It might help to dissipate the gloom & frustration of living in a country that apparently cannot make up its mind who would be better as President – an accomplished, compassionate, & seasoned leader or a bullying fascist clown who is clearly sliding into mental decrepitude – by going out & supporting the arts. If the Titanic is sinking, we might as well keep dancing. Stay strong, everyone.
Theatrical
Theater Lunatico presents presents The Moors. a "bloody punk-rock melodrama" loosely inspired by the Brontë sisters, written by Jen Silverman (whose Collective Rage: a Play in Five Betties was recently presented by Shotgun) & directed by Tara Blau Smollen & that's 19 October to 3 November at La Val's Subterranean in Berkelely.
BroadwaySF revives the musical Peter Pan at the Curran Theater from 29 October to 3 November.
The Oakland Theater Project presents Ghost Quartet by Dave Malloy (best known for Natasha, Pierre, & the Great Comet of 1812); this time-traveling ghost-story musical will be directed by William Thomas Hodgson & runs 1 through 24 November.
From 1 to 24 November, The Marsh Berkeley presents Stephanie Weisman’s 180 Days. To Die. To Live., directed by Robert Kelley, about a woman whose husband & friend, both diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, choose different approaches to the disease, while still ending up choosing assisted suicide, while from 16 November to 15 December, The Marsh San Francisco presents Lettere D’Amore (Letters of Love) by Dacia Maraini, directed & performed by Francesca Fanti, about a daughter who discovers love letters Gabriele D’Annunzio had written to her late mother.
If you want to see some works-in-progress, Playground hosts the 2024 Innovators Showcase from 4 through 24 November at the Potrero Stage (admission is free, but donations gratefully accepted); works include "Unplanned, an anthology of shorts about reproductive health, presented by Network Effects Theater Company (Nov 4 & 5 at 7pm), Abby Normal, a world premiere musical presented by House Theater (Nov 9 at 7pm, Nov 10 at 2pm & 7pm), Four Seasons Political Landscaping, readings of plays focusing on politics, civil rights, and governance, presented by Oakland Public Theater (Nov 15 at 7pm, Nov 16 at 2pm), and Desert Wind, the story of a Yemenite Jewish couple, caught in the violence, of the Houthi uprising in Yemen, presented by The American Jewish Theatre (Nov 23 at 7pm, Nov 24 at 2pm & 7pm)."
BroadwaySF presents the national touring company of Kimberly Akimbo, the winner of last year's Tony for Best Musical, with book & lyrics by David Lindsay-Abaire, music by Jeanine Tesori, choreography by Danny Mefford, & direction by Jessica Stone, & that's at the Curran from 6 November to 1 December.
UC Berkeley's Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies Department presents Everybody, Branden Jacobs-Jenkins's "contemporary and comedic riff" on Everyman, directed by Susannah Martin, from 7 to 10 November at Zellerbach Playhouse.
Berkeley Rep gives us the west coast premiere of Jaja’s African Hair Braiding by Jocelyn Bioh, directed by Whitney White, about a Harlem hair salon staffed by West African hair-braiders, & that runs 8 November through 15 December.
Berkeley Playhouse presents Seussical, the musical (book by Lynn Ahrens & Stephen Flaherty, lyrics by the former & music by the latter), directed by William Thomas Hodgson, from 8 November through 22 December.
ZSpace & Word for Word present The Strange Library by Haruki Murakami, directed by Lisa Hori-Garcia & Keiko Shimosato Carreiro, & that's 13 November through 8 December at Z Below.
Golden Thread Productions gives ALAA: A Family Trilogy by Adam Ashraf Elsayigh, directed by Evren Odcikin, exploring the life & works of the imprisoned Egyptian blogger/activist Alaa Abd El-Fattah, a workshop presentation at Z Space on 16 - 17 November.
Beginning 16 November, Shotgun Players at the Ashby Stage present Thirty-Six, a play about contemporary dating, by Leah Nanako-Winkler, directed by Michelle Talgarow.
