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The San Francisco Symphony and Music Director Esa-Pekka Salonen announced the launch of its on-demand streaming service, SFSymphony+. Launching February 4th, the membership-based service features exclusive original digital content, all-new SoundBox programs and CURRENTS episodes, and special projects. The service will also offer select content free of charge, including previously released programs, newly recorded chamber music performances, and the SF Symphony’s 2021 Chinese New Year Virtual Celebration for the Year of the Ox.

USC Shoah Foundation harnesses the power of its archive of personal testimonies from witnesses to genocide to build a better world. Survivor testimony in IWitness offers timeless insights about standing up to hate and building a respectful future. Testimony from Tom Lantos, the only Holocaust survivor who served in the United States Congress, as well as additional testimony and curricula are available for educators and students to explore these issues.

As part of a collaborative research project supported by Koret, archaeologists from the University of Haifa and the University of California have uncovered groundbreaking discoveries from the Neolithic era near Haifa, Israel. (Photo by Amir Yurman/University of Haifa)

A project of the Oshman Family JCC, “Z3 2020: Visions of a Shared Future,” took place throughout Hanukkah. Over 5,000 people came together for conversations, interviews, and other inspiring content from leaders from across the Jewish World to explore and reimagine Israel and Diaspora relations.

Now open for patient care, UCSF’s new Vision Center at Mission Bay significantly expands UCSF Health’s ability to provide state-of-the art ophthalmology services. “Koret looks for leading institutions to help elevate the quality of life in the Bay Area, especially for the most vulnerable among us,” said Jeffrey Farber, Koret Foundation CEO. “Improving access to research-informed care is a commitment we’re proud to make.”

Celebrate Hanukkah this year with the world-renowned Israel Philharmonic. Its December 2020 global celebration will be available to view, listen to, and enjoy throughout the month of December.

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused an unprecedented surge in the need for food assistance in San Francisco and Marin. With unemployment still record high, more people than ever need access to healthy food. The San Francisco-Marin Food Bank is now serving more than 56,000 households each week, nearly double the number helped before the pandemic. With community support, the Food Bank is able to continue to provide access to nutritious food that is essential to keeping our community healthy.

Harnessing the capabilities of two major research institutions, teams from the University of Haifa and the Scripps-Center for Marine Archaeology at UCSD are partnering on underwater excavations in 2020. Teams in Israel excavate and teams in California process the data collected and produce computer models of the site and 3D printers build physical models of objects found (Photo credit: Amir Yurman).

Alameda County Community Food Bank has been at the forefront of local hunger relief efforts for 35 years. Before COVID-19, 1 in 5 County residents was experiencing or at risk of hunger. The need has now doubled, with the hardest impact on working families with children and seniors. Food distribution has increased by 50% in response: they will provide more than 50 million pounds this year through a network of 300 non-profit agency partners, schools, contactless drive-through distributions, and home-delivery.

Russ Roberts, American economist and public intellectual, will assume the role of President of Israel’s Shalem College in March 2021. In a country in which higher education has historically emphasized specialization, Shalem College is pursuing a bold alternative: the cultivation of citizens for lives of influence and service, and not merely careers. Roberts plans to focus on enhancing the classroom experience and recruiting more top-level faculty to join Shalem’s community of scholars and teachers.

Since 1970, Meals on Wheels San Francisco has provided homebound seniors with what they need to live independent and dignified lives—nutritious meals prepared and delivered to their homes, professional social work services including wellness and safety checks, and a friendly visitor. Now in its 50th year, the nonprofit has opened a new industrial kitchen and distribution facility after the previous one reached its meal-making capacity limits at 8,000 meals daily. The new kitchen, located in The Sangiacomo Flynn Building, will accommodate the production of up to 30,000 nutritious meals daily.

The virtual premiere of Nico Muhly’s “Throughline” is Esa-Pekka Salonen’s first presentation as the new music director for the SF Symphony. The production tests the limits of pandemic music-making and serves as a bellwether in the emerging genre of works created for the constraints, and possibilities, of music-making in our moment. (Photo credit: Kristen Loken)