Features

Lovers of early music have it made in the shade in the Bay Area. There are more offerings every year than you can possibly get to. And all the great musicians who specialize in this music play in several groups, so that keeping them straight can make your head spin. To make things easier, here are five concerts to put on your calendar.

A sample of genre-bending, new-music concerts that will expand your horizons — innovative works at the S.F. Electronic Music Festival, a hot new commission at the Berkeley Symphony, and John Adams double-your-pleasure at the S.F. Symphony.

As San Francisco Opera prepares to open its star-studded fall season on Sept. 10, several smaller companies are trumpeting that this is far from a one-house region. Indeed, the risks that regional companies are taking at a time of economic contraction — I’m being euphemistic here — are cause for rejoicing.

A preview of must-see artists and special events for the upcoming season, by Georgia Rowe.

Musical genres are concepts that may be crawling toward extinction in the new millennium, or so pianist Billy Childs believes. Looking to a more integrated era, he’s positioning his jazz quartet alongside the classically trained Kronos Quartet for the premiere of his commissioned composition, on Sept. 18 at the Monterey Jazz Festival.

Symphony concerts are good places to bring friends. There’s excitement, variety, time to talk at intermission, a focal point to the evening, and a chance to do something together afterward. The fall season in the Bay Area is crammed with goodies everyone can love. 

Choosing a concert geared for the entire family can be tricky, yet local ensembles and presenters are going out of their way this fall to design the tastiest classical kid’s-menu possible. Here are a few that are sure to be of interest to both the younger and older sets, introducing music, soft serve. 

Known for presenting the classics and nurturing emerging singers, Opera San José generally steers clear of contemporary works. Undaunted by audience reaction to modern pieces, General Director Irene Dalis decided to roll the dice and mount a $1 million production of Anna Karenina.