San Francisco Playhouse revives Waitress, the Broadway musical based on the movie by Adrienne Shelly about a waitress with dreams of opening her own pie shop, with music & lyrics by Sara Bareilles & book by Jessie Nelson; the show will be directed by Susi Damilano with music direction by Dave Dobrusky & it runs 21 November to 18 January 2025.
Theater Rhinoceros presents the Kander & Ebb classic, Cabaret, from 21 November to 15 December.
In a meta twist on their traditional presentation of A Christmas Carol, ACT presents A Whynot Christmas Carol by Craig Lucas, directed by Pam MacKinnon, about a small-town theater troupe struggling to stage A Christmas Carol, & that's at the Toni Rembe Theater from 26 November through 24 December.
Operatic
The San Francisco Opera has two final performances of Tristan this month, on 1 & 5 November, & this production is not to be missed; then Francesca Zambello's production of Bizet's Carmen, conducted by Benjamin Manis & starring Eve-Maud Hubeaux as Carmen, Jonathan Tetelman as Don José (except 26 November, when Thomas Kinch will take the part), Christian Van Horn as Escamillo, & Louise Alder as Micaëla, will play on 13, 16, 19, 22, 24, 26, & 29 November & 1 December. On 21 November there is something the Opera calls the Carmen Encounter, in which only the first act of the opera is performed & then there's a party – not my kind of thing, but this is the third time they're doing something like this, so someone must like it.
Opera Parallèle presents Everest: Opera in the Planetarium on 8, 9, 10, 13, & 17 November; using a graphic-novel-type visual style, a film will play over a recording of Everest (music by Joby Talbot, libretto by Gene Scheer) at the Planetarium at the California Academy of Sciences.
The Future Is Now, the annual concert by San Francisco Opera's Adler Fellows, will take place at Herbst Theater on 15 November.
Opera San José presents Puccini's La Bohème, conducted by Joseph Marcheso & directed by Michelle Ainna Cuizon, featuring WooYoung Yoon as Rodolfo, Kearstin Piper Brown as Mimi (on 16 & 24 November & 1 December), Mikayla Sager as Mimi (on 17, 22, & 30 November), Kidon Choi as Marcello, & Melissa Sondhi as Musetta, &, as you can tell from the Mimi dates, the engagement goes from 16 November to 1 December.
Ars Minerva gives us its latest revival of a forgotten opera, La Flora by Antonio Sartorio & Marc'Antonio Ziani, conducted by Matthew Dirst & directed by company head Céline Ricci, from 15 to 17 November at the ODC Theater.
Choral
21V, a choral group of soprano & alto voices of all genders led by Martín Benvenuto, joins with the Cantabile Youth Singers of Silicon Valley on 3 November at the First Unitarian Universalist Society in San Francisco to perform Reclaiming Radical 2.0, a program featuring new works by Chris Castro & Stacy Garrop that honor the legacies of César Chavez, Dolores Huerta, & Ruth Bader Ginsburg, along with works by Trevor Weston, Alexandra Olsavsky, & others; admission is free but donations are welcome.
The San Francisco Choral Society, led by Robert Geary, presents A Rose Is All My Song: Music of Mary, featuring pieces by John Rutter, Verdi, Heinrich Isaac, Franz Biebl, & Pekka Kostiainen, with soprano soloist Rabihah Dunn & organist Christopher Keady, & that's 9 - 10 November at Trinity + Saint Peter's Episcopal in San Francisco.
On 10 November at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Chanticleer will join with the Conservatory Chorus, led by Eric Choate, to perform William Byrd's Non Nobis Domine, Orlando Gibbons' The Silver Swan, Thomas Weelkes' When David Heard, Ralph Vaughan Williams' Rest, Bach's Jesus bleibet meine Freude, Cantata BWV 147, Fauré's Cantique de Jean Racine, Opus 11, & Barber's Sure on this Shining Night.
Sweet Honey in the Rock celebrates a half-century of music-making with appearances at the SF Jazz Center on 14 - 17 November.
The men's chorus Clerestory presents Bridges: Music Connecting Places & Times, a program ranging from Josquin, Byrd, Purcell, Sigismondo d’India, & Tiburtio Massaino to Rachmaninoff, Pärt, Stucky, Jung Jae-Il, & Abbie Betinis, & you can cross the bridges on 16 November at Noe Valley Ministry in San Francisco & 17 November at Saint Mark's Episcopal in Berkeley.
