During the 2011-12 season, the San Francisco Symphony celebrates its centennial season. From the ashes of the great San Francisco earthquake and fire of 1906, rose the passionate desire of a community to embrace music and build an orchestra to restore its spirit. Thus the San Francisco Symphony was born a few years later, and it has spanned the past century to become a cultural gem in one of the most interesting and progressive cities in America and the world. GREAT PERFORMANCES partners with the San Francisco Symphony for this gala concert program hosted by acclaimed writer and San Francisco native Amy Tan, and featuring SFS Music Director Michael Tilson Thomas along with guest artists Itzhak Perlman and Lang Lang performing works by Copland, Mendelssohn and Britten. Concert footage is interwoven with short video stories highlighting unique moments in the Symphony's history as well as interviews with the performers and luminaries in the audience.