Another Opening, Another Show: January 2026

Here we go for January, so we're launching into the new year, though as I'm typing this the last few hours of 2025 are slipping away, &, like many of us, I won't be that sorry to see that year go. But our calendar divisions are, of course, arbitrary, & are we really expecting a better 2026? Well, hope springs eternal, so we can hope that no matter what is happening to us personally this year, maybe the congressional elections will help rein in the fascists (though that's nearly at the end of the year, & it's a long slog until then). Though January marks the beginning of the calendar year (& let me suggest maybe we should go back to marking the new year in March; January just continues the cold, the wet, & the dark from December, & though I like & often love those things, they maybe aren't the best setting for making a bold new start), this month is more of a halfway point in the performance year, & new season announcements will start dropping in the weeks ahead. In the meantime there's lots of already announced & scheduled stuff to look forward to, so let's stay positive & stay hopeful & support the arts by showing up for them, in a respectful & receptive way.

 
Theatrical   

The 23rd SF Sketchfest will take place in a variety of venues from 15 January through 1 February; click on the link for the line-up.

The ninth annual PlayGround Solo Performance Festival will run at the Potrero Stage from 16 January through 8 February; performances are free but donations are gratefully accepted; click here for the full line-up.

Not sure if this should go under Talking or Theatrical, but from 3 to 11 January, Berkeley Rep presents An Evening with David Sedaris; each night, Sedaris will read different selections from his forthcoming book of essays; there will also be Q&A with the audience & book-signings.

Takes All Kinds, written & performed by Dan Hoyle, directed by Aldo Billingslea & Michael Moran & developed with Charlie Varon, returns to The Marsh San Francisco from 10 January through 21 February.

BroadwaySF presents the musical The Book of Mormon at the Orpheum from 13 January to 1 February.

Spanish Stew, written & performed by Marga Gomez, which recently appeared at the New Conservatory Theater in a production directed by Richard A Mosqueda, has been adapted for The Marsh Berkeley by Gomez & will play from 17 January through 22 February.

On 20 January at The Marsh Berkeley, you can see 2 Women, 2 Mothers, written & performed by Vicki Dello Joio & Merry Ross, an exploration of the complexities of the mother-daughter relationship over generations.

From 21 January to 1 February at the Toni Rembe Theater, ACT presents A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams, "created by Lucy Owen and Nick Westrate" & directed by Nick Westrate; this is, according to the website, a four-person, stripped-down, immersive production that gives the entire text, & I have no idea what "created by" means in this context, as the play was "created by" Tennessee Williams.

Berkeley Rep presents the world premiere of How Shakespeare Saved My Life, written & performed by Jacob Ming-Trent & directed by Tony Taccone, from 23 January to 1 March.

Vocalists

On 18 January at Hertz Hall, Cal Performances presents mezzo-soprano Samantha Hankey, with pianist Myra Huang, performing Poulenc's Trois Chansons de Federico García Lorca, Schumann's Dichterliebe, Satie's La Diva de l’Empire Erik, Schoenberg's Gigerlette from Brettl Lieder, Charles Trenet's Boum!, Kurt Weill's Speak Low & his Youkali, & Cole Porter's So in Love.

Pianist Jeffrey LaDeur & mezzo-soprano Kindra Scharich will celebrate the legacy & 75th birthday of Lieder Alive!'s founder & director, Maxine Bernstein, with performances of Schumann's Liederkreis Opus 39 & selected lieder by Brahms on 25 January at Old First Concerts & 1 February at the Maybeck Christian Science Church in Berkeley.

On 31 January at Zellerbach Hall, Cal Performances presents Kelli O'Hara singing Broadway tunes & favorites from the American Songbook.

Orchestral

From 15 - 17 January, Edward Gardner leads the San Francisco Symphony in the Overture from The Wasps by Ralph Vaughan Williams, the Violin Concerto #1 by Max Bruch (with soloist Randall Goosby), & Holst's The Planets.

On 17 January at Zellerbach Hall, Cal Performances presents the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, led by Riccardo Muti, in Stravinsky's The Fairy's Kiss, Ravel's Boléro, & the Brahms 4.

On 18 January at Herbst Theater, Paul Schrage leads the SF Civic Symphony in the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto (with soloist In Sun Jang) & his Sixth Symphony; admission is free & RSVPs are appreciated.

On 18 January at Davies Hall, the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra hosts (& participates in) the Bay Area Youth Orchestra Festival, whose other participants include the California Youth Symphony, the Marin Symphony Youth Orchestra, the Santa Rosa Symphony Youth Orchestra, & the Young People’s Symphony Orchestra; music performed include Verdi's Overture to Nabucco, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice by Dukas, the Academic Festival Overture by Brahms, the Allegro con brio from the Dvořák 8, Pinkillo Serrano from Apu: Tone Poem for Orchestra by Gabriela Lena Frank, the Allegro giocoso from the Prokofiev 5, & the Andante–Allegro from the Shostakovich 10.

From 22 to 24 January, John Storgårds leads the San Francisco Symphony in the American premiere of The Rapids of Life by Outi Tarkiainen, the Shostakovich Piano Concerto #1 (with soloist Seong-Jin Cho & trumpet soloist Mark Inouye), & the Beethoven 5.

Violinist Simone Porter leads the New Century Chamber Orchestra & students from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music in Enlighten Me, a "musical tour of illumination" that includes Andrew Norman's Sabina, Bachianas Brasileiras #9 by Villa-Lobos, Bach's Violin Concerto in E Major (with Porter as soloist), O virtus sapientiae (O Divine Wisdom) by Hildegard von Bingen, Cathedral of Light by Juhi Bansal, Biber's Battalia à 10, & Mozart's Divertimento in F Major, & you can hear it all on 23 January at Bing Concert Hall at Stanford & 24 January at the Hume Concert Hall at the SF Conservatory of Music.

On 24 - 25 January at the Lesher Center in Walnut Creek, Donato Cabrera leads the California Symphony in instrumental excerpts from Mozart's Don Giovanni, the Friedrich Gulda Cello Concerto (with soloist Nathan Chan), & the Schubert 9.

On 25 January at First Congregational in Berkeley, Carolyn Kuan leads the Berkeley Symphony in Fables & Folklore, a program that includes Folk Songs for orchestra by Huang Ruo (whose opera The Monkey King was a smash at San Francisco Opera this past November), Clarice Assad's Concerto for Guitar and Chamber Orchestra, O Saci-Pererê (with soloist Marc Teicholz), & the Dvořák 8.

From 29 to 31 January, Jaap van Zweden leads the San Francisco Symphony in the Mozart Piano Concerto #25 in C major (with soloist Emanuel Ax) & the Bruckner 7.

Chamber Music

On 13 January at the Berkeley City Club, Berkeley Chamber Performances presents Jeffrey LaDeur & Friends, featuring pianist LaDeur, mezzo-soprano Kindra Scharich, & flutist Jessie Nucho performing Ravel's Shéhérazade. Germaine Tailleferre's Forlane pour flûte et piano, Poulenc's Sonate pour flûte et piano, Debussy's Syrinx, Ravel's Histoires Naturelles, & Chopin's Allegro de Concert Opus 46 (the same program will be performed on 10 January in Lafayette).

The San Francisco Early Music Society presents musicians from the Valley of the Moon Music Festival (Manami Mizumoto, violin; Tanya Tomkins, cello; Eric Zivian & Audrey Vardanega, fortepiano) performing music from the First Viennese School, including Mozart’s Violin Sonata in A Major, Haydn’s Piano Trio in E-flat major, Beethoven’s Variations on a theme from Mozart’s The Magic Flute in E-flat major & his Symphony #2 (arranged for piano trio by his pupil Ferdinand Ries), & that's 16 January at First Presbyteian in Palo Alto, 17 January at First Congregational in Berkeley, & 18 January at Saint Mark's Lutheran in San Francisco.

On 18 January as part of its Chamber Music Sundaes series, the Hillside Club in Berkeley presents the Navarro Trio​ (Tammie Dyer, violin; Jill Rachuy Brindel, cello; Marilyn Thompson, piano) performing Let’s get out of here by Martin Rokeach, the Piano Trio in C Major by Gaspar Cassadó, & the Piano Trio in A minor by Ravel.

On 18 January at the Gunn Theater in the Legion of Honor, the San Francisco Symphony presents a trio of its players (Alexander Barantschik, violin; Peter Wyrick, cello; Anton Nel, piano) performing Schubert's Notturno in E-flat major, Mozart's Violin Sonata in B-flat major, & the Brahms Piano Trio #1 in B major, Opus 8.