The International Orange Chorale presents Voices Unbound, a program featuring (first) "aleatoric works immersing audiences in the exploration of different musical themes", (second) "a capella pieces inspired by improvisatory singing"; (third) pieces highlighting IOCSF soloists, & (fourth) "new improvisation developed by IOCSF members, featuring melodies sourced from choir members", & you can hear that 16 November at First Presbyterian in Berkeley & 17 November at Saint Matthew's Lutheran in San Francisco.
Chora Nova, under new artistic director John Kendall Bailey, will perform Mozart's Requiem & his Solemn Vespers on 16 November at First Church in Berkeley.
On 17 November at the Taube Atrium Theater, San Francisco Opera Chorus Director John Keene leads the Opera's chorus, accompanied by Associate Chorus Master Fabrizio Corona at the piano (repertory has not yet been announced).
Volti presents Electronics & New Music, a program featuring a premiere from Anne Hege as well as pieces by Angélica Negrón & Kaija Saariaho, & that's 16 November at Saint Paul's Episcopal in Walnut Creek, 17 November at the Church of Christ, Scientist in Berkeley, & 18 November at the Noe Valley Ministry in San Francisco.
Vocalists
Baritone Zachary Gordin, General & Artistic Director of Festival Opera, will join with pianist Daniel Lockert (& some special surprise guest artists) to present Muses and Musings of an Impresario, in which Gordin will discuss his lifetime in music, with performances of pieces by Schumann, Mahler, Reynaldo Hahn, & Jake Heggie, & others; that's 17 November at the Piedmont Center for the Arts.
Lieder Alive! presents Each Moment Radiant: a Liederabend with soprano Heidi Moss Erickson & pianist John Parr; they will perform works by Ravel, Fauré & Richard Strauss, along with excerpts from Kurt Erickson’s Each Moment Radiant, celebrating his tenth year as the group's Composer-in-Residence, & you can hear that 17 November at Old First in San Francisco & 24 November at the Maybeck First Church of Christ Scientist in Berkeley.
On 19 November in Herbst Theater, San Francisco Performances presents countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo with pianist Bryan Wagorn, performing pieces by Handel, Joel Thompson, Gregory Spears, Liszt, Berlioz, Verdi, Duparc, Philip Glass, & songs associated with Barbra Streisand. (Roth Costanza will be offering a Masterclass at the SF Conservatory of Music on 20 November.)
Marina Crouse sings Ernestine Anderson’s Never Make Your Move Too Soon at the SF Jazz Center on 21 November.
The Stella Heath Sextet performs music From Billie Holiday to Edith Piaf at the SF Jazz Center on 23 - 24 November.
Orchestral
David Milnes leads the UC Berkeley Symphony Orchestra in Schumann's Cello Concerto in A minor (with soloist Sarah Kave) & the Shostakovich 8 on 1 and 2 November in Hertz Hall.
The San Francisco Symphony will celebrate Día de los Muertos on 2 November with a Latin American-centered concert, led by Carlos Miguel Prieto & featuring Pacho Flores on trumpet, Héctor Molina on cuatro, & the Casa Círculo Cultural as well as the Symphony; the program includes Carlos Chávez's Symphony #2, Sinfonía india; Paquito D’Rivera's Concerto Venezolano; Juan Pablo Contreras's Mariachitlán; Gabriela Ortiz's Antrópolis, & José Pablo Moncayo's Huapango; the lobby will feature art installations & altars by local artists.
Urs Leonhardt Steiner leads the Golden Gate Symphony in the world premiere of Elijah’s Call: An Oratorio for an Abolitionist by Allison Lovejoy (with libretto by Gary Kamiya), commemorating her ancestor Elijah Parrish Lovejoy, an abolitionist "who sacrificed his life in the fight against slavery", with Walter Riley as narrator & vocal soloists Michael Desnoyers (tenor), Melinda Martinez-Becker (mezzo-soprano), & Bradley Kynard (bass); the program also includes the Symphony #4 by Florence Price & "a selection of spirituals led by the Men’s Choir of Oakland’s Acts Full Gospel Church of God in Christ, directed by Chris Poston", & that's 3 November at the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco.
