Fans Go Wild as Ukulele Star Taimane Gardner Joins SF Symphony in Historic Festival Performance

In a striking first for its 88th annual Stern Grove Festival, the San Francisco Symphony broke new musical ground on Sunday, July 6, as Hawaiian ukulele star Taimane Gardner performed as soloist with the full orchestra, in a historic debut that has audiences and critics buzzing.

The performance took place on a fog‑draped Sunday afternoon in the natural amphitheater of Sigmund Stern Grove. Taimane, 36, arrived wearing a wreath of lei po'o while her band warmed up backstage in preparation for the unexpected union of classical orchestration and electric ukulele riffs

Discovered at 13 by Don Ho while busking in Waikiki, Taimane has since transformed the ukulele into a serious performance instrument—she says her ambition is to challenge the "toy or souvenir" stereotype. Sunday's set featured arrangements that famously bridged genres, from behind‑the‑fog orchestral moments to electrifying renditions of Led Zeppelin's "Kashmir" and Jefferson Airplane's "White Rabbit," as reported by the San Francisco Chronicle.

I'm just amazed at what that woman can do with a ukulele," said Laura Hinojosa, who drove in from Contra Costa County, having initially presumed the instrument "something kids play, not a real instrument," said a member of the audience to the newspaper.

Carissa Castaldo, the Symphony's director of programming, labeled the collaboration "trend‑forward" and inspired by Taimane's NPR Tiny Desk feature. Castaldo's mission: to invite new audiences into the orchestral fold.

The concert also marked the grand reopening of Stern Grove's historic Trocadero Clubhouse, restored after storm damage in 2022. A standing‑room crowd of donors filled the barn-like venue for preshow interviews with conductor Edwin Outwater and a KALW radio host.

Sunday's concert signals a modern pivot for the Symphony. In a city famed for innovation, it's fitting that the ukulele—often dismissed or underestimated—stood at center stage alongside Beethoven, Britten, and John Williams.

Taimane, wrapping up the set, called on the audience to flash the Hawaiian shaka sign for a celebratory selfie moment. "I'm such a millennial," she quipped, and the crowd, warmed by her charm and technical boldness, responded in kind.