On 20 January at Noe Valley Ministry, Noe Music presents Noe After Dark: Nathalie Joachim and Decoda performing Joachim's Fanm d’Ayiti (Women of Haiti).

On 24 January at Noe Valley Ministry in San Francisco, the San Francisco Civic Music Association presents an afternoon of chamber music, featuring Thomas Lupo's Ardi e gela, Will Ayton's Salish Sea Images, Nickos Harizanos's A Day to the Circus, Miriam Hyde's Trio for Flute, Oboe and Piano, Astor Piazzolla's Las Cuatro Estaciones Porteñas (arranged for piano trio by José Bragato), Mendelssohn's Konzertstück #1 Opus113, & his Konzertstück #2 Opus114 ; admission is free & RSVPs are appreciated.

On 24 January at Saint John's Presbyterian in Oakland, Four Seasons Arts presents clarinetist Jon Manasse & pianist Jon Nakamatsu performing the Brahms Sonata in E-flat Major, Opus 120, #2, Debussy's Premiere Rhapsody, Mendelssohn's Fantasy in f-sharp minor, Opus 28 (solo piano), Leonard Bernstein's Sonata for Clarinet and Piano, the 3rd movement from Gordon Goodwin's Four Views for Clarinet and Piano, Paquito D’Rivera's Bandoneon from Cape Cod Files, the 4th movement from Vivian Fung's Down and Dirty, & selections from John Novacek's Four Rags for Two Jons.

On 25 January at Hertz Hall, Cal Performances presents the Takács Quartet (Edward Dusinberre & Harumi Rhodes, violins; Richard O’Neill, viola, András Fejér, cello), who will perform Schubert's String Quartet in C minor, Quartettsatz, &, joined by violist Jordan Bak, Mozart's String Quintet in C major & his String Quintet in G minor.

On 26 January at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music's Hume Concert Hall, violinist Nancy Zhou & pianist Jeffrey Kahane will perform the Brahms Violin Sonata #1 in G Major, Opus 78, Three Romances, Opus 22, #2 by Clara Schumann, Bach's Violin Sonata #3 in E Major, & Busoni's Violin Sonata #2 in E Minor, Opus 36a.

On 31 January at Old First Concerts, the Circadian String Quartet (Monika Gruber & David Ryther, violins; Ed Wharton, viola ; David Wishnia, cello) will perform Footprints in the Snow, a program highlighting "[f]leeting impressions, dream-like color and hypnotic form in music for string quartet" through music by Hugo Kauder, Debussy (the piano preludes Ondine, Des pas sur la neige, & La danse de Puck, transcribed for string quartet), & Philip Glass's String Quartet #5.

Instrumental

On 4 January at the Piedmont Piano Company in Oakland, the Happy Dog Duo  (pianists Eric Tran & Nathan Cheung) will perform music for two pianos by composers including Rachmaninoff, Ravel, Mozart, & Happy Dog.

On 11 January at the Piedmont Piano Company, pianists Stephanie Trick & Paolo Alderighi will perform classic tunes from Broadway & Hollywood arranged for two pianos.

On 17 January, the Cathedral of Christ the Light in Oakland will host an organ recital by Eric Choate, featuring music by Conte, Adams, Venable, & himself.

On 21 January at Davies Hall, the San Francisco Symphony presents pianist Jaeden Izik-Dzurko in a solo recital; he will perform Scriabin's Fantasy in B minor, Opus 28; Franck's Prelude, Chorale, and Fugue; & Rachmaninoff's Ten Preludes, Opus 23.

On 23 January at Old First Concerts, pianist Sarah Cahill performs No Ordinary Light, the launch of "a new project combining classical and new compositions on the theme of homage and loss", featuring Ravel's Tombeau de Couperin, Prelude: Hammer the Sky Bright by Samuel Adams, Hommage a Fauré by Robert Helps, Homage to William Dawson by Zenobia Powell Perry, Fugue to David Tudor & Hommage à Milhaud by Lou Harrison, Holding Pattern by Maggie Payne, & Circle Songs by Danny Clay (the project title comes from Jawaharalal Nehru’s eulogy after the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi: “The light has gone out, I said, and yet I was wrong. For the light that shone in this country was no ordinary light").

On 25 January at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music's Sol Joseph Recital Hall, cellist Carrie Tseng, will perform Nikolay Myaskovsky's Cello Sonata #2 in A Minor, Opus 81 & Rachmaninoff's Cello Sonata in G Minor, Opus 19.

Early / Baroque Music

On 4 January at Saint Mary Magdalen in Berkeley, the Cantata Collective continues its traversal of Bach's cantatas with Christum wir sollen loben schon, BWV 121, Nach dir, Herr, verlanget mich, BWV 150, & Wo gehest du hin? BWV 166, with vocal soloists Amy Broadbent (soprano), Sylvia Leith (alto), Matthew Hill (tenor), & Edmund Milly (bass).

Music Director Emeritus Nicholas McGegan leads Philharmonia Baroque in Jews & Music – Jewish Nightlife, part of PBO's on-going Jews & Music series. McGegan, conducting & on harpsichord, joined by Francesco Spagnolo, Jews & Music Scholar-in-Residence, & Yair Harel, voice & percussion, as well as the Philharmonia Baroque Chamber Players & Chorale Quartet, will explore traditional Syrian & Moroccan songs, baroque works by Rossi & Boccherini, & modern revivals of piyyut (Jewish liturgical poetry), & you can hear it on 29 January at the Oshman Family Jewish Community Center in Palo Alto & 31 January at the Martin Meyer Sanctuary of Congregation Emanu-El in San Francisco.

Modern / Contemporary Music

On 6 January at Herbst Theater, the ARTZenter Institute partners with the SF Contemporary Music Players in another concert from their Emerging Composer program, this time featuring Forever, Until/Until, Forever by Anak Baiharn, Pulse by SiHyun Uhm, Lichtenberg Figures by Brady Wolff, & Composition No. 0136 by Trevor Zavac; as usual, the concert is free, & no reservations are required.

On 8 January at the Littlefield Concert Hall of Mills College at Northeastern University in Oakland, Other Minds presents pianist Amy Williams performing Triadic Memories by Morton Feldman, in celebration of the composer's centennial.

Earplay opens its 41st season on 19 January at Noe Valley Ministry in San Francisco, with a program featuring The Unanswered Question by Charles Ives, arranged by Bruce Bennett, along with the world premiere of Emma Logan's What Lies at Dream's End (an Earplay commission), John Harbison's Prelude–Variations & his Chaconne, & Roger Reynolds's Shadowed Narrative.

On 25 January at Piedmont Piano in Oakland, Ensemble for These Times (soprano Nanette McGuinness, cellist Megan Chartier, & pianist Margaret Halbig, who will be joined by violinist Maya Victoria) presents After Sleepwalking: Music by Women and Nonbinary Composers, a program featuring Divide and Concur by Elisa Kain Johnson (the winner of E4TT's Call for Scores with Luna Composition Lab alums), along with A Thousand Mornings by Anna Clyne, Joan Tower's Tres Lent & her Wild Run, For the Sleepwalkers by Jungyoon Wie, Cinq petits morceaux by SA Workman, & The Light After by Andrew Yee.

San Francisco Performances presents its annual PIVOT Festival, curated this time by Andy Meyerson of  The Living Earth Show, from 30 January to 1 February, mostly at Herbst Theater; on 30 January, for the program Legacies, "vocalist Tanner Porter joins The Living Earth Show guitarist Travis Andrews and percussionist Andy Meyerson in performances of works by Sleeping Giant composers group members and their protegés. Featured will be music by Timo Andres, Christopher Cerrone, Jacob Cooper, Ted Hearne, Robert Honstein, and Andrew Norman"; on 31 January, for the program Satellite, expect an "evening of music and movement, including Bucket List (Mark Applebaum, Travis Andrews, Andy Meyerson) and KoollooK (Babatunji, Travis Andrews, Andy Meyerson) and Trust Me (Lynnee Breedlove, Travis Andrews, Andy Meyerson)"; & on 1 February, for the program Parallel Play (which will be in the Taube Atrium Theater instead of Herbst), "choreographer/dancer Myles Thatcher and percussionist Andy Meyerson offer a contemporary take on the classical ballet pas de deux. Their program will include John Cage’s Child of Tree, with choreography by Merce Cunningham, a work that hasn’t been performed publicly since Cage’s death; Nicole Lizée’s The Filthy 15, with choreography by Rex Wheeler (aka Lady Camden), inspired by songs were at the center of a censorship battle in the 1980s; and a world premiere by Myles Thatcher, with music by Bach."