On 2 - 3 November at Walnut Creek's Lesher Center, Donato Cabrera leads the California Symphony in Britten's Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra, Philharmonia Fantastique: The Making of the Orchestra by Mason Bates, & the Brahms 4.
On 7 - 9 November, Nicholas Collon leads the San Francisco Symphony in the Three-piece Suite from Powder Her Face by Thomas Adès, the Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto #1 (with soloist Conrad Tao), & Elgar's Enigma Variations (there is also an open rehearsal on the morning of 7 November).
On 8 November at the Paramount, Kedrick Armstrong leads the Oakland Symphony in Shawn Okpebholo's Zoom! as well as his Two Black Churches (an Oakland Symphony co-commission), along with, for some reason, Orff's Carmina Burana (with soprano Meechot Marrero, tenor Ashley Faatoalia, & baritone Will Liverman).
On 10 November in Zellerbach Hall, Joseph Young leads the Berkeley Symphony in the Redes Suite by Revueltas, Barber's Knoxville: Summer of 1915 (with soprano soloist Lisa Delan), For a Younger Self by Kris Bowers (with violin soloist Charles Yang), & Bernstein's Symphonic Dances from West Side Story.
Concertmaster & violinist Daniel Hope leads the New Century Chamber Orchestra in Samuel Coleridge-Taylor's Allegro Moderato from Four Novelletten for String Orchestra, David Bruce's Lully Loops for Violin and String Orchestra, & Max Richter's Vivaldi: Recomposed – The Four Seasons, & you can hear it all 14 November at First Congregational in Berkeley, 15 November at the Empress Theater in Vallejo, 16 November at Herbst Theater in San Francisco, & 17 November at Saint Stephen's Episcopal in Belvedere.
On 15 November in Hertz Hall, Thomas Green & Noam Elisha leads the UC Berkeley Philharmonia Orchestra in Strum by Jesse Montgomery as well as the Beethoven 2 & the Brahms 1.
On 15 - 17 November, Kazuki Yamada leads the San Francisco Symphony in Entwine by Dai Fujikura, the Ravel Piano Concerto in G major (with soloist Hélène Grimaud), & the Fauré Requiem, with soprano Liv Redpath & baritone Michael Sumuel as well as the SF Symphony Chorus led by Jenny Wong.
On 16 November at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, guest conductor Kalena Bovell leads the SFCM Orchestra in Hear Her Sing by Alex Malinas, selections from Romeo & Juliet by Prokoviev, & both the Fountains of Rome & the Pines of Rome by Respighi.
The Cantata Collective presents Nicholas McGegan in an evening of Haydn & Mozart; the evening in question is 17 November, at First Congregational in Berkeley; the Haydn is the Scena di Berenice & the aria Deh Scoccorri Un’infelice from La Fideltà Premiata, featuring soprano Dominique Labelle, & the Mozart is the Concertone K 190 for 2 violins, oboe, cello & orchestra & the Symphony #40.
On 21 - 23 November, Bernard Labadie leads the San Francisco Symphony in an all Mozart program, featuring the Overture to La clemenza di Tito, Giunse alfin il momento…Al desio di chi t’adora (this & all other vocal pieces feature soprano Lucy Crowe), Ruhe sanft mein holdes Leben from Zaide, the Masonic Funeral Music, Schon lacht der holde Frühling, Venga la morte…Non temer, amato bene, & the Sympony #39.
On 23 November at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Sixto Montesinos Jr leads the Bay Area Rainbow Symphony in Quinn Mason's Toast of the Town Overture, Charles Tomlinson Griffes' Poem, & the Tchaikovsky 5.
The San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra, led by Radu Paponiu, will perform Bernstein's Overture to Candide, Takashi Yoshimatsu's Cyber Bird Concerto (with saxophone soloist Harry Jo), & the Tchaikovsky 4 at Davies Hall on 24 November.
