Ken Bullock

Glimpses of the landscape of American music, as played, sung, and illustrated by projections and narration, will be displayed in a big tent on the headlands at Mendocino, one of the most striking land-and-seascapes on the West Coast. This compound setting for Susan Waterfall’s narrated multimedia program on July 15, “Hallelujah, America!” will be a featured event of the 24th Mendocino Music Festival, July 10-24.

Twenty-five pieces by 25 composers: That's the formula behind the equation for San Francisco Choral Artists’ 25th anniversary concert, titled “25 X 25.”

Kent Nagano, who stepped down as musical director of the Berkeley Symphony, returns, as conductor laureate, to lead the Berkeley Akademie on May 20. Here, he talks about his programming philosophy, working with Messaien and Frank Zappa, and entertaining at home — and home for Nagano always means California.

Isaac Albéniz, the Spanish Catalan pianist and composer is well-known for his 12 “impressions” of Iberia, considered the greatest of Spanish piano works. Pianist Robert Schwartz will perform this magnus opus May 7 to honor the anniversary of the composer's birth 150 years ago.

New Yorker writer Alex Ross talks about the Golden Age of music and composing to "embrace the millions," whether or not there should be rules surrounding concert hall decorum, writing for music, and his respect for jazz.

“With the possible exception of the ‘1812 Overture,’ I can’t think of any piece of music as tied to a specific year as Claudio Monteverdi’s 1610 Vespers,” said Warren Stewart, artistic director of Magnificat, the vocal and instrumental ensemble that specializes in the early Baroque.