Artist Spotlights

Growing up in Spain gave David Russell a love for the guitar, which he has parlayed into a much-lauded career.

Widely recorded and always giving recitals, the Danish recorder virtuoso Michala Petri talks about her love of contemporary music and jazz, and how music lives in in her finger-memory.

The erhu player in the San Francisco Symphony’s Lunar New Year concert is taking his instrument international.

About to visit the Bay Area for a recital, Gil Shaham talks about new works he’ll perform and an unusual flowering of violin concertos in the 1930s.

With wide-ranging gifts and varied interests, soprano Christine Brandes keeps up with politics of antiquity as well as of today.

Now happily at home in San Francisco, Scottish-born conductor Alasdair Neale discusses his vision for the Marin Symphony and the need for a new model of concert-giving.

Naumburg winner and conservatory graduate violinist Tessa Lark dreams of showcasing both her classical virtuosity and her love of bluegrass music in her native Kentucky.

Lisa Vroman weighs in on her family’s musical roots and her abiding love for opera.

Eva-Maria Zimmermann and Keisuke Nakagoshi warm up for their San Francisco recital by talking about the risks and rewards of four-hand piano works.

An internationally respected Bach specialist, on his way to Berkeley, speaks of his affinity for his music, which is hugely popular in his native Japan.