cherry blossoms: the Japanese Tea Garden, Golden Gate Park, San Francisco
11 April 2025
07 April 2025
Museum Monday 2025/14
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detail of Eating Figures (Quick Snack) by Wayne Thiebaud, seen at the Legion of Honor as part of the exhibition Wayne Thiebaud: Art Comes from Art
04 April 2025
31 March 2025
Museum Monday 2025/13
detail of Iris, Lily and Cattail Window, attributed to Lederle and Geissler, now at the de Young Museum
28 March 2025
26 March 2025
Another Opening, Another Show: April 2025
I was going to put some undoubtedly illuminating remarks here on current events as they are affecting the performing arts & the cultural sphere in general – specifically, on Christian Tetzlaff's cancellation of his American tour, & the way other artists are trying to figure out how to handle our current criminal regime, as well as on the unexpected but ultimately not surprising hostile takeover of the Kennedy Center (I did not have that on my "here come the fascists!" bingo card) – but those things can wait (because, unfortunately, they're not going away anytime soon). Go outside (if the weather where you are permits) & go look at some flowering trees (& if they're not flowering where you are, maybe just read Housman on the loveliest of trees), & after that, maybe go listen to music you don't usually listen to, or performed by a group you don't usually go to hear.
I'll also give the annual reminder that the 23rd of April is the date traditionally celebrated as Shakespeare's birthday. This is, inexplicably, not an international holiday, so find some individual way to celebrate.
Theatrical
From 21 March to 6 April, the Oakland Theater Project presents DougWright's I Am My Own Wife, directed by Michael Socrates Moran, based on the life of "Charlotte von Mahlsdorf, a trans woman who managed to survive both the Nazi onslaught and the repressive East German Communist regime".
As part of its Champagne Staged Reading Series, on 31 March & 1 April, Shotgun Players presents How to Defend Yourself by Liliana Padilla, directed by Gracie Brakeman, about seven college students at a "DIY self-defense workshop".
From 1 to 20 April at the Strand Theater, ACT presents Izzard Hamlet, in which Eddie Izzard performs her one-person version of Shakespeare's tragedy.
From 2 to 20 April, Magic Theater presents the world premiere of the boiling by Sunhui Chang, directed by Ellen Sebastian Chang, about the search for the "nihilistic carrier of a feverish virus called 'the boiling'”.
On 4 April at Zellerbach Hall, Cal Performances presents Defining Courage, Story Boldly's immersive account of the segregated battalions of Nisei soldiers during WWII, who fought for the country that had put their families in internment camps (afterwards there will be a panel discussion of the political & artistic legacy of these soldiers).
From 4 April to 11 May, New Conservatory Theater Center presents Simple Mexican Pleasures by Eric Reyes Loo, directed by Evren Odcikin, about a young man trying to get over a breakup & getting into a whole lot more.
From 5 April to 10 May, The Marsh Berkeley presents Tina D’Elia’s Overlooked Latinas, written & performed by D’Elia & directed by Mary Guzmán, "the new queer telenovela farce of our century!"
From 5 April to 11 May, Berkeley Rep presents the Tectonic Theater Project's Here There Are Blueberries, by Moisés Kaufman & Amanda Gronich & directed by Kaufman, based on an actual incident in which a photo album from Nazi Germany was sent to the US Holocaust Museum & the resulting investigation of its origins.
From 8 to 13 April, Berkeley Rep presents Who’s With Me?, written & performed by W Kamau Bell.
From 11 April to 3 May at the Potrero Stage, Golden Thread Productions gives us the world premiere of AZAD (the rabbit and the wolf) by Sona Tatoyan in collaboration with Jared Mezzocchi, directed by Mezzocchi & featuring Tatoyan, "a tribe of Karagöz Puppets", & oud player Ara Dinkjian
On 13 April in Hertz Hall, UC Berkeley's Javanese Gamelan ensemble "does a rare United States performance of Ramayana’s Hanuman in Action. Accompanied by puppets in shadowplay" & directed by Midiyanto.
On 14 April at the American Bookbinders Museum, Word for Word, as part of their Off the Page staged reading series, in which the public is invited to hear a piece the company is considering for an upcoming production, will present Assimilation by E L Doctorow, directed by Rotimi Agbabiaka.
ACT presents The Acting Company at the Toni Rembe Theater, performing in repertory August Wilson's Two Trains Running (directed by Lili-Anne Brown, 15 April - 4 May) & Shakespeare's Comedy of Errors (adapted by Christina Anderson & directed by Devin Brain, 22 April - 3 May).
From 17 April to 11 May, Theater Rhinoceros presents the west coast premiere of Nina Ki's Gumiho, directed by Crystal Liu, about a young woman who's broken up with her long-time girlfriend & what she discovers through her subsequent hookups.
On 22 April at The Marsh Berkeley, Steve Budd performs a one-person show, Oy, What They Said About Love, directed by Mark Kenward & Kenny Yun; Budd's script explores why & how some couples get together, & others don't.
The Great American Sh*t [sic] Show, written & performed by Brian Copeland & directed by David Ford, plays at The Marsh San Francisco on 24 April, as Copeland explores "how to deal with a family member who’s all in for the Donald when you’re not, when America was last 'great,' #MeToo and more. If you love Trump you’ll hate this show!"
From 24 April to 3 May at Z Below, Crowded Fire Theater presents The Last of the Love Letters, a "meditation on loneliness" by Ngozi Anyanwu, directed by Nailah Unole dida-Nese'ah Harper-Malveaux,
On 26 April, Magic Theater presents a reading of Lauren Gunderson's Muse of Fire, directed by Evren Odcikin, about Shakespeare's life once he retires from the stage & moves back to Stratford; Gunderson plays Anne & Casey Murphy William.
From 26 April to 11 May, The Marsh San Francisco presents Lynne Kaufman’s Shameless Hussy, directed by David Keith, about "Anais Nin, the famous diarist, and the many men in her life. Her two great passions were making love and writing about it".
Berkeley's Aurora Theater presents Lynn Nottage's Crumbs from the Table of Joy, directed by Elizabeth Carter, from 26 April to 25 May.
Operatic
The Historical Performance Department of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music presents Handel's Orlando on 12 & 13 April, staged by director Elisabeth Reed & director / diction coach Marcie Stapp & conducted by Corey Jamason.
On 13 April at the Legion of Honor's Gunn Theater, Pocket Opera presents a double-bill of Mozart's Bastien and Bastienne (Lynne Morrow, Music Director, & Chase Kupperberg, Stage Director) & A Pocket Magic Flute (Alex Taite, Music Director, & Margo Hall, Live action Director (apparently the production uses animation & has singers & actors doubling in the roles).
Opera San José presents Héctor Armienta’s Zorro, directed by David Radamés Toro & conducted by Jorge Parodi, from 19 April to 4 May.
On 27 April in Zellerbach Hall, Cal Performances presents Handel’s Giulio Cesare in Egitto, with The English Concert led by Harry Bicket, featuring Christophe Dumaux (countertenor, Giulio Cesare), Louise Alder (soprano, Cleopatra), Paula Murrihy (mezzo-soprano, Sesto), Beth Taylor (contralto, Cornelia), John Holiday (countertenor, Tolomeo), Morgan Pearse (baritone, Achilla), Meili Li (countertenor, Nireno), & Thomas Chenhall (baritone, Curio).
On 27 April at the Maybeck First Church of Christ, Scientist in Berkeley, Berkeley Chamber Opera presents Europa & The Bull: A tale of Europa and Zeus, inspired by the paintings of Mary Holmes, with music by Peter Josheff to a libretto by Josheff & Eliza O’Malley, who is also the production's soprano; she is joined by tenor Jonathan Smucker & conductor Matilda Hofman, who leads the ensemble: Dan Flanagan on violin, Josheff on clarinet, Victoria Ehrlich on cello, & Richard Worn on bass.
Choral
On 4 April at Saint Paul's Episcopal in Oakland, Jeff Howe leads Pacific Edge Voices in Music of the Elements: The Bonds We Share, an exploration of the world around us through music by California composers Sanford Dole, Randall Thompson, Stephen Paulus, & others.
Martín Benvenuto, Artistic Director of 21V, a chorus of soprano & alto voices of all genders, leads the group in Promise and Peril, a program featuring a world premiere by Eric Tuan as well as works by Karen Siegel, Juan Stafforini, Diana Syrse, & Víctor Daniel Lozada; there will also be a "multi-generational panel discussion among technology experts on how progress can bridge divides yet also deepen inequities", & you can hear it all on 4 April at Old First in San Francisco or 5 April at the Berkeley Hillside Club.