Chamber Music
If you're near Old Saint Mary's in San Francisco on a Tuesday near lunchtime, here's what's happening at Noontime Concerts: on 5 November, Basma Edrees (violin)Amelia Romano (Lever Harp), & Kendra Grittani (cello) play Modern Minds, a program featuring works by living female composers originally written for solo harp & arranged for string trio for this program; the composers include Romano & Edrees as well as Tamsin Dearnley, Lucy Hendry, Nadia Birkenstock, Ailie Robertson, & Sumula Jackson); on 12 November, Jennifer Choi (violin) Angela Lee (cello), & Marc Teicholz (guitar) will perform Bach's Sonata in C Major, BWV 1033, Dušan Bogdanović's Five Balkan Miniatures, & Paganini's Terzetto in D Major, Opus 66 for Violin, Cello, and Guitar; on 19 November, Chloe Tula (harp) & Elizabeth Prior (viola) will perform Bach to Bax (Back-to-Back), a program featuring Bach's Sonata for Viola and Harpsichord, Marcel Granjany's Rhapsodie for Harp, & Arnold Bax's Fantasy Sonata for Viola and Harp.
The Saturday morning lecture series at Herbst Theater, presented by San Francisco Performances, featuring musicologist Robert Greenberg & the Alexander String Quartet (Zakarias Grafilo & Yuna Lee, violins; David Samuel, viola; Sandy Wilson, cello), continues its exploration of The String Quartets of Papa Joe & Wolfgang on 2 November, with Mozart's String Quartet #2 in D Major, the String Quartet #8 in F Major, & the String Quartet #12 in B-Flat Major.
Cal Performances presents the Dover Quartet (Joel Link & Bryan Lee, violins; Julianne Lee, viola, & Camden Shaw, cello), performing Jessie Montgomery's Strum, the west coast premiere of a Cal Performances co-commission; Abokkoli Taloowa (Woodland Songs) by Jerod Impichchaachaaha Tate,
Rattle Songs by Pura Fe as arranged by Tate, & Dvořák’s Quartet in F major, Opus 96, the American, & that's on 3 November at Hertz Hall.
San Francisco Performances presents the Jerusalem Quartet (Alexander Pavlovsky & Sergei Bresler, violins; Ori Kam, viola; Kyril Zlotnikov, cello) on 7 November at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music's Hume Concert Hall (rather than the usual HerbstTheater), where they will perform Haydn's Quartet in B-flat Major, Opus 50, #1, the Prussian, Shostakovich's Quartet #12 in D-Flat Major, Opus 133, & Dvořák’s String Quartet in G-Major, Opus 106.
Taste of Talent celebrates El Día de los Muertos with cuisine & music from Mexico, with soprano Marlen Nahhas, pianist Ronny Michael Greenberg, & violinist Elizabeth Castro Greenberg on 6 November at the SF Clocktower Lofts.
The Berkeley Hillside Club's Chamber Music Sundaes series continues on 10 November with Sarn Oliver & Mariko Smiley (violin), Amy Hiraga (viola), & Peter Wyrick (cello), & mezzo-soprano Shauna Fallihee performing Sarn Oliver's The "CAT" (Contemporary Artful Tonalities) String Quartet & Beethoven's String Quartet in A minor, Opus 132.
On 10 November (afternoon) at Davies Hall, a chamber group of San Francisco Symphony musicians will perform Bach's Goldberg Variations (arranged for string trio), Till Euelenspiegel einmal anders! by Richard Strauss & Franz Hasenöhrl, Ravel's Introduction and Allegro, & Mozart's Variations on “Ah vous dirai-je, Maman".
On 10 November (evening) at Davies Hall, violinist Itzhak Perlman, along with pianists Jean-Yves Thibaudet & Emanuel Ax, & the Juilliard String Quartet, will perform Jean-Marie Leclair's Sonata for Two Violins in E minor, Opus 3 #5, Mozart's Piano Quartet #2 in E-flat major, & Chausson's Concert for Violin, Piano, and String Quartet.
The Sharp Quartet (Robin Sharp & Natasha Makhijani, violins; Ben Simon, viola; & Eric Gaenslen (cello) play (unspecified) string quartets by Mozart & Beethoven for Classical at the Freight (that's Freight & Salvage in Berkeley) on 11 November.