On 31 January at the Tabue Atrium Theater, the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players present American Reflections: Fire - and Lightening, a program featuring the west coast premieres of Fire by Chen Yi, through depths and shadows by Justin Weiss, & Mosaic by Elliott Carter (performed by harpist Amy Ahn), as well as Electric Aroma by Viet Cuong & Lightenings by Elizabeth Ogonek  (the concert is preceded by SFCMP's annual fundraiser, Sound & Wine; if you want more information on that, you may find it here).

Left Coast Chamber Ensemble presents Metamorphosen, a program featuring Metamorphosen by Richard Strauss (for septet), Luciano Berio's Sequenza XIVb for double bass, Tounen for solo flute by Hendel Almetus, & Sonitudes by Robert Hughes, on 31January at the First Church of Christ, Scientist in Berkeley & on 1 February at Noe Valley Ministry in San Francisco.

Jazz / Roots

Trumpeter Chris Botti will play the SF Jazz Center from 5 to 11 January.

Freight & Salvage in Berkeley hosts a two-day Django Reinhardt Birthday Celebration: on 16 January you can hear the Pino Noir Quartet featuring Natalie Hanna Mendoza, the Hot Club of San Francisco, & the Michael Joseph Harris Trio: Ultrafaux Ensemble, & on 17 January, the Hot Club of Baltimore featuring Leah Zeger, the Hot Club of San Francisco, & the Modern Jazz Hot Club.

Saxophonist Melissa Aldana & pianist Taylor Eigsti will perform at the SF Jazz Center on 17 January.

On 18 January at Freight & Salvage in Berkeley, you can experience an MLK Tribute Concert: Fight the Power!, curated by Zoë Ellis & Mark Montgomery French, "a narrated musical and visual tribute to Martin Luther King, Jr." that will feature Ellis & French as well as Leberta Lorál (vocals), B DeVeaux (guitar & vocals), Tammy Hall  (piano & vocals), Dave Ellis (saxophone), Deszon Claiborne (drums), Steve Hogan (bass), & Javier Navarrette (percussion).

Dance

On 23 - 25 January at Zellerbach Hall, Cal Performances presents the Mark Morris Dance Group in the west coast premiere of MOON, a lunar meditation involving dancers, of course, as well as "video, animation, and photo stills of the Moon" & "live and recorded music that includes popular American songbook tunes, as well as excerpts from NASA’s Golden Record . . .[t]he live music features selections from Marcel Dupré’s 24 Inventions, Opus 50 and György Ligeti’s Musica ricercata, performed on piano, organ, and double bass."

From 23 January to 1 February, Sa Francisco Ballet presents the world premiere of a new version of Eugene Onegin, with choreography by Yuri Possokhov & music by Ilya Demutsky.

Mostly Museums

Theresa Hak Kyung Cha: Multiple Offerings, the first retrospective in 25 years of the Korean-American artist, opens at BAM/PFA on 24 January & runs through 19 April. In conjunction with this exhibit, artist Jesse Chun performs 시( )nawi( )fugue (an improvisation, an offering, a reading) on 24 January.

Drawn to Venice, featuring Renaissance to Rococo drawings & prints from the Veneto region, opens at the Legion of Honor on 24 January & runs through 2 August.

The wonderful Art of Manga show at the de Young closes on 25 January.

Lee ShinJa: Drawing with Thread, the absorbing exhibit of the Korean textile artist's work, closes at BAM/PFA on 1 February.

Cinematic

On 3 January at the Orinda Movie Theater, a new series of Disney Studio restorations launches with 1950's Cinderella; personally, I find this film a boring misfire, but Disney completists or those curious about any restored film will want to check it out. When I saw it a few years ago, I realized I had never seen it before, I just thought I had because of the many clips, references, & parodies. I asked a friend why people liked it. She paused & responded, "It's the dress." So there's that. (Please note the Disney restoration series is of films now owned by the Disney Studios, not limited to their own classic animated features.)

On 11 January at the Orinda Movie Theater, host Matias Bombal launches their new Wide Screen Roadshow series with Lawrence of Arabia, a film that truly needs to be seen on a big screen.

Swedish Silent Cinema: Victor Sjöström & Mauritz Stiller, a treasure-trove of great films, runs at BAM/PFA from 16 January through 28 February.

Laura Truffaut on François Truffaut, in which the late director's daughter will introduce some of his films (sadly not including my favorite, L'Histoire d'Adele H), & lead post-film discussions at BAM/PFA, opens 17 January & runs through 28 February.

On 20 January at the Curran, BroadwaySF presents Blade Runner LIVE; the 2007 "Final Cut" edition of the film will be shown on "a vast HD screen while Vangelis's iconic, synthesizer-led score is performed live in sync with the film by The Avex Ensemble".

This month's Classic Movie Matinee at the Orinda Theater is An American in Paris, shown on 27 January.

Robert Beavers: Filmmaker in Residence, visiting the avant-garde filmmaker's body of work, runs at BAM/PFA from 30 January through 7 February.

Museum Monday 2025/52

 

detail of Orpheus Charming the Animals by Aelbert Cuyp, now at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Friday Photo 2025/52

 

chicken ascending a staircase

Museum Monday 2025/51

 

detail of Saint Luke Drawing the Virgin by Rogier van der Weyden, now in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Orinda Theater Classic Movie Matinee: Bell, Book, & Candle

The Orinda Theater's Classic Movie Matinee this past October was 1958's Bell, Book, and Candle, one of those "I married a witch: no, really, a literal witch" stories, which is seasonal for the end of October, of course, but as the film also contains several Christmas scenes, it fits in with my posting month of December as well.

As usual, the Matinee was genially hosted by Matías Bombal, who also chooses the apt shorts, newsreels, cartoons, & coming attractions that accompany each feature (the idea is to recreate an earlier movie-going experience, when you'd get all those things as part of the show).There were a couple of cartoons, including the delirious & delightful Skeleton Dance, one of the early Disney Silly Symphonies (animated by Ub Iwerks). I've seen it many times, but this was my first time seeing it on the big screen, where it is just as marvelous as ever. We also had Bewitched Bunny, in which Bugs Bunny tries to save Hansel & Gretel from Witch Hazel. (I found the children repulsive, though comically so, & would have been happy to let the witch have her snack.) At the cartoon's end, Witch Hazel has transformed herself into a sexy & beautiful young thing, & Bugs leaves with her, but not before turning to the audience & letting us know he knows, says "Ah sure, I know, but aren't they all witches inside?" – a line that drew plenty of audible gasps from the matinee audience, & not necessarily in a disapproving way. After the feature I chatted in the lobby with a group that included several women who didn't come right out & say they identified as witches, but it was pretty clear they were, at least, sympathetic, so maybe they felt Bugs was just acknowledging their power.

I had never seen Bell, Book, & Candle before (the 1950s are not really my movie decade), though I had heard of it vaguely & was curious about it. It's quite delightful, & has quite a cast: Kim Novak as the female lead, with Elsa Lanchester, Hermione Gingold, Jack Lemmon, & Ernie Kovacs in supporting roles. The male lead is Jimmy Stewart. I am not a fan, though I found him less grating than usual (in fact, downright acceptable) in this role. And I give him credit for realizing he had aged out of romantic leads; this was the last such role he played. Still, it seemed a stretch for the gorgeous Novak to fall in love with him as he passes her shop (he's a neighbor & her feelings are rooted in his looks, not his personality, as she hasn't actually talked to him yet) & I kept wondering what the part would be like with, say, Montgomery Clift in it. Novak is, as I said, gorgeous, but I was mesmerized by her eyebrows, which were done in some kind of heavy brown paint – obviously something stylish at the time, though a touch bizarre today (though that's not unsuitable for an uncanny character).

Lanchester, as Novak's aunt, is appealingly & reliably loopy, & I found Kovacs, as a writer on witches who knows less than he thinks, & drinks more than he should, actually funny (I know he's supposed to have been a comedy genius, & maybe I just haven't seen the right shows, but when I saw his stuff years ago I didn't find it amusing at all, which might be my fault). Hermione Gingold, as a rival witch, doesn't have all that much to do; I wondered if the part was bigger in the original play, as what was in the film didn't seem to warrant hiring that big a name. But maybe the idea is that she's outsized enough so that she brings weight to a role that doesn't take up much actual screen time & so might get lost in the narrative shuffle. I shouldn't neglect the scene-stealing cat, Pyewacket. When I mention this film to people, the usual response is something about the cat.

