Previews

A visit from Les Percussion de Strausbourg treats the Bay Area to performances by the oldest continuing Western percussion ensemble.

In its upcoming concert set, Magnificat brings on the drama in a staging of Orazio Vecchi’s madrigal comedy L’Amfiparnaso (The Twin Peaks of Parnassus), a collaboration with three theater artists from the Dell’Arte Company for what’s sure to be a high-spirited affair.

If your week will be made by a really fine performance of a Brandenburg Concerto, as well as music by other German luminaries like Telemann and Handel, then Cal Performances is the place to be on Friday.

Kui Dong is a composer who is just now getting the wider notice she deserves. The upcoming Volti concert includes her Painted Lights alongside works by David Lang, Tamar Diesendruck, and Ted Hearne.

The Jewish Music Festival kicks off in Berkeley with the Ger Mandolin Ensemble, a mandolin orchestra, inspired by a pre-World War II group that was destroyed during the Nazi occupation of Poland.

Though you won't be invited on to the dance floor, if you take in the Gold Coast Players' Rhythm and Shoes concert, you'll at least hear a stylistically varied program that's all about the power of movement and dance

This week the extremely cool Anne Sofie von Otter visits the San Francisco Symphony to perform songs by Grieg and Sibelius. Sibelius' songs are achingly Romantic and deserve to be better known, but the concert promises more than that.

The upcoming Philharmonia Baroque concerts unexpectedly celebrate the friendship of two singers.

Spell checkers go a bit crazy when anyone writes about the Pacifica Quartet. With names like Simin Ganatra, Masumi Per Rostad, Brandon Vamos, and Sibbi Bernhardsson, there’s lots of double-checking to get the names right. Even so, they admit that people still mix up their names.

The San Francisco Chamber Orchestra’s free family concerts are still the best experience around for families with young kids and babes in arms. There is no pressure to sit still, and there’s plenty of engaging visual and aural stimulation for all!