For this month's 12 November Chamber Music Tuesday at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, tenor Nicholas Phan will join with faculty & student musicians to give the world premiere of Diār, a string quartet by SFCM Hoefer Prize Winner Shahab Paranj, as well as pieces by Rebecca Clarke & Fauré that combine singing with chamber ensembles.
Instrumental
On 10 November at Hertz Hall, Cal Performances presents pianist Behzod Abduraimov playing Franck's Prélude, Fugue, and Variations, Opus 18 (as arranged by Bauer), Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition, Florence Price's Fantasie nègre #1 in E minor, & Ten Pieces from Romeo and Juliet, Opus 75, by Prokofiev.
On 10 November at Old First Concerts, pianist Lynn Schugren performs The Voice of the Piano, a program featuring music by American women: Amy Beach's 5 Improvisations, Opus 148; Louise Talma's Sonata; Frances Brouwer's Flight & her Fear of the Deep; Miriam Gideon's Sonata; Joan Tower's Ivory and Ebony; & the world premiere of Alexis Alrich's The Caryatids.
San Francisco Performances presents pianist Natasha Paremski at Herbst Theater on 13 November, performing Quinn Mason's Falling Slowly, Chopin's Berceuse in D-Flat Major, Opus 57 & his Sonata #2 in B-Flat Minor, Opus 35, selections from Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet & Stravinsky's Three Movements from Petrushka.
Cal Performances presents pianist Igor Levit on 19 November at Zellerbach Hall, when he will play Bach's Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue in D minor, the Brahms Ballades, Opus 10, & the Beethoven 7 as arranged by Liszt.
Ukulele virtuoso Jake Shimabukuro gets a jump on the celebrations with Holidays in Hawaii at the SF Jazz Center on 21 - 24 November.
On 23 November in Zellerbach Hall, Cal Performances presents violinist Maxim Vengerov with pianist Polina Osetinskaya, performing Three Romances for Violin and Piano, Opus 22 by Clara Schumann, the Scherzo from the F-A-E Sonata by Brahms, the Violin Sonata #3 in A minor by Robert Schumann, & Prokofiev's Five Melodies, Opus 35 & his Violin Sonata #2 in D major, Opus 94a.
Early / Baroque Music
Tactus SF, led by Sven Edward Olbash, marks the Day of the Dead with a program of Spanish music contemplating death & the afterlife, featuring the traditional Roman Catholic Office for the Dead, as well as music by Cristóbal de Morales, Tomás Luis de Victoria, Fernando Franco, & Juan Vásquez, & you can hear it all on 2 November at Saint Matthew's Lutheran in San Francisco (near Mission Dolores) & 3 November at Saint Paul's Episcopal in Oakland.
Philharmonia Baroque, led at these performances by mandolinist Avi Avital & joined by soprano Estelí Gomez, celebrates Vivaldi & Venice with performances of his Concerto in G minor for Strings and Basso Continuo, the aria Lo seguitai felice from L’Olimpiade, traditional Venetian songs, &, of course, The Four Seasons, & you can hear it all 7 November at Herbst Theater in San Francisco, 8 November at Bing Concert Hall at Stanford, & 9 November at First Congregational in Berkeley. (Avital will conduct a Master Class at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music on 15 November.)
The San Francisco Early Music Society presents Christophe Rousset & Les Talens Lyriques, joined by mezzo-soprano Ambroisine Bré, for The Sound of Music in Versailles, highlighting music by Lambert, de Montéclair, Couperin, & Lully, on 12 November at First Church in Berkeley.
Cal Performances presents violinist Leonidas Kavakos performing Bach's Complete Sonatas & Partitas for Solo Violin in Zellerbach Hall; on 15 November, he will play Partita #3 in E major, Sonata #2 in A minor, & Sonata #3 in C major, & on 16 November the Sonata #1 in G minor, the Partita #1 in B minor, & the Partita #2 in D minor.
Modern / Contemporary Music
Left Coast Chamber Ensemble, joined by soprano Nikki Einfeld, performs Schoenberg's Pierrot Lunaire, Tomàs Peire-Serrate's Five Haiku (the LCCE 2022 Composition Contest Winner), & Maria Schneider's Carlos Drummond de Andrade Stories on 2 November at Noe Valley Ministry in San Francisco & 3 November at the Berkeley Hillside Club.