Jack Lemmon is Novak's younger brother; he is a warlock who plays bongos, beatnik-style, at the Zodiac Club in Greenwich Village. A friend of mind said he'd heard that Lemmon's character was "gay-coded" but he didn't see it, which I found . . . surprising. This is a 1950s film, & the usual subtexts apply. There most definitely is a gay subtext (I've come to realize that the mere mention of "Greenwich Village" in this period constitutes queer subtext): there's a secret society, a bit dangerous, extremely suspect, feeling themselves a bit superior to as well as set apart from normal society, & these odd, marginal, dangerous people meet in clubs in Greenwich Village, where they listen to weird music. . . . There's also a hint of an "un-American activities" subtext; at one point Stewart asks Novak if she's a Communist (yes, I'm using the names of the actors instead of the characters, but it's easier to keep them straight & visualize them that way).

I was fascinated by the décor of the film, & the role of modern art: not just jazz, but painting. Stewart's fiancée, played by Janice Rule. must, as is the way of the person who is initially engaged to the lead only to get dumped for the headliner, straddle the line between being acceptable as a mate for the lead but abrasive enough so that we don't mind seeing her or him dumped. Rule fills the role well; she's attractive, polished, & cultured enough so that she's plausible as a girlfriend for a publisher like Stewart, but she's also a bit cold, & unpleasantly snobbish & dismissive towards anyone she perceives as different (like Lemmon &, in their college days, Novak). We're not sorry to see her go. But there is a scene in which Stewart tries (briefly & unsuccessfully) to reunite with her, & we see her painting a very Joan Miró-like picture. But the modernist isn't contrasted with a cozier, kitschier "normal" style. Is it just meant to indicate a certain type of person & class? And the walls in everyone's apartments are dark blue or a similar shade, with carefully arranged artworks. The look was mesmerizing. Initially, Novak's character sells African mask (presumably some link to magic traditions is intended). By the end, she has moved to selling fanciful "bouquets" made of seashells. But they also seem a bit strange & mysterious, though we're clearly meant to see that Novak's love has changed her: for one thing, instead of sharply cut black outfits, she's wearing all-white.

Maybe I should issue a spoiler alert, but I've already said this film is from the 1950s, & it has what is meant as a happy ending, so you can guess what happens: by falling in love, Novak has lost her powers, & become a normal woman. She is fine with the change, but given a choice between casting spells on my enemies & a life with Jimmy Stewart, I know which I would take. After the movie ended, as we stood & brushed popcorn off our laps, I turned to my friend & after asking how she liked the movie (she did, very much) I said I did too, except for the unhappy ending. She laughed & I said, "I'm not kidding." I'd be much happier married to someone with magical powers; who wouldn't be? Imagine facing yet another of life's boring, stupid, annoying inconveniences & problems & being able to turn to your extremely hot partner & say, "Honey, can't you cast a spell or something?"

San Francisco Silent Film Festival: 2025

As the Castro Theater is still closed for renovations, the San Francisco Silent Film Festival took place this year at the Orinda Theater. This is a much better choice than last year's location, the Palace of Fine Arts Theater, which is fine if a bit generic inside as a venue but too difficult to reach via public transportation & too isolated: the Festival tried to make up for that with some food trucks, but in general it was an uphill battle out there. I ended up not seeing many films (in fact, only one) because anything that was first or last on the schedule just didn't work out transit-time-wise for me. The Orinda Theater, by contrast, is easily accessible via BART (& has plenty of parking, if that's your thing) & surrounded by all kinds of restaurants (even more so than the Castro Theater, actually), as well as being large &, as an Art Deco exemplar, close to period appropriate. Even so, I only made it to a few programs this year, for a number of reasons (none having to do with the quality of the films),. This is what I saw:

The Wreck of the Hesperus

1927; directed by Elmer Clifton

This recently rediscovered & restored film is based on a poem by Longfellow about young lovers separated by her father, a ship's captain who bears a romantic grudge against the young man's uncle, but that drama is topped by the final storm at sea & the wreck of the captain's vessel. It's quite beautiful to look at & very well cast. I was particularly impressed with Ethel Wales as the captain's sister, assigned by him with looking after his stubbornly lovelorn daughter; it's a very small role, but you immediately see that she is not the sort of moony spinster who is going to sympathize with young love. Nor is she a dragon guarding the treasure, or a fussy old maid; she's just a sort of fretful & annoyed person who seems to wish everyone would just behave, or at least leave her alone, though she does of course her duty. 

The film was intended as a step towards stardom for the young romantic leads, Virginia Bradford & Frank Marion, though, according to the SFSFF's always richly detailed (& free!) program book, neither one took off with the public. I found this quite surprising, as both are very appealing. She is, not surprisingly, a beauty, with long dark curls & a demeanor earthy enough to make her convincing as the daughter of a flinty New England sea captain but with a touch enough of the fey so that she seems a bit out of the ordinary. He, too, is a curly-haired beauty, & as the movie was illustrated in both brochure & program book with a dreamy close-up of him, I'm apparently not the only one who thought so. The close-up comes from his first scene, when he is found adrift on the sea, the only survivor of a shipwreck (not the one of the title); once he recovers, we find that he has an engaging presence & a killer smile, so once again I am left befuddled by the taste or lack of it of the American public.

The storm & shipwreck scenes are quite spectacular, & though you can try to parse which shots are done with models, which with sets, & which with who knows what, it's all cut together seamlessly & with verve, so that you get caught up in the events rather than the technique, & it's all so much more convincing & more beautiful to look at than the computer-generated fakery, with its false pixel sheen, that we get these days. Our young hero, in a stylish & visually helpful ruffled white shirt (which helps him stand out against the dark lashing waves, the ruffles echoing both the waves & his curls) rushes towards the sinking ship to save his beloved, who is tied to the mast. It's an exciting & satisfying film. It was new to me (I'd never even heard of it), so I was very glad to have seen it. If it's ever released, I'd buy a copy.

KoKo!

a series of Fleischer Cartoons: Jumping Beans (1922), It's the Cats (1926), KoKo at the Circus (1926), KoKo in 1999 (1927), KoKo's Kane (1927), KoKo's Klock (1927), KoKo's Kink (1928), KoKo's Earth Control (1928)

The early Fleischer Brother cartoons are always delights of homegrown surrealism. This batch, only a few of which I'd seen before, features KoKo, the Out of the Inkwell clown maybe best remembered now as an occasional sidekick of the inimitable Betty Boop, a star of later Fleischer cartoons. It's nice to see him in his early days as a headliner. I read somewhere long ago that the Fleischer Brothers used to say, "If it could really happen, it's not animation" & that's a guiding principle here, as what's going on up on the screen stretches & shapes & contorts & changes from scene to scene, hung on the thinnest of storylines. That's a good thing. I also love the strongly blocked black-against-white designs of the cartoons. I'm going to continue my above dismissal of contemporary computer-generated films by contrasting these evergreen shorts with today's animation, most of which seems to be filmed on location in the Uncanny Valley. I'm not a big fan of the Pixar films (the only one I've really loved is Luca, about the boys who are sea serpents, though in fairness I will also admit I have not seen a lot of the more highly regarded Pixar films), & a lot of that is their look: they labor to make things look "realistic", but if it's that important to you to get hair so accurate you'd think it's real, why not just film real hair? Anyway this was a delightful set.

Song

1928; directed by Richard Eichberg

In a complete change of mood & aesthetic, the KoKo shorts were followed by Song (original title: Die Liebe eines armen Menschenkindes, which is, according to Google Translate, The Love of a Poor Child). This was Anna May Wong's first European film, when she felt her American film career was stalled & mired in stereotypical secondary roles. Earlier this year I read an excellent book on Wong (Daughter of the Dragon by Yunte Huang) so I couldn't remember if I'd actually seen this film or only read a description of it. It turns out I had not seen it. I gather it's sometimes spoken of a bit dismissively but I thought it was extremely good. Wong is, as most people know by now, just luminous, & subtle & convincing in her portrayal of a lonely young woman who falls in love with a circus performer, a knife thrower, (Heinrich George) who rescues her from an attempted rape by two men on the beach. He is not interested in her, though, as he is smitten with his former lover, a dancer (Mary Kid) who thought he had died & who has moved on anyway (she's an appealing character, not shown as bad or scheming or bitchy: just someone who's over someone who isn't over her). As is often the case, plot summaries make the film sound thinner & more melodramatic than it is; as portrayed by the actors & staged by the director, it's a moving portrait of a roundelay of misguided loves. Wong is naturally the big draw these days, & the theater was quite full for this one, but it has many good points in addition to its star.

