Bird-Calls at Berkeley Symphony
For an adventure, head over to the East Bay, where the Berkeley Symphony continues to surprise and delight. Joana Carneiro’s energetic leadership has produced a season mixing new music, familiar fare, and rarities by major composers. Her Jan. 20 program at Zellerbach Hall features the dazzling Oiseaux exotiques (Exotic birds) by Olivier Messiaen, whose music was a Berkeley specialty during Kent Nagano’s years. The program also includes Beethoven’s sunny, melodious Sixth Symphony and a world premiere by Shanghai-born New Yorker Du Yun, a rising star of the new-music world whose music is just starting to reach the Bay Area.
Joana Carneiro conducts the Berkeley Symphony, Jan. 20, 8 p.m., Zellerbach Hall, UC Berkeley.
Santa Rosa Symphony: South of the Border
The current season of the Santa Rosa Symphony offers a rich range of programs, including its concerts of Jan. 22-24. An all Spanish and Latin American program with some far-reaching connections will include Carlos Chávez’ Symphony No. 4, an example of the Mexican composer’s vast (but these days little-heard) output, while the excellent Sharon Isbin is the soloist in Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aranjuez. Two visions of the tango round out the program. First, Astor Piazzolla’s Tangazo, Variations on Buenos Aires, highlights the “Nuevo Tango” creator’s mastery. Then UC Davis faculty member Pablo Ortiz, a bright light among Bay Area composers, contributes his recent Suomalainen Tango, a response to the tango’s surprising popularity in Finland. The energetic Enrique Arturo Diemecke guest conducts.
Sharon Isbin performs with the Santa Rosa Symphony, Jan. 22, 24, 8 p.m.; Jan. 23, 3 p.m., Wells Fargo Center for the Arts, Santa Rosa, $28-$55.
San Francisco Symphony: Mozart’s Requiem
Among Michael Tilson Thomas’s upcoming stints with the San Francisco Symphony, the Feb. 23-26 dates, with the participation of the Symphony Chorus, promise transporting experiences of two vastly different kinds. The intensity of the Mozart Requiem, with soloists Kiera Duffy, Sasha Cooke, Bruce Sledge, and Nathan Berg, will be balanced by the otherworldly beauty of Morton Feldman’s Rothko Chapel, with the Symphony’s principal violist, Jonathan Vinocour, joining the featured soloists. Tilson Thomas has a deep affinity with Feldman’s music, and his collaboration and friendship with the late composer will add another level of resonance to these performances.
MTT conducts the San Francisco Symphony, Feb. 23, 25-26, 8 p.m.; Feb. 24, 2 p.m., Davies Symphony Hall, S.F., $35-$135.
San José Chamber Orchestra: Grand Celebration
This season, the San José Chamber Orchestra celebrates its 20th anniversary, and it will honor the occasion with a typically eclectic program on April 10 at Le Petit Trianon, with no fewer than three new works: a jazz harpsichord concerto (yes, you read that correctly) by Emily Wong, a work for accordion and strings by San José State faculty member Pablo Furman, and a piece for piano and strings by David Avshalomov. SJCO founder and Music Director Barbara Day Turner will split her time between the podium and harpsichord, while guest Anthony Quartuccio will conduct and play accordion. Two outstanding Bay Area musicians, pianist Gwendolyn Mok and harpist Dan Levitan, fill the additional soloist roles.
Barbara Day Turner conducts the San José Chamber Orchestra, April 10, 7 p.m., Le Petit Trianon, San José, $10-$60.
Vista/Vision at Oakland East Bay Symphony
The Oakland East Bay Symphony’s innovative series of commissions, called New Visions/New Vistas, reaches its conclusion on April 15, with a new work by one of the Bay Area’s busiest jazz and improv musicians, drummer Scott Amendola. The composer will be one of three soloists, holding down drums, percussion, and electronics, alongside two equally exciting musicians, Los Angeles avant-jazz figure (and Wilco lead guitarist) Nels Cline and bassist Trevor Dunn. The wide-ranging program includes Tchaikovsky’s dramatic Symphony No. 4 and a centennial tribute to one of the greatest of film composers, Bernard Herrmann, with his Suite from Vertigo.
Michael Morgan conducts the Oakland East Bay Symphony, April 15, 8 p.m., Paramount Theatre, $20-$65.
San Francisco Symphony: French Fire
Looking at the Symphony’s guest-conducted programs, the concerts of April 14-17, led by Charles Dutoit with the outstanding young French cellist Gautier Capuçon, stand out. They’ll be performing Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique as well as Henri Dutilleux’s 1970 cello concerto, Tout un Monde lointain. Berlioz and Dutilleux are among the great orchestrators of their respective eras, and Dutoit, a master of symphonic color and detail, should make the most of this program.
Charles Dutoit conducts the San Francisco Symphony, April 14, 17, 2 p.m.; April 15, 16, 8 p.m., Davies Symphony Hall, S.F., $15-$135.
New Century Chamber Orchestra Elevates Itself
Concluding its third season under the leadership of Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, the New Century Chamber Orchestra presents the world premiere of Elevations by this season’s resident composer, Mark O’Connor. The string ensemble’s stellar abilities should find an ideal match in O’Connor, one of the more inventive violinists around. The program is rounded out with some of Elgar’s loveliest music, plus rarities by Frank Bridge and Alfred Schnittke.
NCCO presents a Mark O’Connor world premiere, May 19, 8 p.m., First Congregational Church, Berkeley; May 20, 8 p.m., First United Methodist Church, Palo Alto; May 21, 8 p.m., Herbst Theatre, S.F.; May 22, 5 p.m., Osher Marin Jewish Community Center, San Rafael, $29-$49.