For the first time since 1977, the San Francisco Symphony is about to have a new principal cellist.

Rainer Eudeikis, currently the principal cellist with the Atlanta Symphony, has been hired away for this key position with the orchestra, beginning at the start of the 2022-23 season in September. He will succeed the late Michael Grebanier, who led the cello section from 1977 until他死于2019年.

“The San Francisco Symphony is a top-tier orchestra, and Maestro (Esa-Pekka) Salonen is world-class,” Eudeikis told The Chronicle.

“I remember reading a newspaper article a few years ago — before he had officially started, but after the announcement had been made — in which he laid out his vision of keeping the orchestra more or less in its current form but mixing things up as far as the subscription model and how a season is organized. That way of thinking was interesting to me because it was forward-looking without trying to throw everything out and start anew.”

Eudeikis, 32, grew up in Texas and Colorado. His mother is a professional clarinetist and orchestra administrator, and Eudeikis said the idea of his being a string player was implanted early.

He began studying the instrument at 6, and earned degrees at the University of Michigan, Indiana University and the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. While at Curtis, he was hired as principal cellist of the Utah Symphony, where he spent five years before moving to Atlanta in 2019.

He will move to San Francisco with his wife, Joyce — also a professional cellist — and their 13-month-old daughter.

As part of his trial period in San Francisco, Eudeikisjoined the orchestra in Februaryfor performances of Beethoven’s ballet “The Creatures of Prometheus.”

“It’s an interesting experience,” he recalled, “because the trial situation should feel easier than the audition itself. I came to San Francisco and just did my job, which is what I’d been doing in Atlanta anyway.

“But obviously it still is an audition, and everything you do and say and play is being judged in that context. But the orchestra was very welcoming, and I felt at ease.”

Eudeikis is one of four musicians joining the Symphony roster this fall. Matthew Griffith, who has held positions with the North Carolina Symphony and the Nashville Symphony, joins the orchestra as associate principal and E-flat clarinet, succeeding longtime Symphony member Luis Baez.

Two musicians, Katarzyna Bryla-Weiss and Leonid Plashinov-Johnson, are slated to join the viola section. Several key vacancies in the roster — most notably the principal harp and principal and associate principal flutes — have yet to be filled.

But the principal cellist is among the handful of especially influential figures in the orchestra.

“The job description essentially boils down to being able to wear many hats,” Eudeikis said. “First of all, I’m a member of the cello section. Most of the time we are all playing the same notes, and I’m doing my best to ensure that we play all those notes at the same time and in the same way.”

The principal also plays the solos that arise in the orchestral repertoire, as well as taking the solo part in the occasional cello concerto.

也许most important, the principal is responsible for shaping and directing the section’s sound and interpretive approach — a task that often has to be achieved non-verbally.

“Any time you’re dealing with the principal of a string section, you have a rather large section behind you. And most of the time, what you do to lead really comes down to showing rather than telling because there just isn’t time to turn around and explain yourself.

“所以你甲型肝炎e to always be thinking, ‘What do I look like from behind? When I’m doing something, how can I best relay this information without having to open my mouth?’”

During Grebanier’s long tenure with the Symphony, the cello section was among the most unified of any section in the orchestra. Turnover has been low, and dedication to their longtime former leader has been fierce.

If Eudeikis anticipates any challenges in filling Grebanier’s shoes, he’s downplaying it.

“This will be my third major principal position,” he said, “and in every one of those instances, I was coming in after someone who had been there for a long time. So I’m accustomed to that dynamic.

“As long as everyone keeps an open mind and shares the common goal of just sounding like a great section and playing together, then I’m optimistic. The section members were very welcoming to me. I’m looking forward to joining them.”