Kohlhiesel's Daughters

1920; directed by Ernst Lubitsch

This is one of Lubitsch's early German films, though unlike many of those it's not an historical epic but a comedy, based (very loosely) on The Taming of the Shrew. It was one of his biggest hits in Germany but is little known here, apparently not even receiving a theatrical release at the time (which was too close to the end of World War I, when the boycott of German films continued in the USA). Even now, when Lubitsch is a presiding deity of Sophisticated Cinema, & many (most?) of his early films are easily available, this one isn't (Kino, where art thou?). Not surprisingly, it's a lot of fun. It's set in the Bavarian mountains & involves two sisters (both played by Henny Porten), the elder a foul-tempered frump & the younger a prettier & more conventional sweetie. As in Shrew, the father insists the elder sister must be married (& taken off his hands) before the younger one can choose among her suitors. Emil Jannings is the sort-of Petruchio, who ends up with the elder sister. It's all very good-humored; you never feel that the elder sister is being vilified or mocked, & her rampages are more comical than anything else. Porten gets laughs as the younger sister as well, which is more of a challenge than with the over-the-top older sister. As I said, lots of fun, &, again, as with all these movies, if it's released, I'd buy a copy.

The Song of the Scarlet Flower

1919; directed by Mauritz Stiller

Lars Hanson stars in this Swedish film, based on a 1905 Finnish novel (Laulu tulipunaisesta kukasta by Johannes Linnankoski), which was popular enough to be filmed several times after this initial version. It's the tale of the headstrong son of wealthy farmers, who ends up leaving his family home in anger & working in a logging camp, before eventually maturing & marrying the proud daughter of another wealthy landowner. It's maybe less tidy than this makes it sound, as she falls for him, & her father opposes him, without knowing his privileged background, which he has kept from them; before he ends up in this class-appropriate coupling, we see the tragic effect he's had on a lower-class serving girl on his parents' farm. What most viewers are going to carry away, though, is the memory of his log-rolling towards dangerous river rapids, a bit of bravado made all the more striking (to continue a leitmotif of this post) because it's not faked with computer imaging as it would be nowadays. It's an emotionally satisfying film, full of beautiful vistas, though maybe a little more conventional than I was hoping for. A friend of mine thought that Hanson occasionally overdid the stalwart manliness, but I thought that was just who the character was, & it provided an interesting contrast with some of Hanson's more tortured roles (The Saga of Gösta Berling, The Scarlet Letter, & let's not forget his anguish in Flesh & the Devil). Again, I'd buy a release!

The next festival will be back at the Castro Theater, from 6 to 10 May 2026. Before that, there will be a special Festival screening at the Castro on 22 March of Clara Bow in It, with live musical accompaniment by Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra. See you there!

Friday Photo 2025/51

 

a gate on Estudillo Avenue

Museum Monday 2025/50

 

detail of Virgin Adoring the Christ Child by Matteo di Giovanni Civital, now at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston

Friday Photo 2025/50

 

a shop window on B Street, Hayward

Museum Monday 2025/49

 

detail of Proscenium by Sargent Claude Johnson, currently at BAM/PFA & on view as part of the exhibit Object Oriented: Abstraction and Design in the BAMPFA Collection

Friday Photo 2025/49

 

palm frond, dying

Museum Monday 2025/48

 

detail of Saint John the Baptist by Domenikos Theotokopoulos (El Greco), now at the Legion of Honor

Ars Minerva: Ercole Amante

Annually since 2015, Ars Minerva, founded & led by Céline Ricci, has given us a revival of an opera not seen for centuries. This is obviously the Lord's work, & Ars Minerva is a jewel of the Bay Area. With the exception of 2023's Olimpia Vendicata, which I missed because COVID finally got me that weekend, I have seen & loved all of their shows. By now they have a distinct production aesthetic: stylish projections & minimal props; elaborate, often very witty, costumes; an inventive, often humorous, approach to staging these unknown works which, typically for baroque operas, usually center on mythological heroes, historical figures who might as well be mythological, & a grab-bag of Greek gods. I occasionally hear someone complain that these revived operas aren't "masterpieces". But they are, to my mind, consistently interesting & entertaining & even refreshing, & isn't being overly devoted to the narrowly defined "masterpiece" one of the problems with the current operatic scene?

This year we were given their tenth opera, & the first composed by a woman: 1707's Ercole Amante by Antonia Bembo, an Italian woman eventually resident in France, whose approach combined the two national schools of music. There was a concert performance in Europe a few years ago,  but this production was the first modern, & possibly the first ever, fully staged production (another is scheduled for next year at the Paris Opera). The staging by Ricci was clever & often humorous, & kept the complicated story clear & moving (in every sense). The plot, as the title indicates, revolves around Hercules falling in love – with Iole, a woman whose father he killed, & who is also beloved by his son Hyllo. In addition, Hercules is already married to Deianira. And various gods get involved: jealous Giunone (Juno), who has always hated Hercules, & Venere (Venus), who wants to thwart Juno. There is also a Page, who delivers messages & comic asides. With those characters the plot starts spinning like a top, & as usual with baroque opera, there is no point in typing out a summary, as it would sound like confusing convoluted nonsense, but in performance it all makes complete logical & emotional sense (I've experienced this over & over & always advise people that the first rule of attending baroque opera is not to read the plot summary.)

The gods & heroes are pretty much on a level, though the gods have more power, at least of a supernatural sort. The projections, designed as usual by Entropy, seemed particularly rich this time, combining the fine-lined precision of 18th century engravings with the modernist style of collage & contrast, aptly substituting for the visual richness & swift scene changes of baroque opera. And the costumes, designed by Marina Polakoff, seemed even more lavish & even wittier than usual, with extravagant headpieces, swirling draperies (or, in the case of the muscular bare-chested Hercules, only a partly gilded pteruges), little flashing lights embedded in tulle, deep & glowing colors. It all contributed to the sense of a rich, frivolous, & decadent upper class, swirling around their love-concerns above the rest of the indifferent world. The performance opens with a woman representing Bembo lying on a couch, starting to put her opera together. It's a clever way of emphasizing the individual creation of the work, which is a particular vision of these characters rather than some sort of standard history. They are puppets in her show.

I was reminded of one of my favorite movies, Renoir's The Rules of the Game, also about an insular, insulated privileged caste entertaining themselves with the frisson of love affairs while their world slides away; but perhaps the main theme that reminded me of the film is the interrogation of the role of the hero: like Renoir's aviator, Hercules is officially a hero, but he fits awkwardly into normal life. Heroes are perhaps easier to live with once they're safely dead.

Bembo's score, prepared for performance by Adam Cockerham & conducted from the harpsichord by Matthew Dirst, is consistently appealing & entertaining. I did feel that in a couple of scenes that required something a little more, she had not supplied it: the underworld scene involving Iole's father didn't seem differentiatingly eerie to me, & the death of Hercules was lacking in the tragic grandeur we find in Handel's version of the same scene: but perhaps the failure there is mine, conditioned to expect tragic grandeur by repeated exposure to Handel's work, when Bembo, consistent with her quizzical view of the Hero, is trying for a different effect: yes, he was larger than life, but didn't that make him a bit demanding, a bit difficult to have around? And doesn't life go on, perhaps even a bit more smoothly, after his death?

Zachary Gordin was a suitably beefy Ercole, Kindra Scharich the long-suffering & touching Deianira, Lila Khazoum & Maxwell Ary as Iole & Hyllo an appealing pair of young lovers, Aura Veruni a blazing Giunone, Melissa Sondhi a sly Venere; Nick Volkert portrayed an imposing series of gods with minor roles, as well as the ghost of Iole's father, & Sara Couden was funny & sly as the Page. Bembo's initial appearance was portrayed by Cynthia Keiko Black. I did feel that the score & story are rich enough to support a sometimes less humorous approach, particularly with Hyllo; if the Paris Opera production is made available, it would be interesting to see how they handle this opera. In the meantime, I am very happy with what we were given by Ars Minerva, & I am already eagerly awaiting their next rediscovery.

