Arts & Culture » Music
Christmastime in the concert halls
There is a real need for moments of live musical entertainment and personal reflection amidst the ubiquitous soundtrack of Christmas cheer.
Stars of stage and cabaret will perform on Mon., Dec. 10, at the Marines Memorial Theater in "Help Is on the Way XVII," a gala fundraiser for the Richmond Ermet Aid Foundation.
Performing artist-musician Laurie Anderson was Resident Artistic Director at SFJAZZ Center last week, during which she appeared in five consecutive nights of programming.
Tchaikovsky-savvy consumers will grock what's going on right from the cover of the new Paris Opera and Ballet pairing of Tchaikovsky's one-act opera "Iolanta" and two-act ballet "The Nutcracker" (BelAir).
Music Director Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony recorded Berlioz's "Romeo et Juliette" live at Davies Symphony Hall in June 2017.
The West Coast premiere of composer Jake Heggie and librettist Gene Scheer's "It's a Wonderful Life" opened at the San Francisco Opera last week to make a picturesque start for the holiday season.
Singer-songwriter Rosanne Cash and guitarist Ry Cooder will perform their rendition of the music of Johnny Cash on Dec. 5-6 at the War Memorial Opera House.
Avant-garde artist and pop music icon Laurie Anderson will present five different concerts in San Francisco beginning Nov. 28, as part of her tenure as Resident Artistic Director at SFJAZZ Center.
Two concerts with similar intentions brought opposite sides of the Bay in synch recently with the belief that music is a human right.
"Requiem Mass: A Queer Divine Rite" will have its San Francisco premiere on Nov. 16 & 17 at Grace Cathedral. The piece is an evening-length choral work by singer-composer Holcombe Waller.
A fall feast of classical music performances is ongoing through November in San Francisco. Concerts large and small are providing a fine soundtrack to the days before Thanksgiving.
It's interesting that Boy George and Culture Club would call their new studio album, their first such release in almost 20 years, "Life" (BMG), as that's the one thing it could use more of.
Tom Volf's new documentary "Maria by Callas" is essential viewing for anyone who cares about classical music, opera, the human psyche, or the biases of American media.
Out There had an epic Halloween 2018. We were there at The Fillmore for a rollicking concert from The B-52s, only the greatest party band ever in the history of rock.
Two classical chamber concerts closed a busy October for music-lovers last week, and, unpredictably, offered time for reflection and needed breaks from the madness of recent events.
Elect to vote for arts to enliven our lives. Choose the performing artists in your district and express yourself.
Symphony and Opera lovers have been playing a game of performance ping-pong in San Francisco lately, bouncing between Davies Symphony Hall and the War Memorial Opera House.
Rami Malek beautifully channels the late rock star Freddie Mercury in "Bohemian Rhapsody," the new biopic of Queen, the band Mercury (1946-91) fronted.
Whether it was glam rock or punk rock, Reed was a precursor, if not the godfather, of musical styles and rock-n-roll movements.
If you believe in love at first sight or you're just a pushover for the lyricism of Richard Strauss, San Francisco Opera has a production of his flawed but charming "Arabella" set to seduce you once more.
The San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus celebrates its 40th anniversary this month with special events during the weekend of Oct. 26-28.
Guest conductors are keeping the podium covered at Davies Symphony Hall this month as Music Director Michael Tilson Thomas works with his other family at the New World Symphony in Miami.
Leonard Bernstein's three symphonies have gotten a much-needed boost from the composer's centennial, if largely by way of recordings.
Rachel Bay Jones' reputation precedes her. Well, sort of.
Once famously derided as "that shabby little shocker" and condemned as "little more than a manipulative melodrama," composer Giacomo Puccini's "Tosca" ultimately triumphed over the naysayers.
What have we before us in the form of pianist Igor Levit? Who is this guy?
Ben Folds Five drummer and backing vocalist Darren Jessee has kept himself busy.
Called "the best cabaret artist of his generation" by The New Yorker, Justin Vivian Bond returns to San Francisco to perform at the GLBT Historical Society's annual gala on Friday evening, Oct. 5.
Here's a tip from those of us who have access to review copies and other advance media: Sometimes there's no better source for ear candy than the San Francisco Public Library, which has a wealth of audio-visual material for lending.
Practice, practice, practice is how you get to Carnegie Hall, and the last program in the San Francisco Symphony's recent two-week Stravinsky Festival proved it once more.
It's no exaggeration to say that each new Neko Case album is cause for celebration.