On 27 April, Eric Choate will lead the San Francisco Conservatory of Music's Chorus & their Chamber Orchestra in the Fauré Requiem along with works by Saint-Saëns & Lili Boulanger.
Vocalists
On 5 April, Cal Performances presents Patti LuPone, accompanied by pianist Joseph Thalken, in what is described as "an intimate cabaret-style evening of songs", though since the venue is cavernous, audio-enhanced Zellerbach Hall, the intimacy will have to be created by the skilled LuPone & a willing audience; the Broadway diva will sing songs & tell stories determined by titles randomly chosen on stage from a hat
The final Schwabacher Recital for this season will take place 10 April at the Taube Atrium Theater; soprano Leah Crocetto & pianist Carrie-Ann Matheson will perform songs by Clara Schumann, Rachmaninoff, Mahler, & as-yet unspecified others.
Taste of Talent & JIVE (Jewish Innovative Voices & Experiences) present Dayenu, a concert for Passover mixing traditional Yiddish & Sephardic songs with jazz, cabaret, operetta, & musical theater (as well as food & wine), led by producer / pianist Ronny Michael Greenberg with Simon Barrad (cantorial soloist of Sherith Israel), countertenor Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen, & violinist Elizabeth Castro Greenberg, & you can hear it 9 - 10 April at the Century Club of California in San Francisco & 17 April at the Jewish Community Center in San Francisco.
Orchestral
On 4 - 5 April at Hertz Hall, David Milnes leads the UC Berkeley Symphony Orchestra in Hindemith's Symphonic Metamorphosis, Lutoslawski's Symphony #3, & Richard Strauss's Also sprach Zarathustra.
On 5 April at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, the Conservatory's Chamber Orchestra will perform John Adams’ Chamber Symphony & the Haydn 39, conducted by Chih-Yao Chang & Donald Lee, followed by Beethoven's Egmont Overture & his Piano Concerto #1, with soloist Awadagin Pratt conducting from the keyboard.
On 5 April at Heron Arts in San Francisco, One Found Sound presents Sonic Blooms, featuring the world premiere of Ty Bloomfield's Flux/Drive (the winner of One Found Sound’s 2024 Emerging Composer Award), Sami Seif's Shubho Lhaw Qolo (the runner up), as well as the Adagietto from the Mahler 5, & the Mozart 40.
Daniel Hope & the New Century Chamber Orchestra present A Prayer for Peace, a program consisting of Adolphus Hailstork's Sonata da Chiesa for String Orchestra, the west coast premiere of Jungyoon Wie's A Prayer for Peace, concerto grosso for string orchestra (an NCCO co-commission), & Richard Strauss's Metamorphosen for 23 Solo Strings; & you can hear it 4 April at First Congregational in Berkeley, 5 April at Saint Mark's Lutheran in San Francisco, & 6 April at Saint Stephen's Episcopal in Belvedere.
On 10 - 12 April, Marin Alsop leads the San Francisco Symphony in Music of the Americas, a program consisting of Gabriela Ortiz's Antrópolis, Gabriela Montero's Piano Concerto #1, Latin (with the composer herself as soloist), Copland's Fanfare for the Common Man & Joan Tower's Fanfare for the Uncommon Woman, & Barber's Symphony #1.
On 13 April at the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco, Urs Leonhardt Steiner leads the Golden Gate Symphony Orchestra & Chorus in the Shostakovich 5, along with Russian choral works by Rachmaninoff, Rimsky-Korsakov, & Tchaikovsky.
On 25 - 26 April at Hertz Hall, Wei Cheng leads the UC Berkeley University Chorus in Haydn's Creation.
Jory Fankuchen leads the San Francisco Chamber Orchestra in Mendelssohn's The Hebrides (“Fingal’s Cave”), a world premiere SFCO Commission, as yet untitled, by Nathaniel Heyder, & Bartók's Concerto for Viola and Orchestra (with soloist Pearl de la Motte), & you can hear it all on 25 April at the Taube Atrium Theater in San Francisco, 26 April at First United Methodist in Palo Alto, & 27 April at First Congregational in Berkeley; the concerts are free but RSVPs are appreciated.
Jessica Bejarano leads the San Francisco Philharmonic in Barber's Violin Concerto (with soloist Ani Bukujian) & the Dvořák 9, “From the New World”, at Herbst Theater on 26 April.
This is sure to be a Major Event, & to sell out: on 26 April, the San Francisco Symphony puts on an 80th Birthday Concert for former Music Director Michael Tilson Thomas; MTT, who has recently announced he is curtailing his public appearances due to a recurrence of his brain cancer (see his statement here), is currently scheduled to conduct Britten’s The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra & Respighi’s Roman Festivals; there will also be performances by Frederica von Stade, Sasha Cooke,
Jessica Vosk, & Ben Jones, as well as the SF Symphony Chorus (led by Jenny Wong), in "vocal works by MTT and other composers whose music he is closely associated with"; expect surprises & lots of love.
Chamber Music
On 6 April at the Presidio Theater, San Francisco Performances presents violinists Owen Dalby & Geneva Lewis, violist Masumi Per Rostad, & cellist Hannah Collins performing Mendelssohn's String Quartet in E-flat Major, Opus 12, & Zemlinsky's String Quartet #1 in A Major, Opus 4.
On 6 April, as part of its Chamber Music Sundaes series, the Berkeley Hillside Club presents Blair Francis Paponiu (flute), Katie Kadarauch (viola), & Katherine Siochi (harp) performing Debussy's Sonata for Flute, Viola and Harp, Arnold Bax's Elegiac Trio, Lensky’s Aria from Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin (presumably transcribed), Astor Piazzolla's Histoire du Tango, & Miguel del Aguila's Submerged.
On 7 April, as part of Freight & Salvage's Classical at the Freight series, The Monday Night Chamber Music Society (Liana Berubé & Evan Price, violin; Stephanie Ng & Ben Simon, viola; Michael Graham, cello) will perform Beethoven’s String Quintet in C Major, Opus 29 & a quintet by Bohuslav Martinů.
On 8 April, for the San Francisco Conservatory of Music's Chamber Music Tuesday, the Telegraph Quartet (Eric Chin & Joseph Maile, violin; Pei-Ling Lin, viola; Jeremiah Shaw) will perform, along with students from the Conservatory's Chamber Music program, Dvořák's Cypresses, Josef Suk's Piano Quintet in G Minor, Opus 8, & George Rochberg's String Quartet # 3.
On 13 April in Hertz Hall, Cal Performances presents Owls, a "new string quartet collective" featuring one violin (Alexi Kenney), one viola (Ayane Kozasa), & two cellos (Gabriel Cabezas & Paul Wiancko), performing Children’s Song No. 12 by Chick Corea, Vox Petra & When the Night by Paul Wiancko, Rəqs by Franghiz Ali-Zadeh, Les Barricades Mystérieuses by Couperin, Ricercar by Trollstilt, & Good Medicine from Salome Dances for Peace by Terry Riley.
On 13 April at the Piedmont Center for the Arts, René Mandel will lead a chamber ensemble of Berkeley Symphony players in A Viennese Sojourn, a program consisting of Ernst von Dohnányi's Serenade in C major, Opus 10, Maria Theresia von Paradis's Sicilienne for Cello and String Quartet, & Schubert's String Quintet in C major, D 956; Mandel leads the same program on 14 April at Freight & Salvage.
On 16 April at Herbst Theater, San Francisco Performances presents the Isidore String Quartet (Adrian Steele & Phoenix Avalon, violins; Devin Moore, viola; Joshua McClendon, cello) performing Mozart's String Quartet #19 in C Major, K 465, “Dissonance”; the String Quartet #3, “Unrequited”, by Billy Childs; & Beethoven's String Quartet #12 in E-Flat Major, Opus 127.
On 26 April at the Chan National Queer Arts Center in San Francisco, violinist Blake Pouliot & pianist Henry Kramer perform Music of Political Revolution, a program exploring "the galvanizing power of music on political action", including Ambush on All Sides by Bao Zhi Yang, the Sonata for violin and piano by Janáček, the spark she left behind by Derrick Skye, Damon for solo violin and electronics by Pirayeh Pourafar, & Prokofiev's Violin Sonata #1 in F minor, Opus 80.
On 26 April, students at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music will present a Jewish Heritage Concert (repertory has not yet been announced).
On 27 April at Herbst Theater, Chamber Music San Francisco presents violinist Alexandra Soumm & pianist Amandine Savary in a program that will include violin sonatas by Grieg & Toccatas by Bach.
On 27 April at Davies Hall, a chamber group of San Francisco Symphony musicians will perform the Passione Amorosa for Four Double Basses by Giovanni Bottesini, Café Music by Paul Schoenfield, Nonet by Martinů, & the String Quartet #1 by Prokofiev.
