of it is genuinely good:

• Wheelchair users should enter from B Street — there are ADA ramps at both the B Street and Seventh Avenue entrances, but Seventh is steep
• An usher-operated elevator connects the Lower Lobby (B Street) and Upper Lobby (7th Avenue). The Mezzanine and Balcony are reachable only by stairs
• KultureCity sensory-inclusive kits are available at the Guest Experience Table in the Lower Lobby
• Assisted listening devices — ask any usher
• ADA and all-gender restrooms beside the Choral Terrace, plus accessible restrooms in both lobbies
• Accessibility requests: Tickets@SanDiegoSymphony.org

The sensory kits are worth knowing about specifically for this concert — a first orchestral experience is exactly where a child might need one.

How to Go

• When: Saturday, February 6, 2027, 11 a.m. Pre-concert activities from around 10 a.m.
• Where: Jacobs Music Center, 750 B Street, San Diego, CA 92101
• Length: one hour
• For: recommended ages 6 to 12, enjoyable for adults
• Tickets: price not published — box office 619.235.0804
• Series: $78 for the three-concert Family Concert Series

Good to Know

• It falls on Lunar New Year itself, February 6, 2027.
• Come an hour early. The crafts are included and no one tells you that on the ticket.
• One hour long — the right length for the age group.
• Call about ticketing a two-year-old. Their own pages disagree.
• Single-ticket prices aren't published online. The series is $78 for three.
• Individual tickets can't be refunded or exchanged, and exchanges cost $5 for non-subscribers.
• The $33 sale doesn't apply to family concerts.
• Sensory kits are available at the Lower Lobby guest desk.
• Sunday meters are free — but this is a Saturday, so meters are live until 8 p.m.

Why It's Worth It

Because an hour is exactly right, and almost nobody programmes an hour.

The barrier to taking a seven-year-old to an orchestra isn't interest, it's duration. A full concert is two hours of sitting still in the dark for a child who has never done it. One hour, at eleven in the morning, after an hour of crafts, is a completely different proposition — and it is how you find out whether your child is the kind of person who loves this.

The programme is doing the same job. A new-year overture they can place, two short pieces of famous European repertoire, and three contemporary works including one about lion dancing. Nothing on that list asks a child to endure anything.

And on the morning of the holiday itself, in a city with the community San Diego has, that's a well-chosen way to spend it.

If you're making a day of it, Balboa Park is a few minutes away and free to walk.

For more things worth doing, browse our events calendar.

Frequently Asked Questions

When is the San Diego Symphony's Lunar New Year concert? Saturday, February 6, 2027 at 11 a.m. — the day of Lunar New Year itself.

Where is it? The Jacobs Music Center, 750 B Street, San Diego, CA 92101. The hall entrance is at the northeast corner of 7th and B.

How long is it? One hour.

What age is it for? Recommended for children aged 6 to 12, and the Symphony notes it's enjoyable for adults too.

What's on the programme? Six pieces — Li Huanzhi's Spring Festival Overture, Debussy's Clair de lune orchestrated by Arthur Luck, the "Awakening of Cheerful Feelings" movement from Beethoven's Pastorale, Dai Wei's Awakening Lion, Viet Cuong's Across the Bridge and An-Lun Huang's Saibei Dance. Michelle Di Russo conducts.

Are there activities beforehand? Yes — crafts, cultural activities and family photo spots, starting about an hour before and included with the ticket.

How much are tickets? Single-ticket prices aren't published; the event page's price field is blank. The three-concert Family Concert Series is $78. Call the box office on 619.235.0804.

Does my toddler need a ticket? The Symphony's pages disagree. The event and family-concert pages say children 2 and over need a ticket; the venue FAQ says 3 and over. Call before booking if your child is two.

Can I exchange or refund a ticket? Individual concert tickets can't be exchanged or refunded. Exchanges and reprints cost $5 per ticket for non-subscribers and are free for subscribers.

Does the $33 sale apply? No. Family Concerts are explicitly excluded.

Where do I park? Pre-paid parking is available at the 701B, Sixth & A, and 707 Broadway garages. Metered street parking runs until 8 p.m. Monday to Saturday. Prices aren't published. Valet doesn't operate for morning concerts.

Can I take the trolley? Yes — the Fifth Avenue stop on C Street serves both the Blue and Orange lines, a few blocks from the hall.

Is it accessible? Yes. Enter from B Street for ramps and the elevator; the Mezzanine and Balcony are stairs-only. Sensory kits and assisted listening devices are available, and accessibility requests go to Tickets@SanDiegoSymphony.org.