January 26: Music for Families with the San Francisco Symphony. Another in a series of “outreach” concerts, to show the uninitiated or unfamiliar how things work in an orchestra. Recommended for children 7 and up. Program includes selections from Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker; the first movement from Schubert’s Symphony No. 8; Dvořák's Slavonic Dance No. 7, and other popular selections, conducted by Donato Cabrera who, among other things, leads the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra. This is a great chance to make a musical introduction. In Davies Symphony Hall at 2 p.m. Ticket prices range from $12.50 to $60.
Other Chinese New Years’ events: Parade and performances on Sunday Feb. 10, in Berkeley, on Solano Avenue featuring a Lion Dance by the Golden Lion, Acrobatics by the San Francisco Circus, songs by the Cornell and Ocean View Schools’ Chinese After-School Program. On Feb. 10, in San Jose, on Santana Row: an afternoon of Chinese New Year festivities, including ethnic groups performances, martial arts, a traditional fashion show, and more.
January 27, Sunday. San Francisco Opera presents a free family movie screening of Puccini's The Girl of the Golden West; first performed in 1910; an opera about gold miners, Mexican gangs, shootings, hearts of gold, a rigged card game, and basically girl gets boy, who doesn’t get hanged as a thief after all. Sung in Italian, with English subtitles; recommended for ages 8 and up. A great introduction to classic Italian opera. Jan. 27: 11 a.m.; Smith Rafael Film Center, San Rafael; April 21, 1 p.m. Addison-Penzak JCC, Los Gatos; April 27: 11 a.m. or 2 p.m.; Oshman Family JCC, Taube Koret Campus for Jewish Life, Palo Alto.