Instrumental
On 1 April at Zellerbach Hall, Cal Performances presents pianist Leif Ove Andsnes performing Grieg's Piano Sonata in E minor, Opus 7, Geirr Tveitt's Piano Sonata, Opus 129, Sonata Etere, & Chopin's 24 Preludes, Opus 28.
On 1 April at Herbst Theater, San Francisco Performances presents pianist Joyce Yang, performing Beethoven's Sonata #18 in E-Flat Major, Opus 31, #3, “The Hunt”; selected Preludes from Rachmaninoff's Opus 32 (#1 in C Major, #4 in D Major, #5 in G Major, #10 in B Minor, #12 in G-Sharp Minor, & #13 in D-Flat Major); & Schumann's Kreisleriana.
On 3 April at Herbst Theater, San Francisco Performances presents violinist Randall Goosby with pianist Zhu Wang performing the Violin Sonata #3 in G Minor, Opus 1a by Joseph Bologne, the Chevalier de Saint-Georges; Fauré's Sonata #1 in A, Opus 13; Chausson's Poème, Opus 25; & Schubert's Rondeau brillant in B Minor, D 895.
On 6 April at Herbst Theater, Chamber Music San Francisco presents pianist Yefim Bronfman performing Mozart's Sonata in F Major, Schumann's Arabeske, Opus 18, Debussy's Images, Set II, & Tchaikovsky's Grand Sonata in G Major, Opus 37.
On 6 April at Davies Hall, the San Francisco Symphony presents violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter with pianist Lambert Orkis, performing Mozart's Violin Sonata #18 in G major, K301, Schubert's Fantasy in C major for Violin and Piano, D934, Aftab Darvishi's Likoo, Clara Schumann's Three Romances for Violin and Piano, Opus 22, & Respighi's Violin Sonata in B minor.
On 9 April at Davies Hall, the San Francisco Symphony presents pianist Martin James Bartlett in solo recital, performing Couperin's Les Barricades Mystérieuses, Rameau's Suite in A minor, RCT 5, Schumann's Kinderszenen & his "Widmung" as arranged by Liszt, Ravel's Pavane for a Dead Princess & his La Valse, & the Liebestod from Wagner's Tristan und Isolde as arranged by Liszt.
On 12 April, Old First Concerts will present the 16th Annual Tribute to sarod Maestro Ali Akbar Khan, in a marathon concert that includes the Maestro's sons.
On 20 April in Davies Hall, the San Francisco Symphony presents pianist Evgeny Kissin in solo recital, performing Bach's Partita #2 in C minor, BWV 826, Chopin's Nocturne in C-sharp minor, Opus 27, #1, his Nocturne in A-flat major, Opus 32, #2, & his Scherzo #4 in E major, Opus 54, as well as Shostakovich's Piano Sonata # 2 in B minor, Opus 61, his Prelude and Fugue #15 in D-flat major, & his Prelude and Fugue #24 in D minor.
On 28 April, violist Jonathan Vinocour gives a Faculty Artist recital in the Barbro Osher Recital Hall of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music's Bowes Center (on Van Ness); the repertory has not yet been announced.
Early / Baroque Music
Jeffrey Thomas leads the American Bach Soloists in Bach's Paradise, a program made of three Bach cantatas – Christ lag in Todesbanden, Cantata 4; Gottes Zeit ist die allerbeste Zeit, Cantata 106; & Himmelskönig, sei willkommen, Cantata 182 – and the Brandenburg Concerto #6 in B-flat Major; the cantata soloists will be Elijah McCormack (soprano), Kyle Tingzon (countertenor), Steven Soph (tenor), & David McFerrin (baritone); performances will be 4 April at Saint Stephen's in Belvedere, 5 April at Saint Mark's Episcopal in Berkeley, 6 April at Saint Mark's in San Francisco, & 7 April at Davis Community Church in Davis.
On 12 April at Hertz Hall, the UC Berkeley Chamber Chorus (led by Wei Cheng), & the University Baroque Ensemble (led by David Miller) perform Bach’s Gloria in excelsis Deo, BWV 191 & other works for Baroque orchestra and chorus.
Avi Stein leads Philharmonia Baroque in Tout de Suite, a program including Rebel's Les caractères de la danse (arranged by Pisendel), Bach's Orchestral Suite #3 in D major, Handel's Concerto Grosso in D minor, Opus 6, #10, & a Suite du théâtre from Rameau, including music from Naïs, Dardanus, Les Boréades, & Les indes galantes, & you can hear it all on 10 April at Herbst Theater in San Francisco, 11 April at First United Methodist in Palo Alto, & 12 April at First Congregational in Berkeley.
On 27 April at Saint Mary Magdalen's in Berkeley, the Cantata Collective continues its (free) performances of Bach's cantatas; featured this time are Wer Dank opfert, der preiset mich, BWV 17 & Wohl dem, der sich auf seinen Gott, BWV 139, with vocal soloists Michele Kennedy (soprano), Clifton Massey (alto), Brian Thorsett (tenor), & Sumner Thompson (bass).
Modern / Contemporary Music
On 4 April at Cha Chi Ming Hall in the San Francisco Conservatory of Music's Bowes Center, Ensemble for These Times, in collaboration with the Conservatory's Technology & Applied Composition Department, presents Women in Transit, a "multimedia program exploring women's migration and identity", featuring four world premieres: Cavities, a piano trio by Niloufar Nourbakhsh with an accompanying film by Pegah Pasalar; Orchesography, composed & danced by Han Lash; Okean by Tamara McLeod; & the winning piece from the E4TT/TAC student competition, as well as pieces by Leilehua Lanzilotti & Emma O’Halloran; the concert is preceded by a talk with composers Han Lash, Niloufar Nourbakhsh, & Tamara McLeod, as well as filmmaker Pegah Pasalar.
On 4 April in the Barbro Osher Recital Hall of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music's Bowes Center, Nicole Paiement leads the Conservatory's New Music Ensemble in works by Gabriela Lena Frank, "culminating her residency as the Andrew W. Imbrie Visting Chair in Composition at SFCM", as well as "works by Composition students, selected by the faculty to write works for the ensemble to premiere in this program. "
On 5 April at Littlefield Concert Hall at Oakland's Mills College, as part of its new PastForward series, Other Minds will present From Antheil to Zappa, a solo performance by pianist Geoffrey Burleson featuring "forgotten mid-century masterpieces by American composers", including the Piano Sonata #12, “Mirror Sonata,” by Vincent Persichetti, “Mirrorrorrim” by Gerald Strang, Music for Piano by Irving Fine, Piano Sonata #3 by Norman Dello Joio, Barber’s Four Excursions, the Antheil's Second Sonata, “The Airplane”, & pieces by Frank Zappa, Mary Kouyoumdjian, & Herbie Nichols
On 11 - 12 April, Andy Akiho, whose concert-length percussion piece Seven Pillars was a striking recent event at SF Performances's latest PIVOT Festival, will take charge of SoundBox for the San Francisco Symphony.
On 12 April at the Taube Atrium Theater, the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players celebrate the Northern Lights & new Nordic music with Kaija Saariaho's Lichtbogen, the American premieres of Jesper Nordin's Surfaces scintillantes & Magnus Lindberg's Jubilees, & the world premiere of an SFCMP commission, Mika Pelo's Working from a Postcard; the concert is preceded by an "Under the Hood" talk between SFCMP Artistic Director Eric Dudley & composer Pelo.
The Kronos Quartet's annual Kronos Festival will be held as usual at the SF Jazz Center on 25 - 27 April; on 25 April, the Quartet, \with special guests Soo Yeon Lyuh & Vân-Ánh Võ, will perform Terry Riley's Good Medicine from Salome Dances for Peace (Good Medicine is the overarching title of this year's festival), the world premiere of Hildur Guðnadóttir's Folk Faer Andlit, Peni Candra Rini's Segara Gunung (arranged by Jacob Garchik & Andy McGraw), the traditional piece A Shout (arranged by Garchik), the world premiere of Soo Yeon Lyuh's Sumbisori (featuring the composer), the world premiere of Aleksandra Vrebalov's Cardinal Directions (featuring Vân-Ánh Võ), & Gabriella Smith's Keep Going; on 26 April, the Quartet, with special guests Ariel Aberg-Riger & Benedicte Maurseth, will perform Sun Ra's Outer Spaceways, Inc. (arranged by Garchik), Viet Cuong's Next Week’s Trees, Inti Figgis-Vizueta's clay songs, Nina Simone's For All We Know (arranged by Garchik), the traditional piece Ya Taali’een ‘ala el-Jabal (inspired by Rim Banna) (arranged by Garchik), Ariel Aberg-Riger & Hamza El Din's Swimming with Rachel Carson — Escalay (featuring Ariel Aberg-Riger) & Benedicte Maurseth & Kristine Tjøgersen's ELJA; on 27 April, the Quartet, with special guests Laura Ortman, Tsering Wangmo Satho, & the San Francisco Girls Chorus (conducted by Valérie Sainte-Agathe), will perform Nicole Lizee's Death to Komische, the premiere of a new version of Laura Ortman's Scended Sparks (featuring the composer), Mary Kouyoumdjian's Bombs of Beirut, Zachary James Watkins's Peace be Till (featuring the recorded voice of Dr Clarence B Jones), the world premiere of Soo Yeon Lyuh's Sumbisori (featuring the composer), & the world premiere of a new work by Tsering Wangmo Satho (arranged by Greg Saunier), featuring the composer with the SF Girls Chorus); there are also labs & an installation in Golden Gate Park, & you can get all the details here.