On 3 November at Old First Concerts, Orphic Percussion (Sean Clark, Michael Downing, Divesh Karamchandani, & Stuart Langsam) will perform Alexis Alrich's Muse of Fire, Gary Heaton-Smith's Rendezvous I, Marc Mellits' Gravity, Alejandro Vinao's Stress and Flow, Shaun Tilburg's Series of Accidents, David Skidmore's Donner, & Kenneth Froelich's Stuck in Loops (all but the Mellits & the Skidmore were commissioned by Orphic Percussion).
The Bent Frequency Duo Project (saxophonist Jan Berry Baker & percussionist Stuart Gerber) will perform music written for them by Amy Williams, Emily Koh, George Lewis, Ken Ueno, & Pamela Madsen (the latter two works are premieres) at the Center for New Music on 8 November.
On 8 November at Old First Concerts, Ensemble for These Times (pianist Margaret Halbig with guests Laura Reynolds, English horn & oboe; Lylia Guion, violin; & Megan Chartier, cello) will perform In Motion, a program featuring the world premieres of Oboe Meets Piano by Mary Bianco; And I Made My Own Way, Deciphering That Fire by Ursula Kwong-Brown; & ubi lux floret by Darian Donovan Thomas as well as the Moto Perpetuo from Britten's Cello Sonata, Opus 65; Moto Perpetuo from Suite Mignonne, Opus 39 by York Bowen; Synopsis #10: I Know This Room So Well by Lisa Bielawa; Ominous Machine by Vivian Fung; Composure by Sage Shurman, & Majestic Bells by Zhou Tian; there will be a preconcert talk with composers Bianco, Vivan Fung, & Kwong-Brown, moderated by E4TT’s Brennan Stokes.
On 9 November at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Nicole Paiement leads the New Music Ensemble in selections from Elinor Armer's A Book of Songs, David Garner's Viñetas Flamencas, Darioush Mackani's It Disappears, Aleksandra Vrebalov's Cosmic Love III, & Milhaud's Symphonie de chambre numbers 1, 2, 3.
San Francisco Performances presents composers Caroline Shaw (performing on vocals & viola this evening) & Gabriel Kahane (vocals & piano) in Hexagons, a new piece they've created inspired by Borges's The Library of Babel; there will also be additional works, & you can hear them all on 14 November at Herbst Theater.
The San Francisco Contemporary Music Players present Myths & Muses on 24 November at the Brava Theater in San Francisco, featuring the world premiere of an SFCMP commission, Mother Eve by Emma Logan, featuring mezzo-soprano Kindra Schirach, along with local premieres of Laura Schwendinger's The Artist’s Muse, Mary Kouyoumdjian's Moerae (The Fates), & Augusta Read Thomas's Terpsichore’s Box of Dreams, for 13 Virtuosi; the concert is preceded by an "under the hood" conversation among SFCMP Artistic Director Eric Dudley & composers Logan, Schwendinger, & Read Thomas.
Jazz / Roots / Blues
Vijay Iyer brings his Trio (Iyer on piano, Linda May Han Oh on bass, & Tyshawn Sorey on drums) & music from their latest release, Compassion, to the SF Jazz Center on 2 - 3 November.
Aki Kumar, vocalist & harmonica player, "known as 'the only Bombay Blues Man' for his blending of traditional Indian music with Chicago blues", celebrates Diwali, along with guest musicians to be named later, at the SF Jazz Center on 3 November.
Saxophonist / vocalist Stephanie Chou brings her Stephanie Chou Quintet, which combines traditional Chinese music & classical influences with American jazz & pop, to the SF Jazz Center on 8 November.
On 10 November Freight & Salvage hosts the fourth annual Black Women's Roots Festival, celebrating "powerful, pioneering Black women in blues, jazz, folk, gospel, classical, and Afro-Cuban music" performers include The Dynamic Miss Faye Carol, Linda Tillery, Bobi Céspedes, Bishop Yvette Flunder, Miko Marks, Vicki Randle, the All Black Women String Quartet (Christina Walton & Yeri Caesar, violin; Nansamba Ssensalo, viola; Mia Pixley, cello), Avotcja, & Miss Faye's Babies (students of Faye Carol).
