SFCV published a roundup of holiday concerts last week, which includes a family friendly section. But there are so many out there, that we thought we’d give you a few more options across the Bay Area.
Ballet San Jose: The Nutcracker
If you live in the South Bay there’s absolutely no reason to go to San Francisco to see this holiday staple. Ballet San Jose has put together a superb production with choreography by Karen Gabay; sets and costumes from American Ballet Theater, and conducted by company Music Director George Daugherty.
Dec. 8 – 23, San Jose Center for the Performing Arts, $30 to $105, Ballet San Jose The Nutcracker.
All is Calm: The Christmas Truce of 1914 (Mondavi Center, Davis)
A choral concert based on that surreal moment at first light on Christmas morning, 1914, when German and Allied soldiers met in no-man’s-land, without the permission of their officers, shook hands, exchanged cigarettes and plum puddings, sang carols, and even played soccer. The gesture was never repeated, in a war that left 16 million dead. Cantus, the noted nine-man choral ensemble, along with Theatre Latte Da, sets the scene on Christmas eve with new arrangements of European carols, war songs, and excerpts from soldiers’ diaries.
Dec. 8, 8 p.m., Jackson Hall, Mondavi Center, UC Davis, $12.50- $55, All is Calm: The Christmas Truce of 1914.
San Francisco Girls Chorus Alumnae Perform Seasons of Joy
The San Francisco Girls Alumnae Chorus, now in its sixth season, performs Orlando di Lasso, William Billings’ Shepherd’s Carol, along with traditional Christmas carols arranged by Kirke Mechem.
Dec. 1, 8 p.m., Old First Church, San Francisco, $14-$17, S.F. Girls Chorus Alumnae: Seasons of Joy.
Cantabile Youth Singers’ Annual Holiday Concert
Artistic Director Elena Sharkova and Associate Artistic Director Shane Troll lead Cantabile Youth Singers of Silicon Valley in their annual Holiday Concert.
Dec. 1, 1 p.m., Cathedral Basilica of St. Joseph, San Jose, $15-$50, under 18, free, Holidays With Cantabile.
The Cantare Con Vivo presents All I Want For Christmas Is You!
Cantare Con Vivo founder and Artistic Director David Morales has designed a terrific program of song classics from around the world, including Benjamin Britten’s brilliant A Ceremony of Carols, with solo harp accompaniment by Wendy Tamis, principal harpist with the Berkeley Symphony and the Fremont Symphony.
Dec. 1, 7:30 p.m., Walnut Creek Presbyterian Church; Dec. 2, 4 p.m., First Presbyterian Church, $10-$35, All I Want for Christmas is You.
City Ballet School’s The Nutcracker
City Ballet School, which is to say Artistic Director Galina Alexandrova, former dancer with the Bolshoi Ballet and San Francisco Ballet, presents the school’s tenth anniversary Nutcracker with some of the most accomplished students in the Bay Area, ages 6 to 19. If you’re interested in seeing young talent this is where you go.
Dec. 8, 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.; Dec. 9, 2 p.m., Palace of Fine Arts Theater, San Francisco $25-$35, City Ballet School The Nutcracker.
San Jose Youth Symphony: Philharmonic Orchestra Concert
The top-tier ensemble of the SJS, the Philharmonic Orchestra, will feature renowned jazz pianist and composer, Taylor Eigsti, performing a commissioned composition of his own, along with his wife and San Jose Youth Symphony Alumni Member, Ashley DuVal, as trumpet soloist. This concert will also feature the orchestra and Classical Revolution’s Musical Art Quintet playing a work by composer and MAQ bassist Sascha Jacobson. That’s in addition to Aaron Copland’s Suite from The Tender Land and a full symphony. This orchestra is obviously not conceding anything to age. Except in the price of a ticket.
Dec. 1, 2:30, p.m., California Theatre, $5-$15, San Jose Youth Symphony.