On 27 April, Old First Concerts presents the Wooden Fish Ensemble (Thomas Schultz, piano; Sue-mi Shin & Rick Shinozaki, violin; Sarah Lee, viola; & Thalia Moore, cello) in Piano and Strings – 100 Years!, a program featuring Ruth Crawford's String Quartet, Busoni's 3 Album Leaves for piano solo, Gottschalk's The Banjo, re-imagined for solo piano by Schultz, & four works by Hyo-shin Na: Autumn Study (for solo piano), Song of the Beggars (for string quartet), Living On Fire (for string quartet) & Joy of Beginning (for string quartet and piano) (the latter two pieces are world premieres).
Jazz
Mambo mavens Orquesta Akokán play the Presidio Theater on 2 April.
On 18 April, the Berkeley Hillside Club presents the Mads Tolling Trio (Tolling on violin, Bruce Forman on guitar, Dan Feiszli on bass) in a concert based on his new release, Masters of Jazz Violin, a "heartfelt tribute to the jazz violinists who shaped his musical journey" featuring works written by or associated with Stéphane Grappelli, Jean-Luc Ponty, Svend Asmussen, Stuff Smith, & more.
Dance
Megan Lowe Dances presents Just a Shadow, a series of duets contemplating life & lost ones, at the ODC Theater on 4 - 6 April.
San Francisco Ballet has three programs this month: first, playing from 5 to 19 April, an evening devoted to works by contemporary Dutch choreographer Hans van Manen featuring Grosse Fuge (to music by Beethoven), Variations for Two Couples (to music by Britten, Rautavaara, Stefan Kovacs Tickmayer, & Piazzolla), Solo (to music by Bach), & 5 Tangos (to music by Piazzolla); next, from 8 to 18 April, is Broken Love, a program made up of Broken Wings (choreography by Annabelle Lopez Ochoa to music by Peter Salem, with the song La Llorona performed by Geo Meneses & Los Macorinos) & Marguerite and Armand (choreography by Sir Frederick Ashton to music by Liszt); then, from 26 April to 4 May, a reprise of Frankenstein (choreography by Liam Scarlett to music by Lowell Liebermann).
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater makes its annual & much-anticipated return to Cal Performances & Zellerbach Hall from 8 to 13 April with the following programs: Program A, on 8 & 11 April, consists of Ronald K Brown's Grace (music by Duke Ellington, Peven Everett, & Fela Anikulapo Kuti), Jamar Roberts's Al-Andalus Blues (music by Roberta Flack & Miles Davis), & Ailey's Revelations (with traditional spirituals); Program B, on 9 April, consists of Matthew Rushing's Sacred Songs (music by Du’Bois A’Keen), Lar Lubovitch's Many Angels (music by Mahler), & Ronald K Brown's Grace (music by Duke Ellington, Peven Everett, & Fela Anikulapo Kuti); Program C, on 10, 12, & 13 April, consists of Hope Boykin's Finding Free (music by Matthew Whitaker), Elisa Monte's Treading (music by Steve Reich), Hans van Manen's Solo (music by Bach), & Ailey's Revelations (with traditional spirituals); Program D, on 12 April, consists of Matthew Rushing's Sacred Songs (music by Du’Bois A’Keen), Lar Lubovitch's Many Angels (music by Mahler), & Ailey's Revelations (with traditional spirituals).
ODC / Dance presents Dance Downtown at the Yerba Buena Center from 10 to 13 April, featuring Inkwell (choreographed by Kimi Okada), Unintended Consequences (A Meditation) (choreographed by Brenda Way), & Areas of Relief (choreographed by Sidra Bell).
On 25 - 26 April in Zellerbach Hall, Cal Performances presents Grupo Corpo, a Brazilian troupe combining classical ballet with folk & popular dance, in 21 (music by Marco Antônio Guimarães & Uakti) & Gira (music by Metá Metá), both with choreography by Rodrigo Pederneiras.
Smuin Ballet's Dance Series 2, featuring a world premiere by Amy Seiwert, Wild Sweet Love by Trey McIntyre, The Eternal Idol by Michael Smuin, & Sinfonietta by Rex Wheeler, plays at the Yerba Buena Center in San Francisco from 25 April to 4 May, with subsequent stands in Walnut Creek, Mountain View, & Carmel.
Art Means Painting
Two discussions of interest at BAM/PFA: on 9 April, The Afterlives of Art: Caring for the Ephemeral includes artist Estefania Puerta, conservator Michelle Barger, & scholar Jules Pelta Feldman with BAM/PFA Chief Curator Margot Norton in "a multifaceted in-gallery discussion of the issues and opportunities presented by art made under conditions of impermanence, as highlighted in the museum’s current collection exhibition, To Exalt the Ephemeral: The (Im)permanent Collection. The discussion will consider experimentation, performance, and momentary events, as well as works made using unconventional materials, including those that dissolve and decay"; & on 17 April, Artists' Conversation: Disobedient Bodies, in conjunction with Making Their Mark: Works from the Shah Garg Collection, features artists Suzanne Jackson & Firelei Báez, both of whom have works in the exhibit, in conversation with writer Hilton Als, discussing "approaches to artmaking that defy conventional modes of representation, through innovations in portraiture and lively methods of abstraction".
You can celebrate 100 Years of Surrealism by visiting the exhibition at the San Francisco Public Library Main Branch, or exploring the books & films they recommend.
UC Berkeley's Bancroft Library is hosting a display of some of Amy Tan's Backyard Birds through 27 June.
Yuan Goang-Ming: Everyday War, an exhibit of the Taiwanese artist's "fragmented and surreal" video work, opens at the Asian Art Museum on 3 April & runs through 7 July.
SFMOMA opens two interesting career surveys this month: Ruth Asawa: Retrospective, looking at the work of the Bay Area sculptor, opens on 5 April & runs through 2 September; Kunié Sugiura: Photopainting, the first American survey of the photography + artist, opens on 26 April & runs through 14 September (& while you're on the 3rd floor for that show, be sure to check out Around Group f.64: Legacies and Counterhistories in Bay Area Photography).
Isaac Julien: I Dream a World, featuring ten video installations by the artist, including his celebrated Looking for Langston, opens at the de Young on 12 April & runs through 13 July.
Cinematic
Here's what's at BAM/PFA this month: Media and Migration on Screen, in conjunction with the UC Berkeley Center for Race & Gender's symposium Media and Migration in a Digital Age, runs from 16 to 18 April; & the 68th San Francisco International Film Festival runs from 17 to 27 April, with BAM/PFA as one of its venues; the Festival's full schedule has not yet been released, but check here for updates.
24 March 2025
21 March 2025
17 March 2025
Museum Monday 2025/11
detail of Crows in Snow, part of a screen painted by an unknown Edo-period Japanese artist, now in the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco
14 March 2025
10 March 2025
Museum Monday 2025/10
detail of All Things Bright and Beautiful by Amy Sherald, part of the exhibition Amy Sherald: American Sublime at SFMOMA
07 March 2025
03 March 2025
Museum Monday 2025/9
detail of Saint Luke Drawing the Virgin by Rogier van der Weyden, now in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
28 February 2025
24 February 2025
21 February 2025
17 February 2025
Another Opening, Another Show: March 2025
There are some February events sprinkled in here, either because they weren't listed in time for my February preview (which is here), or, possibly, because I somehow just missed them; in either case, this is another month with a lot of possibilities. Go out & choose something that would piss off the fascists.
Theatrical
Broadway SF presents Ain’t Too Proud – The Life and Times of The Temptations at the Golden Gate Theater from 25 February to 2 March.
Theater of Yugen presents a Kyōgen adaptation of Ben Jonson's Volpone, directed by Lluis Valls, & that's at Theater of Yugen's NOHSpace in San Francisco on 28 February, 1 - 2 March, & 7 - 9 March.