San Francisco Opera: The Monkey King

I was in a packed Opera House for the third performance of San Francisco Opera's world-premiere run of The Monkey King, a kaleidoscopic new work by Huang Ruo (music) & David Henry Hwang (libretto), directed by Diane Paulus. This opera is wildly inventive, wildly colorful, wildly wild, & also substantial enough to be thought-provoking in a number of directions & well worth repeated viewings (I hope it will be revived soon, as I believe the run is pretty much sold out).

The storyline is based on the opening chapters of the very long & episodic Chinese classic novel, Journey to the West; the portion we are given is basically the Monkey King origin story. Sun Wukong, the monkey who makes himself the Monkey King & then a disciple of the Buddha, is, despite his spiritual trajectory, a rambunctious & brassy character, a variant of the Trickster God, but since he is also a King, he has some inherent responsibilities towards others that can lead him into more altruistic directions. The story of the opera is the story of his discovery of some level of selflessness & spiritual enlightenment, as he is guided through adventures & suffering by the compassionate bodhisattva Guanyin & the teachings of the Buddha.

It all makes for an emotionally & dramatically complete work, though (perhaps this is just my enjoyment speaking), as in any superhero-based tale, there is room for sequels. It was several scenes into the work, after seeing the Monkey King go underwater to gain his great weapon, & then ascend to the heavens to see the glittering, corrupt world of the powerful gods, when I started to think of The Monkey King as potentially part of a Chinese-American Ring cycle, an impression strengthened by later hopes expressed by his Buddhist teacher that the Monkey King will function as some sort of redeemer of a corrupt world. As with many of our insights, I realized this one was not unique to me: while reading the program-book on the train afterwards I found in one of the articles this very subject being discussed by the composer & librettist.

The clever & frequently ingenious production owes a lot to the brilliantly eye-catching costumes of Anita Yavich & the puppetry & design work of Basil Twist. Great stretches of iridescent silks turn into waves, or horses, or the clouds supporting heaven; the Monkey King himself is sometimes a puppet, sometimes a dancer (Huiwang Zhang), & mainly & notably a tenor, Kang Wang, who does an appropriately heroic turn in what must be a strenuous role (even with leaping & flying done by dancer or puppet), sounding as fresh & spunky at the end as at the beginning. His lines frequently end with a blazoning note, which I thought was an excellent indication of his character (though I should note a friend of mine, a singer, sympathetically found this aspect of the vocal writing exhausting). There is precedent in the novel for the Monkey King dividing himself, but the staging is seamless, with a leap giving way to a puppet, flying with the aid of black-clad puppeteers, in the style of Japanese theater.  There are scenes in which singer & dancer are both in action, in particular a fight scene with representative of the gods Lord Erland (also portrayed by a singer & dancer: Joo Won Kong & Marcos Vedovetto, respectively), but it's always clear what is going on. I have to give credit to the nerves of our Guanyin, the soprano Mei Gui Zhang, most of whose role is sung while she is suspended on (or, even more nerve-wrackingly, moving on) a golden platform a bit like a lozenge or flame-shaped halo, high, very high, above the stage. The entire cast is very strong (I particularly liked the deep bass of Peixin Chen as Supreme Sage Laojun) & the chorus does astonishingly versatile work.

The visuals (the costumes, &, in particular, the make-up of the Monkey King) & the action (the acrobatics, the choreographed fights) are very influenced by Asian theater, particularly Peking Opera; the music also crosses traditional east-west borders. Though the orchestra (led with assurance by Carolyn Kuan) is largely a traditional European opera orchestra, the percussion battery includes large & medium Indonesian button gongs, a Chinese opera gong, & small Chinese crash symbols, & there is a prominent role for pipa (played by Shenshen Zhang), including a rock-god-guitar-type battle between the Monkey King & one of his heavenly opponents. But the music, though permeated by traditional Chinese sounds, is not aggressively "other" or even "exotic" to non-Chinese ears, which is why I earlier referred to it as a Chinese-American work.

This hybridization of times & cultures applies to the libretto as well, which is often agreeably slangy, a helpful reminder to those dazzled by the fairy-tale qualities of the work that there is a contemporary point underneath the dazzle. "Awesome, JE!" announces the warrior nephew of the Jade Emperor, sent by him with Heaven's latest scheme for controlling the Sun Wukong. The gods sing in chorus of how no one knows how to party the way they do. There isn't much individuality there, or dissent. A corrupt & decadent ruling caste, not only on heaven but, clearly though implicitly, here on the political earth as well. The Monkey King gathers his beleaguered monkey-subjects (or brethren) around him & announces that they will no longer be shoved aside by the powerful; joining together has made them stronger. Suffering increases the strength of the Monkey King. It's a point that applies not only to the racist approaches to Chinese & Chinese-Americans through US history, but to other disenfranchised groups.

But the political suggestions of this opera are secondary to its religious & philosophical explorations. How are we to live? is the main theme, the central & too frequently silenced question of our lives. The work opens & closes with choruses singing Buddhist sutras – the chorus, a collective, expressing poetic, spiritual thoughts in a way that suggests universalism. But during the course of the action, sutra sections are usually expressed in the powerful soprano of Guanyin, that is, not only an individual, but one removed both spiritually (by her status as an immortal bodhisattva) & physically (by her elevation above the stage) from what is happening below. She functions as a sort of musical conscience to the Monkey King. Does he truly understand, & accept, & live by, what she is expressing? Or is he just looking to her as a sort of deus ex machina to get him out of various scrapes? We have gone from the choral universalism of the opening to the individual struggle, in the toils of a baffling & illusory world, to understand, accept, & act on profound sentiments in a profound & meaningful way. As they keep saying in the Journey to the West, Splendid Monkey King! Handsome Monkey King! But after the gorgeous stage-pictures have faded, the unsettling underlying message remains: How are we to live in the world we are given?

Friday Photo 2025/48

 

East 14th Street, San Leandro, California

Another Opening, Another Show: December 2025

So we come, inevitably but somehow still surprisingly, to the end of another calendar year. As usual, most of this month's calendar has been taken over with glitter, sleigh bells, drag queens, & various other festive entertainments. There are always a few events each month that are difficult to categorize (is a Palestrina concert "early music / baroque" or "choral"? should I cross-reference? What about the program that is mostly premieres – meaning, modern / contemporary music – except for a major piece by Beethoven or Schubert? Does any of this even matter to anyone but me?), but December usually has more of those than any other month. There's a Holiday Concerts section, but it's a far-reaching & somewhat arbitrary, even fanciful, classification (even so, Messiahs & Nutcrackers are listed separately, & usually, if there are enough of them Christmas Carols are as well, but this year there were only one or two of those, though there are other holiday-themed shows listed under Theatrical): arbitrary & fanciful, much like the various holidays themselves.

I don't claim to have been rigorous in my separation of Holiday Concerts from non-holiday concerts: is a program centering on "winter" all that different from one celebrating the Winter Solstice? You'd think that, as is alleged of pornography, you know it when you see it. But that's a bit dubious; there are realms of erotica or titillation or plain old sensuous appreciation that don't count as porn but are maybe close enough to raise eyebrows in some quarters, or among some viewers. A rough rule of thumb: if you might hear Sleigh Ride or Silent Night, that counts as a holiday concert. But what about Messiaen's La Nativité du Seigneur? It doesn't feel quite right, perhaps a bit inadequate, to stick that in Holiday Concerts. (It's under Instrumental, if you're looking for it.) But there are programs of high-toned Renaissance music that proudly bill themselves as Holiday concerts, & who am I to dispute that, whether the title is based on religious belief or marketing savvy?

On the other hand, there are surprising riches in the Holiday Concerts assortment, & I encourage you (if there's any "you" who is actually reading these posts) to check it out: there are the expected things, which can be a comfort during times that are cold & lightless, literally as well as metaphorically, but there are also surprises. Years ago I was visiting some friends & I had bought some new CDs & offered to put one on – there was a collection of Tudor Christmas music, which I foolishly described as such, & one of my friends visibly recoiled. I don't know what he was expecting: some Elizabethan version of Jingle Bells? It was music that sounded like early modern church music, & if you didn't know what holiday the pieces were composed for (& didn't speak Latin), you wouldn't associate it with Christmas. All I'm really saying, I guess, is to go in with an open mind & open ears, which is actually very good advice for most situations, so you're welcome.

Merry happy whatever you celebrate. . . . 