The San Francisco International Boogie Woogie Festival, featuring Luca Sestak, Lluis Coloma, Chase Garrett & Emilie Richard, Carl Sonny Leyland, & “Blue Lou” Marini. takes place at the SF Jazz Center on 10 November.
The Erik Jekabson Stringtet, joined by vocalist Jackie Ryan, will play music by Duke Ellington, as arranged by Jekabson, at the Berkeley Hillside Club on 22 November.
The Sun Ra Arkestra plays the Great American Music Hall from 22 to 24 November.
The SF Jazz Center hosts Blues Blowout, "a cross-section of artists representing the living soul of Texas, the deep Chicago blues tradition, and the signature sound of West Coast blues", including vocalists Diunna Greenleaf, Oscar Wilson, & Mark Hummel (who also plays harmonica), guitarists Anson Funderburgh, Junior Watson, & others; & that's 29 November - 1 December.
Dance
Oakland Ballet celebrates Dia de los Muertos with Luna Mexicana at the Paramount on 2 November.
Cal Performances presents Step Afrika! in The Migration: Reflections on Jacob Lawrence, based on Jacob Lawrence's series of paintings chronicling the Great Migration & using music that includes works by Nina Simone & John Coltrane as well as gospel & West African drumming, & that's at Zellerbach Hall on 2 - 3 November.
La Rumba No Para (The Rumba Doesn’t Stop), directed and choreographed by Andrea Rodriguez, a "salsa love story" that combines film, dance, & spoken word to tell a story about growing up in San Francisco, plays at ODC Theater on 8 - 10 November.
Smuin Ballet gets an early jump on the holidays with the return of The Christmas Ballet, playing 23 - 24 November at the Lesher Center in Walnut Creek, 5 - 8 December at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts, & 13 - 24 December at the Yerba Buena Center in San Francisco (20 December is LGBTQ+ Night with special guest Lady Camden).
Cal Performances presents Pilobolus in re:CREATION from 30 November to 1 December at Zellerbach Hall.
Art Means Paintins
Born of the Bear Dance: Dugan Aguilar’s Photographs of Native California, showing contemporary (1982 to 2018) Indigenous California life, opens at the Oakland Museum on 8 November.
Dress Rehearsal: The Art of Theatrical Design opens at the Legion of Honor on 9 November & runs through 11 May 2025.
In honor of the museum's centennial, Celebrating 100 Years at the Legion of Honor will open at, of course, the Legion of Honor on 9 November (it runs until 2 November 2025).
Amy Sherald: American Sublime, a comprehensive exhibit of the artist best known for her portrait of Michelle Obama, opens at SFMOMA on 16 November & runs through 9 March 2025.
Cinematic
On 3 November, the Roxie in San Francisco celebrates the 25th anniversary of 69 Love Songs with a showing of Strange Powers: Stephin Merritt and the Magnetic Fields; Merritt himself, along with co-director Gail O’Hara & Daniel Handler (also known as Lemony Snicket, also known as the accordionist for the Magnetic Fields) will appear in person & in conversation after the movie.
BAM/PFA have a couple of enticing series this month: Sergei Parajanov: Centennial Celebration, featuring the poetic works of the great Armenian director, runs 1 - 22 November, & Jia Zhangke: Filmmaker in Residence will feature the Chinese director in person with his films, & that runs 7 - 30 November; BAM/PFA's Special Screening series also has lots to offer, including a new digital restoration of Jean-Pierre Melville's Le samouraï (The Godson) starring Alain Delon; Ryuichi Sakamoto: Opus, a final concert film from the late composer; a digital restoration of The Stranger and the Fog (Gharibeh va meh) by Bahram Beyzaie, an Iranian film banned for decades after the Iranian Revolution; & the new restoration of Kurosawa's Seven Samurai.
The San Francisco Transgender Film Festival plays at the Roxie from 13 to 16 November.
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