Night Driver, written & performed by Pearl Ong & directed by David Ford, asks the question "What’s a Hong Kong princess doing driving a cab in San Francisco? And what does her very proper mother make of it?" & you can find out the answers at The Marsh San Francisco from 1 March to 5 April.
Broadway SF revives the musical Chicago at the Golden Gate Theater from 4 to 9 March.
UC Berkeley's Theater, Dance, & Performance Studies Department presents Lysistrata: A Woman's Translation by Drue Robinson, directed by Timmia Hearn DeRoy, from 6 - 9 March in Zellerbach Hall's Room 7; the show is a " modern-verse translation of Aristophanes' classic comedy [blending] heightened language and 21st-century sensibilities to explore the power of the sex strike. Now set in a futuristic, drag-influenced, underground bar, this production will address issues of bodily autonomy, sexual and gender agency, and what we are willing to sacrifice in the face of continuous war".
New Conservatory Theater Center presents Wild with Happy by Colman Domingo, directed by ShawnJ West, about a man trying to grieve his mother's death while dealing with the realities of funerals & families, & that runs 7 March to 6 April.
Shotgun Players presents "Art", directed by Emilie Whelan, Yasmina Reza's celebrated play (translated by Christopher Hampton) about a man who buys an expensive piece of modern art & the resulting unexpected turn in two old friendships, & that runs at the Ashby Stage from 8 March to 6 April.
The African-American Shakespeare Company presents ShaXspeare Reimagined at the Taube Atrium Theater from 15 to 30 March; the show, which will have six directors, will be a "fantastic 90-minute voyage featuring scenes from some of Shakespeare’s iconic plays, such as A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Henry VI, and MacBeth [sic] mixed with movement and sound", all seen "through the lens of Black culture".
Angry Black Woman 101, written & performed by Kathryn Seabron & directed by Lynn Vidal, a look at "the microaggressions, tropes and misogynoir Black women are faced with in the workplace and in society at large", runs at The Marsh Berkeley from 15 March through 13 April.
The San Leandro Players present Count Dracula by Ted Tiller, directed by Dana Fry, from 15 March to 13 April, at the Auditorium of the San Leandro Museum, next to Casa Peralta.
San Francisco Playhouse presents Fat Ham, directed by Margo Hall, James Ijames's take on Hamlet, set at a southern Black family barbecue, & that runs from 20 March to 19 April.
The Great American Sh*t [sic] Show, written & performed by Brian Copeland & directed by David Ford, a one-man show about life under . . . don't make me write the name, but you know, inevitably, who is being referred to, that personification of the toxic worst in American life, plays at The Marsh Berkeley for one night only, & that night is 20 March.
The Afrosolo Arts Festival presents Let Freedom Ring! (Part 2), a "celebration of Black resilience through solo performances, at the Potrero Stage in San Francisco from 28 - 30 March.
Talking
On 19 March a the Sydney Goldstein Theater, City Arts & Lectures presents W. Kamau Bell, Dave Eggers, Michael Lewis, & Sarah Vowell in Who Is Government?: The Untold Story of Public Service, exploring & celebrating the little-known government employees who help run the country.
Operatic
The Livermore Valley Opera presents Mozart's Don Giovanni on 1 - 2 & 8 - 9 March.
Philharmonia Baroque, led by Peter Whelan, performs Handel's Alceste, with soprano Lauren Snouffer & tenor Aaron Sheehan, as well as the Philharmonia Chorale; the program also includes Handel's Concerto Grosso in G major, Opus 6, #1, & you can hear it on 5 March at Bing Concert Hall at Stanford, 7 March at Herbst Theater in San Francisco, & 8 March at First Congregational in Berkeley.
Opera Parallèle presents the world premiere of The Pigeon Keeper, a magical realist work with libretto by Stephanie Fleischmann & music by David Hanlon, & you can experience it 7 - 9 March at Cowell Theater at the Fort Mason Center for the Arts.
On 14 - 15 March, the San Francisco Conservatory of Music presents Candide, with music by Bernstein & lyrics by a dazzling array of contributors (mostly Richard Wilbur), directed by Frederic Wake-Walker & conducted by Edwin Outwater.
On 14 - 16 March in Zellerbach Hall, Cal Performances presents a work it co-commissioned, William Kentridge’s The Great Yes, The Great No, "a chamber opera set on a 1941 sea voyage from Marseille to Martinique. Conceived in collaboration with theater maker Phala Ookeditse Phala and choral conductor and dancer Nhlanhla Mahlangu, The Great Yes, The Great No fictionalizes the historic wartime escape from Vichy France by, among others, the surrealist André Breton, the anthropologist Claude Lévi-Strauss, and the Cuban artist Wifredo Lam—and adds a distinguished and colorful cast of characters to the passenger list, like Aimé Césaire, Josephine Baker, Leon Trotsky, and Joseph Stalin."
The Handel Opera Project presents Mozart's Magic Flute at Berkeley's Christian Science Church (the Maybeck building) on 23 March.
Choral
Magen Solomon leads the California Bach Society in From Tallis to Tavener: Five Centuries of British Choral Music, featuring works by Thomas Tallis, Britten, Imogen Holst, Vaughan Williams, Herbert Howells, & John Tavener; & you can hear it on 28 February at Saint Mark's Lutheran in San Francisco, 1 March at All Saints' Episcopal in Palo Alto, & 2 March at Saint Mark's Episcopal in Berkeley.
On 1 March in Zellerbach Hall, Cal Performances presents Ladysmith Black Mambazo.
Chanticleer presents Choodandi, a program put together by Chanticleer tenor Vineel Garisa Mahal, exploring the traditions & evolutions of music from India, featuring works " ranging from Thyagaraja to Sid Sriram", & you can hear it all 16 March at Saint John's Lutheran in Sacramento, 20 March at Mission Santa Clara, 21 March at Mount Tamalpais United Methodist in Mill Valley, 22 March at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, & 23 March at First Congregational in Berkeley.
Vocalists
The second Schwabacher Recital will take place on 19 March at the Barbro Osher Recital Hall in the SF Conservatory of Music's Bowes Center on Van Ness Avenue & will feature tenor Michael John Butler & baritone Olivier Zerouali along with pianists Julian Garvue & Ji Youn Lee performing music by Poulenc, Lee Hoiby, Hakjun Yoon, Young-shim Noh, Schumann, & Richard Strauss.
Orchestral
SF Musicians for LA: A Benefit for Fire Relief will take place on 8 March at Davies Hall; Edwin Outwater will lead the San Francisco Symphony & Chorus & the San Francisco Conservatory of Music Orchestra in Aaron Copland's The Promise of Living from his opera The Tender Land, the Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto #2 with soloist Garrick Ohlsson, & the Dvořák 9, "From the New World"; net proceeds will be divided evenly & donated to the Entertainment Community Fund & to Habitat for Humanity of Greater Los Angeles: ReBUILD LA (you may also make a donation here).
On 28 February through 2 March, Robin Ticciati leads the San Francisco Symphony in Beethoven's Piano Concerto #4 (with soloist Francesco Piemontesi) & the Rachmaninoff 2.
On 1 March at Herbst Theater, Jessica Bejarano conducts the San Francisco Philharmonic in Dvořák's Cello Concerto in B minor (with soloist Amos Yang) & Ravel's orchestration of Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition.
On 2 March at Freight & Salvage in Berkeley, Pete Nowlen, Artistic Director of the San Francisco Pride Band, leads the group in a "concert that celebrates all of the ways that music brings us together", featuring Vulnerable Joy by Jodie Blackshaw, V. O. C., Helmsman of the Sea, by Shruthi Rajasekar, Among My Souvenirs by John Philip Sousa, American Hymnsong Suite by Dwayne S Milburn, Crescent Moon Dance from Sound! Euphonium by Akito Matsuda, & Suite from Maria of Buenos Aires by Astor Piazzola.
On 5 - 7 March in Zellerbach Hall, Cal Performances presents the Vienna Philharmonic; led by Yannick Nézet-Séguin, they will perform the Mozart 41, the "Jupiter" & the Mahler 1 (5 March); the Schubert 4, the "Tragic" & the Dvořák 9, "From the New World" (6 March); & the Beethoven Piano Concerto #3 in C minor, Opus 37 (with soloist Yefim Bronfman) & Richard Strauss's Ein Heldenleben (7 March).
