Previews

Handel’s Messiah is one of those durable traditions that are the music industry’s equivalent of “Black Friday.” In the Bay Area, if this is part of your holiday to-do list, then here are five words for you: American Bach Soloists, Grace Cathedral.

Chanticleer, one of the more celebrated professional choirs in the country resides right here in the Bay Area, and its holiday concert features spectacularly sung, beautifully arranged carols and is a perennial favorite.

Funny and irreverent, surely, yet Mark Morris’Hard Nut is also a tremendous example of direct, emotional, musical storytelling. 

Among the better holiday concerts: SingersMarin's “‘Tis the Season… Silver Bells, Dreidels, and More.”

Beginning tomorrow, and through the weekend, the powerhouse New Century Chamber Orchestra continues to open its repertoire with both new music and great arrangements.

The adventurous nine-member choral ensemble Cantus, along with Theatre Latté Da, will perform works from its recording All Is Calm, a selection of songs, poetry, letters, and journal excerpts relating to the extraordinary World War I “Christmas Truce.”

If there’s a Great American Symphony, it’s Roy Harris’ rugged Third from 1938, a fitting companion for “Decoration Day” from Charles Ives’ Holiday's Symphony also on the program from an intrepid amateur community ensemble, the Palo Alto Philharmonic.

The Japanese guitarist Shin-Ichi Fukuda possesses an astonishingly large repertoire, ranging from the Renaissance to the present day.

Berkeley Symphony and their music director, Joana Carneiro deeply engage contemporary symphonic music in all its diversity. 

Magen Solomon’s San Francisco Choral Artists, having justreceived a favorable review in Fanfare for their recent With Strings Attached CD, should makeanyone’s shortlist of choral concerts to attend.