Ceremonial

The 40th Annual Japanese New Year Bell-Ringing Ceremony will take place at the Asian Art Museum on 28 December; reservations are strongly recommended: "Led by Reverend Gengo Akiba, this inspiring ceremony includes a purification ritual and chanting of the Buddhist Heart Sutra. The bell is struck 108 times to usher in the New Year and curb the 108 mortal desires (bonno) that, according to Buddhist belief, torment humankind."

Theatrical

The Marsh revives Brian Copeland’s The Jewelry Box: A Genuine Christmas Story, written & performed by Copeland & directed by David Ford, on 29 November at the Marsh Berkeley & 13 December at The Marsh San Francisco.

Shotgun Players at the Ashby Stage continue their production of Sondheim's Sunday in the Park with George through 30 December.

San Francisco Playhouse continues its production of Sondheim's Into the Woods through 17 January 2026.

Peter Pan - Panto in the Presidio, a British-style holiday pantomime directed by Liam Vincent, runs at the Presidio Theater from 29 November through 28 December.

On 2 December at The Marsh Berkeley, you can see Title Pending (I assume this is the actual title, & not a website placeholder), written & performed by Heather Tyson, about a woman who thinks her life is going in the "right" direction, until she receives a mysterious text from her husband that sends her off course.

Broadway SF presents The Golden Girls Live: The Christmas Episodes from 4 to 21 December at the Curran Theater.

Theater Rhinoceros presents Pirates!, written & directed by John Fisher, from 4 to 13 December; the drama explores what happens when a married gay male couple sailing around the world are captured by contemporary pirates off east Africa.

On 5 December at the Calvin Simmons Theater in Oakland, Oaklash presents The Last 7 Days of Obsidienne Obsurd: An Experimental Drag Concert, featuring Obsidienne's "personal story of gender transition alongside the migration story of their Chinese ancestors to America"; Obsurd is a classically trained violinist & the piece includes the world premiere of a composition "developed in collaboration with Paul Wiancko of the Kronos Quartet".

From 5 December through 11 January 2026, the New Conservatory Theater Center presents Ruthless!, a musical mash-up of The Bad Seed & All About Eve, with book & lyrics by Joel Paley, music by Marvin Laird, & direction by Dyan McBride; I saw this last year (post on it is here) & found it very enjoyable; if you're a theater buff, chances are you'll enjoy it too.

BroadwaySF presents A Drag Queen Christmas, hosted by Nina West, on 6 December at the Orpheum.

On 6 - 7 December at the Potrero Stage, PlayGround presents the fourth annual A Very Hitchcock Christmas, featuring The Birds Is Coming by Jonathan Josephson, directed by Ely Sonny Orquiza; Dial M for Merry by Christian Wilburn, directed by Lana Richards; Fool Proof by Kimberly Ridgeway, directed by Karina Gutierrez; How the Bates (Almost) Stole Christmas by JS Puller, directed by Peter J Kuo; & Shadow of an Uncle Nick by Mark Sherstinsky, directed by Jim Kleinmann (advance reservations are strongly recommended as the performances are free, though donations are gratefully accepted).

On 8 December at Z Below, as part of their Off the Page Staged Reading Series, Word for Word will present The Dinner Party by Joshua Feris, directed by Ryan Tasker.

The African-American Shakespeare Company presents its annual production of Cinderella, directed by Gary Stanford, at the Alcazar Theater from 12 to 21 December.

On 16 - 18 December at the New Conservatory Theater Center, you can experience the 18th annual performance of Katya, A Holiday Spectacular, with J Conrad Frank as Katya Smirnoff-Skyy & music direction by Joe Wicht

Berkeley Rep presents Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol: A Ghost Story Told by Jefferson Mays, a one-person version of the classic as adapted by Mays, Susan Lyons, & Michael Arden, directed by Barry Edelstein, & that's at the Roda Theater from 16 to 21 December.

BroadwaySF presents Moulin Rouge! The Musical from 16 to 28 December at the Orpheum Theater.

On 19 December at the Golden Gate Theater, BroadwaySF presents The Jinkx & DeLa Holiday Show, featuring "drag queen powerhouses BenDeLaCreme & Jinkx Monsoon . . . fans can expect . . . over-the-top camp spectacle, side-splitting gags, brand new songs, heartfelt storytelling, thrilling dance numbers, and iconic costumes".

Talking

City Arts & Lectures presents Tourmaline, in conversation with Kate Schatz, Celebrating the Life of Marsha P Johnson, on 10 December at the Sydney Goldstein Theater in San Francisco.

On 15 December at the Sydney Goldstein Theater in San Francisco, City Arts & Lectures presents Angela Davis & Hilton Als in a celebratory discussion of A Sisterhood: Toni Morrison, June Jordan, Angela Davis.

Operatic

On 7 December at the Caroline Hume Concert Hall at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, the Conservatory will celebrate faculty member & composer David Conte with a program dedicated to his work: first there will be a preview of A Christmas Carol, an Opera in Two Acts based on the novella by Charles Dickens, with libretto by Nicholas Giardini, featuring a Choral Prelude & Scene One, with the Nebula Consort led by Eric Choate & the SFCM Chamber Ensemble conducted by Jeffrey Thomas & soloists Brian Thorsett (tenor, Ebenezer Scrooge), Samuel Kidd (baritone, Bob Cratchit), & Matt Boehler (bass, Jacob Marley); the second half of the program, The Masque of the Red Death - Suite #1, will be performed by the Bay Area Rainbow Symphony, led by Robert Mollicone.

Choral

Sacred and Profane presents Gather at the River: Songs of Water & Ice, a program celebrating water & the forms it takes during winter, through music by Brahms, Stanford, Poulenc, Britten, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor & contemporary composers Judith Bingham & Staffan Storm, as well as arrangements of African American spirituals by Stacey Gibbs & folk & pop songs by the Real Group & Evert Taube, & you can hear it all on 5 December at Noe Valley Ministry in San Francisco, 6 December at Saint Mark's Episcopal in Berkeley, & 7 December at the Church of the Incarnation in Santa Rosa.

On 14 December at Zellerbach Hall, Cal Performances presents the Soweto Gospel Choir, performing music celebrating "love and peace, from gospel classics and spirituals to feel-good pop songs by Peter Gabriel, Kate Bush, Leonard Cohen, and others".

Vocalists

On 5 December at Saint Mark's Lutheran, San Francisco Performances presents Trio Mediæval, joined by Hurdy-Gurdy player Kevin Devine, who will perform works by Devine, Saint Hildegard of Bingen, Coleh Harkavvy, Andrew Smith, Marianne Reidarsdatter Eriksen, Sungji Hong, Gavin Bryars, & the indefatigable Anonymous.

On 5 December at the Bankhead Theater, Livermore Valley Opera presents an evening with Franc D’Ambrosio, the "performer known worldwide as 'The World’s Longest-Running Phantom' from The Phantom of the Opera"; the performance is a benefit for the Opera Company.

Holiday Concerts

The San Francisco Symphony has its usual holiday offerings: beginning on 30 November, with A Merry-Achi Christmas, with José Hernández, leading his Mariachi Sol de México in a celebration of Mexican holiday traditions (the SF Symphony does not appear on this program); on 3 December, you can spend Christmas with the Count Basie Orchestra, as conductor Jonathan Taylor Rush leads the Orchestra & SF Symphony players, along with singer Carmen Bradford; on 7 December, Daniel Bartholomew-Poyser leads the Symphony, along with Carolyn McArdle (Narrator), Elijah Cineas (bass-baritone), the San Francisco Boys Chorus, the Young Women's Choral Projects, Mariachi Bonitas, the Kugelplex Klezmer Ensemble, & the San Francisco Ballet Training Program in Deck the Halls, a grab-bag of holiday favorites & fun; on 14 December, Radu Paponiu leads the SF Symphony Youth Orchestra in Prokofiev's Peter & the Wolf, with narrator Joshua Dela Cruz; on 16 December you can hear Peabo Bryson and Friends: Home for the Holidays, featuring vocalists Bryson, Sheena Easton, Ruben Studdard, & trumpeter / vocalist Ilya Serov (the SF Symphony does not appear on this program); on 17 December, Edwin Outwater & Peaches Christ co-emcee Holiday Gaiety, featuring Evan Mills (comedian), Sasha Allen (vocalist), Adore Delano (vocalist & actress), Sister Roma (drag performer), Sapphira Cristál (drag performer & vocalist), Nikola Printz (mezzo-soprano & aerialist), & the SF Gay Men’s Chorus; on 20 December, Edwin Outwater, joined by narrator Jon Miller, leads Symphony musicians in Holiday Brass; & on 21 - 22 December, Ming Luke, joined by narrator Michael Covert, leads the band & assorted dancers in A Charlie Brown Christmas—LIVE!.