Jory Fankuchen leads the San Francisco Chamber Orchestra in String Serenades, a program featuring Jessie Montgomery's Strum, Evan Price's A Game of Cat and Mike, & Tchaikovsky's Serenade for Strings, Opus 48, & you can hear it all 7 March at Saint Mark's Lutheran in San Francisco, 8 March at First United Methodist in Palo Alto, & 9 March at First Congregational in Berkeley (concerts are free & RSVPs are encouraged but not required, if you feel like being spontaneous).
On 9 March, Radu Paponiu leads the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra in the Mozart 35, the "Haffner"; Gabriela Lena Frank's Elegía Andina; Richard Strauss's Suite from Der Rosenkavalier; & Arturo Márquez's Danzón #2.
On 13 - 15 March, Elim Chan conducts the San Francisco Symphony in music from Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake as well as his Symphony 6, the "Pathetique".
On 16 March at First Congregational in Berkeley, Joseph Young leads the Berkeley Symphony in Spring's Awakening, a program exploring our relationship to the natural world through the lens of Rautavaara's Cantus Arcticus - Concerto for Birds and Orchestra, Huang Ruo's Tipping Point, & the Schumann 1.
On 23 March at Zellerbach Hall, Cal Performances presents the Mahler Chamber Orchestra (with pianist & director Mitsuko Uchida, & concertmaster & leader José Maria Blumenschein), performing Mozrt's Piano Concerto in B-flat major, K 456 & his Piano Concerto in C major, K 467 (both featuring Uchida as soloist) as well as Janáček's Mládí.
On 23 March at Davies Hall, the San Francisco Symphony presents the Israel Philharmonic, led by Lahav Shani, with featured soloists Haran Meltzer on cello & Guy Eshed on flute, performing Prayer by Tzvi Avni, Kol Nidrei by Max Bruch, Halil by Leonard Bernstein, & the Tchaikovsky 5.
On 27, 29, & 30 March, Juraj Valčuha conducts the San Francisco Symphony in the Brahms Violin Concerto (with soloist Gil Shaham) & the Shostakovich 10.
On 28 March at the Paramount, Kedrick Armstrong conducts the Oakland Symphony in Gabriela Lena Frank's Three Latin-American Dances (alongside the Oakland Symphony Youth Orchestra), Forgiveness: Suite for Spoken Word & Orchestra, with music by Artist-in-Residence Daniel Bernard Roumain & words written & performed by Marc Bamuthi Joseph, & Ravel's orchestration of Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition.
On 29 March at the SF Conservatory of Music, John Kendall Bailey leads the Bay Area Rainbow Symphony in Ravel's Daphnis et Chloé, Suite #2; Britten's Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra; Kurt Atterberg's Suite #3 for violin, viola, & strings, featuring Michael Long on violin & Ivo Bokulic on viola; & Avril Coleridge-Taylor's Sussex Landscape.
Chamber Music
On 28 February & 2 March at Old First Concerts, the Sixth Station Trio (Anju Goto, violin; Federico Strand Ramirez, cello; Katelyn Tan, piano) will performs Joe Hisaishi’s score for Miyazaki's Spirited Away (it sounds as if the movie will not be shown; the Trio is only playing the music).
On 1 March at Old First Concerts, the Pro Arte Quartet (David Perry & Suzanne Beia, violins; Sally Chisholm, viola; Parry Karp, cello) will perform Denys Lytvynenko's String Quartet #2, Germaine Tailleferre's String Quartet, & Fanny Mendelssohn's String Quartet in E-flat major.
On 2 March at Hertz Hall, Cal Performances presents the Brentano String Quartet (Serena Canin & Mark Steinberg, violins; Misha Amory, viola; Nina Lee, cello) performing the local premiere of a new work by Lei Liang as well as Beethoven's String Quartet in B-flat major, Opus 18, #6 & Brahms's String Quartet #3 in B-flat major, Opus 67.
On 2 March at Herbst Theater, Chamber Music San Francisco presents violinists Paul Huang & Danbi Um & pianist Albert Cano Smit performing Spohr's Grand Duo for 2 Violins in D Major, Opus 39, #1; the Saint-Saëns Violin Sonata #1 in d minor, Opus 75; the Grieg Violin Sonata #2 in G Major; selections from Glière's 12 Pieces for Two Violins; the first movement of Eugène Ysaÿe's Sonata for 2 Violins, & Sarasate's Navarra for Two Violins, Opus 33.
On 8 March at Herbst Theater, San Francisco Performances presents the Calidore Quartet (Jeffrey Myers & Ryan Meehan, violin; Jeremy Berry, viola; Estelle Choi, cello) performing Beethoven's String Quartet #10 in E-Flat Major, the “Harp”; Jessie Montgomery's Strum; Schubert's String Quartet #12 in C-Minor (Quartettsatz); & Korngold's String Quartet # 3, Opus 34.
On 9 March at Herbst Theater, Chamber Music San Francisco presents violinist Corey Cerovsek, along with trumpeter Lucienne Renaudin Vary, accordionist Félicien Brut, & pianist Steven Vanhauwaert, in a program yet to be announced beyond the inclusion of works by Saint-Saëns, Piazzolla, Rossini, Milhaud, & Bernstein.
Chamber Music Sundaes return to the Hillside Club in Berkeley on 9 March, when violinist Tammie Dyer, clarinetist Roy Zajac, cellist Jill Rachuy Brindel, & pianist Marilyn Thompson perform Shostakovich's Piano Trio #2, E minor, Opus 67; Brian Scott Wilson's Elements: Fire, Air, Water and Earth, for Violin, Clarinet, Cello, & Piano; & Dvořák's Piano Trio #4, Opus 90, “Dumky”.
On 13 March at the Piedmont Piano Company in Oakland, Martin West leads members of the SF Ballet Orchestra in chamber music, including movements from Schubert’s Trout Quintet, Mozart’s Flute Quartet, a Piano Trio by Amy Beach, & an original oboe quartet by Vincent Russo; the concert is free but advanced reservations are required.
On 14 March at Herbst Theater, San Francisco Performances presents the Pavel Haas Quartet (Veronika Jarůšková & Marek Zwiebel, violins; Šimon Truszka, viola; Peter Jarůšek, cello) performing Dvořák's String Quartet #11 in C Major, Opus 61 & Tchaikovsky's String Quartet #3 in E-Flat Major, Opus 30.
On 15 March at Hertz Hall, Matthew Sadowski leads the UC Berkeley Wind Ensemble in a program that includes Luminance by Shuying Li, Meditation by Dwayne S Milburn, Three Odes by Tyler Mazone, Beacons by Peter Van Zandt Lane, & Shared Spaces by Viet Cuong,.
On 16 March at Davies Hall, a chamber-sized group of SF Symphony musicians will perform Duo for Harp and Percussion by Jeremiah Siochi, the Piano Quartet in A Minor by Mahler, & the String Quartet #15 in G Major, D887 by Schubert.
On 16 March at Herbst Theater, Chamber Music San Francisco presents the San Francisco debut of the Ulysses String Quartet (Christina Bouey & Rhiannon Banerdt, violins; Peter Dudek, viola; Grace Ho, cello), who will be performing Haydn's Quartet in E-flat Major, Opus 33, #2; Mozart's String Quintet in G minor, K 516 (with violist Anthony Bracewell); & Dvořák's Quartet in A-Flat Major, Opus 105.
On 15 March at Lafayette Library & on 18 March at the Berkeley City Club, Berkeley Chamber Performances presents cellist Jennifer Kloetzel & pianist Allegra Chapman performing Helene Liebmann's Cello Sonata in B-Flat Major, Opus 1; Libby Larsen's Juba; Mel Bonis's Cello Sonata in F Major, Opus 67; Nadia Boulanger's Trois Pièces for cello & piano; & Leokadiya Kashperova's Cello Sonata in e minor, Opus 1, #2.
On 21 March at Herbst Theater, San Francisco Performances presents the Tetzlaff Quartet (Christian Tetzlaff & Elisabeth Kufferath, violins; Hanna Weinmeister, viola; Tanja Tetzlaff, cello) performing Mendelssohn's String Quartet in A Minor, Opus 13; Jörg Widmann's String Quartet #2; & Dvořák's String Quartet in A Flat Major, Opus 105. [3 March UPDATE: Unfortunately, the Tetzlaff Quartet has cancelled its US tour, due to concerns about the policies of the criminals currently running the US government (my phrasing, not theirs)[.
On 23 March at the Legion of Honor's Gunn Theater, members of the San Francisco Symphony will perform Mozart's Piano Trio in B-flat major, K502; Bach's Italian Concerto, BWV 971; & the Piano Trio #3 in C minor, Opus 101 by Brahms.
