Versailles in Music and Scent: Yoko Lévy-Kobayashi live in concert with Ars Minerva at the San Francisco Botanical Gardens

Villa Albertine San Francisco, and The Gardens of Golden Gate Park invite guests to step into not only the Celebration Garden at the San Francisco Botanical Garden, but the splendor of Versailles through a rare concert blending French baroque music and perfume.  

Violinist and perfumer Yoko Lévy-Kobayashi joins the San Francisco–based ensemble Ars Minerva to transport audiences into the world of the French court, in a program where music and fragrance become inseparable arts on the afternoon of Sunday, October 19th, 2025. 

This unique event evokes the era of Louis XIV, Louis XV, and Marie-Antoinette, with each musical piece paired with historically inspired perfumes crafted by Lévy-Kobayashi. Audiences will not only hear exquisite works by Jean-Baptiste Lully, André-Cardinal Destouches, William Williams, and Delavigne, but also experience the fragrances that once perfumed the salons, gardens, and theaters of the French Royal Court. Versailles in Music and Scent promises to blend sound and aroma into a multisensory experience in one of San Francisco’s most beloved parks. 

Originally performed at the historic L’Orangerie de Trianon greenhouse of Versailles Palace (facing the 17th-century royal Perfumer’s Garden), Bay Area audiences now have the unique opportunity to experience this Parisian concert fit for Kings in their own urban backyard. Surrounded by the living flowers and plants of the San Francisco Botanical Garden, participants will encounter a similar world that captivated the people of the 17th and 18th-century.. 

This event is made possible by Villa Albertine San Francisco, the Gardens of Golden Gate Park, Ars Minerva, and 836M.

 

About: Yoko Levy-Kobayashi, Violinist and Perfumer

Strasbourg-born Yoko Lévy-Kobayashi began playing the violin at the age of 10, initiated by her music-loving parents. She studied for several years at the CNR de Metz with André Pons, and took part in masterclasses with Veda Reynolds and Jean-Jacques Kantorow. Encouraged by Kantorow, she entered the CNSM de Paris in Olivier Charlier’s class, and chamber music with Jean Mouillère and Alain Meunier.

Three years later, she obtained her DFS with honors, and subsequently joined the Soloist Department of the CNR de Paris, where she perfected her skills with Roland Daugareil.
A lover of the symphonic repertoire, she began playing with major orchestras such as the Orchestre de Paris and the Orchestre national de France, under the direction of prestigious conductors such as Riccardo Mutti, Kurt Masur, Herbert Blomstedt and Klaus Mäkëla. She also gives numerous solo concerts and recitals in France and Japan.

Very open to other forms of expression, such as theater, she has collaborated with the Candela company for several years and has performed at the Théâtre de Nesle in Paris.
Perfume and the world of scents, her greatest passion along with music, led her to train with Cinquième Sens. Armed with the expertise and know-how of the great perfumers, she now expresses her olfactory sensibility through perfumed creations and concerts.

Yoko Lévy-Kobayashi has been the 1st violin 2d soloist of the Orchestre National d’Ile de France since 2004 and a perfumer-creator.