On 23 March at Herbst Theater, Chamber Music San Francisco presents the San Francisco debut of the Keonkoro String Quartet (Jonathan Schwarz & Amelie Wallner, violin; Mayu Konoe, viola; Lukas Schwarz, cello), who will be performing Haydn's Quartet in F Major, Opus 50 #5 “The Dream”; Berg's Lyric Suite, & Mendelssohn's Quartet in E minor, Opus 44 #2.
Instrumental
On 2 March, the San Francisco Symphony presents Yuja Wang & Víkingur Ólafsson in a Duo Piano Recital, during which they will perform Berio's Wasserklavier; Schubert's Fantasia in F minor, D940; John Cage's Experiences #1; Conlon Nancarrow's Study #6 (arranged by Thomas Adès); John Adams's
Hallelujah Junction; Arvo Pärt's Hymn to a Great City; & Rachmaninoff's Symphonic Dances, Opus 45.
On 9 March at Old First Concerts, pianist Utsav Lal & saxophonist George Brooks present their fusion of Indian classical music, jazz, & minimalism.
On 9 March in Hertz Hall, Cal Performances presents violinist Benjamin Beilman, with pianist Steven Osborne, performing Clara Schumann's Three Romances for Violin and Piano, Opus 22; the Brahms Violin Sonata in G major, Opus 78, Regensonate; Lili Boulanger's Two Pieces for Violin and Piano; & Franck's Violin Sonata in A major.
On 11 March at Herbst Theater, San Francisco Performances presents violinist Midori, with pianist Özgür Aydin, performing the Brahms Sonata #1 in G Major, Opus 76; Poulenc's Sonata for Violin and Piano; Ravel's Kaddish (arranged by Garban) & his Tzigane; & the west coast premiere of Che Buford's Resonances in Spirit. (On 12 March, Midori will be conducting a Master Class at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.)
On 13 - 14 March at the SF Jazz Center, Paolo Angeli plays his 18-string Sardinian guitar, "a prepared Sardinian guitar of his own invention, a fantastical 18-string hybrid combining elements of guitar, cello and drums".
On 14 March at the Hillside Club in Berkeley, pianists Audrey Vardanega & Eric Zivian perform music for four hands by Schubert (the Rondo in A Major), Debussy (Six épigraphes antiques), & Stravinsky (a piano four-hand arrangement of The Rite of Spring).
On 16 March in Hertz Hall, Cal Performances presents pianist Evren Ozel in Music of the Night, a program featuring Beethoven's Piano Sonata in C-sharp minor, Opus 27, #2, the "Moonlight"; Debussy's Images, Book 2; Bartók's Out of Doors; Schumann's Fantasiestücke, Opus 12; & Ravel's Gaspard de la nuit.
On 20 March at Herbst Theater, San Francisco Performances presents pianist Jan Lisiecki in an all-Prelude performance, featuring works by Bach, Rachmaninoff, Górecki, Szymanowski, Messiaen, & Chopin (including the complete Préludes Opus 28).
The 2025 Dewing Piano Recital at Mills College (Littlefield Concert Hall) features Iyad Sughayer, who will perform Helen Ottaway's Levantina, Schubert's Drei Klavierstücke D 946. Sibelius's Impromptus, Opus 5, & Khachaturian's Piano Sonata; the event is free but it is requested that attendees register in advance.
On 25 March at Herbst Theater, San Francisco Performances presents pianist Louis Lortie in an all-Ravel program, featuring Menuet Antique; Pavane pour une infante défunte; Jeux d’eau; Gaspard de la nuit; Sonatine; Valses Nobles et Sentimentales; & La Valse.
On 28 March at Herbst Theater, San Francisco Performances presents violinist Johan Dalene, with pianist Sahun Sam Hong, performing Schumann's Sonata #1 in A Minor, Opus 105; Rautavaara's Notturno e Danza; Ravel's Tzigane; Lutosławski's Partita for Violin and Piano; & Grieg's Sonata #2 in G Major.
On 29 March at Saint Mark's Lutheran in San Francisco, San Francisco Performances in association with the OMNI Foundation for the Performing Arts presents lutenist Thomas Dunford performing music by Dowland (A Dream; The King of Denmark’s Galliard; Melancholy Galliard; Mrs. Winter’s Jump; Lachrimae; Frog Galliard) Satie (Gymnopédie 1 & Gnossienne 1, arranged by Dunford), Marais (Les voix humaines in D Major from Suite #3 & L’americaine from Suite d’un goût etranger, arranged by Dunford), Bach (Suite for Cello in G Major BWV 1007, arranged by Dunford), Kapsberger (Toccata VI from Primo Libro d’intavolatura de lauto), & Dalza (Calata alla Spagnola, from Quarto Libro d’intavolatura de lauto).
On 31 March at Herbst Theater, Chamber Music San Francisco presents pianist Yeol Eum Son, who will perform Franz Bendel's Improvisation on Brahms’s “Wiegenlied”, opus 141; Pauline Viardot's Mazourke, Tchaikovsky's Romance in F minor, opus 5; Liszt's “Am stillen Herd” from Wagner's Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg; & Beethoven's Hammerklavier.
Early / Baroque Music
The San Francisco Early Music Society presents In Bocca al Lupo in Mundus Inversus, a combination of old & new pieces that "explore the chaos and disarray of our modern times", & you can hear the results on 28 February at First Presbyterian in Palo Alto, 1 March at First Congregational in Berkeley, & 2 March at Saint Mark's Lutheran in San Francisco.
On 16 March at Old First Concerts, you can hear the Junior Bach Festival (specific repertory has not yet been announced).
On 19 March at Zellerbach Hall, Cal Performances presents Les Arts Florissants with violinist Théotime Langlois de Swarte in Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons at 300, a program featuring a transcription of Monteverdi's Adoramus te, Christe, SV 289, Uccellini's Aria sopra la Bergamasca, Opus 3; Geminiani's Concerto Grosso #12 in D minor, La Follia (after Corelli); as well as Vivaldi's titular Seasons & his Concerto for Strings in D minor, Madrigalesco, RV 129; his Concerto in D minor, RV 813; his Overture to La fida ninfa, RV 714, & a movement from his Violin Concerto in B-flat major, RV 370.
The San Francisco Early Music Society presents Quicksilver in a concert exploring the stile moderno; specific composers or pieces are not listed, but you can find out what they are on 24 March at First Congregational in Berkeley.
On 21 March at First Congregational in Berkeley, Nicholas McGegan leads the orchestra & chorus of the Cantata Collective in Bach's Saint Matthew Passion, with soloists Thomas Cooley (tenor, Evangelist), Paul Max Tipton (bass-baritone, Jesus), Sherezade Panthaki (soprano), Reginald Mobley (countertenor), James Reese (tenor), & Harrison Hintzsche (baritone).
The San Francisco Early Music Society presents Ensemble Affect in Home Away from Home, a program exploring the immigrant experience through the music of Baroque composers who traveled from their native lands & enriched both traditions by mixing their home styles with those of their new lands; composers performed include Georg Muffat, Scarlatti, Biagio Marini, Godfrey Keller, Teodorico Pedrini, Gaspar Fernandes, Antonia Bembo, & Maria Grimani; you can hear the results on 28 March at First Presbyterian in Palo Alto, 29 March at First Congregational in Berkeley, & 30 March at Saint Mark's Lutheran in San Francisco.
Voices of Music presents L’Amorosa Ero: The Hero of Love, a program for viola da gamba consort, with soprano Danielle Reutter-Harrah, exploring Italian madrigals & their influence on English composers, with music by Monteverdi, Marenzio, Ferrabosco the Elder, Dowland, Byrd, Ward, Ferrabosco the Younger, & Coperario, & you can hear it 28 March at First Congregational in Palo Alto, 28 March at Old First in San Francisco, & 30 March at First Congregational in Berkeley.
See also Handel's Alceste, listed above under Operatic, & lutenist Thomas Dunford's (mostly) baroque program, listed above under Instrumental.
Modern / Contemporary Music
This looks interesting & fun: on 22 February at the Dandelion Chocolate Factory (2600 16th Street in San Francisco), Earplay & Dandelion Chocolate collaborate in Schoenberg...and Chocolate?, the program that asks the questions Do you like chocolate? Do you like dark chocolate? Do you like new music?; "Earplay Board member and composer, Ben Sabey, has a theory about the relationship between those questions, and we're delighted to offer this special collaboration with San Francisco's acclaimed Dandelion Chocolate to explore his premise. / Discover complex flavors and powerful emotions in Dandelion’s single-origin chocolate – made with just two ingredients – paired with arch abstract expressionist Arnold Schoenberg's famed String Trio, Op. 45 — performed deftly by the Earplay String Trio. With music professor Ben Sabey and Dandelion’s curriculum director Stephen Durfee as your guides, you will embark on a journey through beautiful and challenging internal landscapes as you creatively and interactively engage with a wide variety of flavors, feelings, temperatures, and textures. Then end the evening with a palate-cleansing performance of Mozart’s Divertimento and a sweet treat!"; all that's left to add to that is that the Earplay String Trio is Terrie Baune on violin, Ellen Ruth Rose on viola, & Thalia Moore on cello.
Harpist Brandee Younger plays some of her new compositions with the New Century Chamber Orchestra at the SF Jazz Center on 6 - 9 March.
On 8 March at Zellerbach Playhouse, Cal Performances presents yMusic performing the world premiere of a Cal Performances co-commission, Aquatic Ecology by Gabriella Smith, along with Ryan Lott's Eleven, & Three Elephants, Whosay, Cloud, & The Wolf by the yMusic ensemble.
On 15 March at the Community Music Center in San Francisco, the Friction Quartet (Otis Harriel &
Kevin Rogers, violins; Mitso Floor, viola; Doug Machiz, cello), joined by percussionists Haruka Fuji & Anne Szabla, will perform Tell es-Sakan by Davide Verotta, a concert-length piece motivated bv the war in Gaza (the title comes from the oldest known settlement in the area).
On 21 March, the Hillside Club in Berkeley presents Daggerboard & the Erik Jekabson Orchestra, giving us "eight world premieres for new music for Chamber Orchestra + Jazz Quartet, plus a celebration of the release of Erik Jekabson's album Breakthrough. The music is composed by the group Daggerboard (Gregory Howe and Erik Jekabson) and Erik Jekabson"; the ensemble will be conducted by Charith Premawardhana, & the concert will be recorded for a forthcoming album.
On 23 March at the Piedmont Piano Company in Oakland, singer & music-box maven Sidney Chen offers Songs & Stories, a program in which he discusses pandemic life with "his DIY hand-crank music boxes, as well as his perspective on ensemble music-making as essential practice for empathetic and compassionate living with others"; the presentation is followed by an audience Q & A hosted by vocalist Sharmila G Lash.
On 24 March at Noe Valley Ministry, Earplay will perform Undiluted, a program featuring world premieres by Andrew Conklin & Brien Henderson along with pieces by Jeffrey Mumford, Kate Soper, & Ursula Mamlock.
On 26 March at Littlefield Concert Hall (Mills College, Oakland), Other Minds presents pianists Gloria Cheng & Ralph van Raat celebrating Boulez at 100 with selections from his Structures Books I & II, along with pieces by John Cage, Morton Feldman, Frank Zappa, Magnus Lindberg, & Igor Stravinsky.
On 28 March, the San Francisco Conservatory of Music presents a composer portrait concert of faculty member David Conte, featuring the world premiere of Two Settings of Donald Jeffrey Hayes with the San Francisco Girls Chorus, Sonatine for Piano performed by Daniel Strebulaev, Two Settings of Ogden Nash with soprano Ellen Leslie & pianist Kevin Korth, & The Young Mother with baritone Enrico Lagasca & the Friction String Quartet.
Here's what's going on at the Center for New Music this month; on 6 March, Aaron Larget-Caplan gives a solo Modern American Guitar Celebration, featuring works by the performer as well as John Cage, Ken Ueno, Daniel Felsenfeld, Douglas Knehans, Ian Wiese, & Richard Cameron-Wolfe's micro-opera Heretic, inspired by Artur Mach's horror novel The Hill of Dreams; on 7 March, the Ben Goldberg / Scott Amendola Duo perform electronics- & Thelonious Monk-influenced jazz; on 8 March, the Accidental Composers Collective presents new music for Trio and soprano (the composers include Allan Crossman, Alden Jenks, Vance Maverick, Davide Verotta, & Shawne Workman; the soprano is Hailey Gutowski; the trio is Stephen Zielinski on clarinet, Maki Ishii Sowash on violin, & Vicky Ehrlich on cello); on 23 March, Aerocade Music gives itself a 10th Birthday Concert, featuring Nick Norton with a "live spatial mix of his new piece for four harps, recorded by Elizabeth Huston"; soprano Chelsea Hollow & pianist Taylor Chan with selections from Cycles of Resistance; Elizabeth Robinson performing Death Whistle for solo piccolo by Nicole Chamberlain. Isaac Io Schankler premiering "some nascent works for accordion + electronics"; & Alchymie & Gregg Skloff performing TRITION: Echoes from the Ice Moon, an "improvisational performance weaving deep drone, ambient textures, and ethereal soundscapes to evoke the mysterious beauty of Neptune’s largest moon".
Jazz
As part of its Discover Jazz series, the SF Jazz Center presents Continuum of Courage: Afrofuturism Then and Now (Part II), led by Tammy L Hall; the lectures are available individually or as a series, & the topics are: 5 March, The Spiritually Transcendent Vision of Alice Coltrane (with Brandee Younger); 12 March, Transfixed & Transformed: Afrofuturist Fashion Icons (with Renee Wilson); 19 March, The More Things Change: Afrofuturist Literature & Music (with Skip the Needle); & 26 March, Space Is the Place! The Legacies of Sun Ra & George Clinton (with Shaunna Hall).
The Dynamic Miss Faye Carol, with a special guest trio featuring Joe Warner on piano, David Ewell on bass, & Dennis Chambers on drums, sings for you at the SF Jazz Center on 6 - 7 March.
On 8 March at the Piedmont Piano Company in Oakland, you can hear the Gabriel Schillinger-Hyman Quartet in Ode to the Piano, in which pianist Schillinger-Hyman presents his arrangements of "some of the most moving yet chronically underplayed masterpieces of Duke Ellington, Billy Strayhorn, Thelonious Monk, Dr. Don Shirley, Bill Evans, Keith Jarrett, Chick Corea and more"; the other members of the quartet are his twin Eytan Schillinger-Hyman on bass, Alexandra Ridout on trumpet, & Michael Mitchel on drums.
On 11 March at Freight & Salvage in Berkeley, you can spend An Evening with Branford Marsalis & his Quartet.
On 13 - 14 March at the SF Jazz Center, the Joshua Redman Group (Redman on tenor saxophone, Aaron Parks on piano, Joe Sanders on bass, & Brian Blade on drums), with guest vocalist Gabrielle Cavassa, perform music from his album Where Are We.
On 21 March at the Piedmont Piano Company, pianist Taylor Eigsti offers a solo performance.
On 22 March at the Piedmont Piano Company in Oakland, Allan Harris presents The Poetry of Jazz, in which he sings & recites classic poetry with trio Freddie Bryant on guitar, Doug Miller on bass, & Sylvia Cuenca on drums.
Pianist Tammy L Hall & her Trio perform at the SF Jazz Center on 22 - 23 March.
On 28 March, the San Francisco Conservatory of Music presents Memories Unleashed: Jazz and Brain Health, featuring a performance Elijah Rock followed by a panel discussion with brain health specialists from UCSF.
Dance
San Francisco Ballet gives us two programs this month: first up, from 1 to 8 March, is what the Ballet describes as Tamara Rojo's "bold reimagining" of Raymonda, with direction & choreography by Rojo after Marius Petipa, with music by Alexander Glazunov; then, from 20 to 26 March, Frankenstein, with choreography by Liam Scarlett & music by Lowell Liebermann.
Art Means Painting
Paul McCartney Photographs 1963–64: Eyes of the Storm opens at the de Young on 1 March & runs through 6 July.
Wayne Thiebaud: Art Comes from Art, exploring his on-going relationship to the expanse of art history, opens at the Legion of Honor on 22 March & runs through 17 August.
Cinematic
BAM/PFA launches a number of film series this month: Swedish Outsider: The Films of Mai Zetterling, exploring her work as both performer & director, runs from 1 March to 8 May; the African Film Festival 2025 runs from 6 March to 6 April; Todd Haynes: Far from Safe runs from 8 March through 12 April; Ukrainian Cinema: Poetry and Resistance runs from 21 March through 13 April.
The Roxie in San Francisco is running In Dreams: A Tribute to David Lynch this month; check here for the specific films & dates.
On 9 March at Freight & Salvage in Berkeley, you can see Dee Mosbacher's Radical Harmonies, a documentary exploring the Women's Music movement of the 1970s & 1980s & onward, featuring Meg Christian, Holly Near, Mary Watkins, Indigo Girls, Ani DiFranco, Bitch and Animal, & Melissa Ferrick; the film also "highlights the whole infrastructure that made possible the recording, production, and dissemination of the work of these talented performers".
On 11 March at the Roxie, you can see Robert Florey's 1932 Murders in the Rue Morgue, a pre-Code horror film starring Bela Lugosi & the influence of The Cabinet of Doctor Caligari.
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