Kitka Women's Vocal Ensemble performs its beloved Wintersongs program throughout the Bay Area from 5 to 21 December; check here for specific dates & locations, & you may want to move quickly, as these shows tend to sell out.

Cantare Chorale, joined by the Aurora & Nova Youth Choirs, performs Lead With Love, a holiday program focusing on "hope, promise, justice, love, peace, compassion, and unity" through music by Willan, Memley, Hailstork, Runestad, Ešenvalds, & more, including C H Johnson’s All of Us from Considering Matthew Shepard, & you can hear it all on 6 December at the Walnut Creek Presbyterian Church & 7 December at First Presbyterian in Oakland.

Valérie Sainte-Agathe leads Philharmonia Baroque in Gloria, a program offering the world premiere of Quem Pastores Laudavere (Him Whom Shepherds Praised) by Roderick Williams (written for PBO), the American premiere of Caroline Shaw's The Holdfast, Praetorius's setting of Quem Pastores Laudavere, Corelli's Christmas Concerto, & Vivaldi's celebrated Gloria, & you can hear it all on 5 December at Herbst Theater in San Francisco, 6 December at First Congregational in Berkeley, & 7 December at Bing Concert Hall at Stanford.

On 6 - 7 December at the Strand Theater, ACT presents vocalist Debbie Wileman (who "impersonates classic female singers of the Golden Age, particularly Judy Garland"), performing "Judy Garland": We Need a Little Christmas".

On 7 December at the Orinda Theater, the Dynamic Miss Faye Carol & her all-star string quartet present a Carolizing Christmas concert.

Nate Widelitz leads the California Bach Society in Laudate Coeli: Songs of Light in Winter’s Deep, featuring "a radiant program of Christmas music spanning three centuries", including Buxtehude’s Das neugeborne Kindelein, Charpentier’s In nativitatem Domini & his Magnificat, Saint-Saëns’ Oratorio de Noël, Brahms’s O Heiland, reiß die Himmel auf, & Hugo Distler’s Es ist ein Ros entsprungen, with soloists Rita Lilly (soprano), Mindy Ella Chu (mezzo-soprano), Corey Head (tenor), & Chung-Wai Soong (bass), & you can hear it 5 December at Trinity+St. Peter’s Episcopal in San Francisco, 6 December at First Congregational in Palo Alto, & 7 December at Saint John's Presbyterian in Berkeley.

Pianist / vocalist / composer Ben Folds & his quartet will perform songs from his Christmas album Sleigher on 8 - 9 December at the SF Jazz Center.

On 9 December at the Berkeley City Club, Berkeley Chamber Performances presents Brass Over Bridges (Robert Giambruno & Ari Micich, trumpets; Erika Miras, French horn; Esther Armendariz, trombone; Jonathan Seiberlich, Tuba), presents a mostly holidayish program featuring music by Jennifer Higdon, Ludwig Maurer, Dale Trumbore, Gabrieli, Ken Amis, Tchaikovsky, Leroy Anderson, José Feliciano, & others.

Daniel Hope, violinist & Concertmaster of the New Century Chamber Orchestra, will be joined by the San Francisco Girls Chorus, led by Valérie Sainte-Agathe, in In Winter's Glow, a program featuring season music by John Rutter, Elgar, Vivaldi, Ola Fjeilo, William Billings, Benjamin Britten, David Conte, Gordon Getty, Jake Heggie, & Nico Muhly, as well as traditional carols arranged by Rutter, & you can hear it all 11 December at First Church (First Congregational) in Berkeley, 12 December at Saint Stephen's Episcopal in Belvedere, & 13 December at Saint Mark's Lutheran in San Francisco.

On 10 December at Saint Joseph's Arts Society in San Francisco, One Found Sound offers its annual Holiday Pop Rox, offering an "evening of dazzling drag, thrilling vocals, and orchestral magic . . . Hosted by the incredible Melinda Campero with drag artist Nicki J."

On 13 December in Zellerbach Hall, Cal Performances presents the Ensemble Cherubim Chamber Chorus, directed by Marika Kuzma & joined by special guests Frederica von Stade (mezzo-soprano), L Peter Callender (as narrator), & the Piedmont East Bay Children’s Choir, performing Carols of Birds, Bells, and Peace from Ukraine: A Holiday Celebration.

Sven Edward Olbash leads Tactus SF in A Renaissance Christmas, featuring Pérotin's Beata Viscera, Orlando di Lasso's Prophetiae Sibyllarum, & Praetorius' cantata Vom Himmel Hoch, & you can hear them 12 December at Saint Paul's Episcopal in Oakland & 14 December at Saint John the Evangelist, Episcopal, in San Francisco; a reception follows each concert.

On 13 December at Saint Mary Magdalene in Berkeley, WAVE (Women's Antique Vocal Ensemble) presents Green Grow’th the Holly: A Winter Celebration in Song, a holiday program "featuring selections from medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque times, beautiful modern pieces, and world music for winter. Composers include Bassano, des Prez, Dufay, Handl, Leonarda, and Zumaya, among others – plus a piece written just for us by Melike Yersiz based on a Turkish poem celebrating the season. Featuring instrumentalists: Tobi Szuts on viola de gamba; Howard Kadis on lute; and the early brass quartet Mane Musica".

On 13 December at Calvary Presbyterian in San Francisco, the San Francisco Boys Chorus presents its Winter Concert, including "carols and holiday classics, featuring selections from Bach to Broadway".

Violinist Mads Tolling, joined by Colin Hogan (piano & accordion), Gary Brown (bass), & Eric Garland (drums), will perform Cool Yule, "jazzified versions of carols from Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Iceland, capturing the mysticism, customs and sounds of the Nordic countries along with the joy and soul of American jazz", at the SF Jazz Center on 13 - 14 December.

The Spanish Harlem Orchestra performs Salsa Navidad at the SF Jazz Center on 13 - 14 December.

Chanticleer performs their beloved Christmas program throughout the Bay Area from 13 to 23 December; check here for dates & locations.

On 13 December at Old First Concerts, Matthew Otto leads the Young Women’s Chorus of San Francisco in Angelic Voices: Carols by Candlelight, joined by cellist Sophie Deng, & pianist Dara Phung to perform the SF premiere of Sarah Quartel's Snow Angel, along with music by Bach, Joni Mitchell, traditional Puerto Rican carols, & more.

Nicolas Dosman leads Pacific Edge Voices in Still I Rise: PEV's Celebration of Hope, a holiday program featuring a range of holiday classics & favorites, with performances on 13 December at the Maybeck First Church of Christ, Scientist in Berkeley & 14 December at the Caroline Hume Concert Hall at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.

The Golden Gate Men's Chorus presents Tidings of Joy, a holiday program featuring music by "Vaughan Williams, traditional carols arranged by the King’s Singers, contemporary holiday songs arranged by BYU Vocal Point, and more", & that's 13 - 14 & 16 - 17 December at Saint Matthew's Lutheran in San Francisco (near Mission Dolores).

On 14 December at the Chabot College Performing Arts Center in Hayward, Alexander Kahn leads the Bay Philharmonic in Sounds of the Season!, a holiday program featuring music by Mariachi Nueva Sangre as well as the Bay Philharmonic & the Bay Phil Youth Orchestra musicians, in a program that will include "[f]estive Hanukkah selections, Holiday favorites with the CO_LLAB Choir, A lively audience sing-along" & more.

On 14 December at Old First Concerts, Ken Jue leads the Ragazzi Boys Chorus of Silicon Valley in Rejoice!, "a diverse program which explores the different ways we welcome each other to celebrate our holiday traditions".

San Francisco Choral Artists present Mystery, Magi, & Mittens, a program featuring music "from the 15th to 21st centuries, including Tye, Poulenc, Brahms, Byrd, Conte, Scarlatti, Parker, and Puerling, and Max Marcus (Composer-in-Residence) and Peter Hilliard (Composer-Not-in-Residence)", & you can hear it on 14 December at Saint Mark's Lutheran in San Francisco, 20 December at All Saints' Episcopal in Palo Alto, & 21 December at Saint Paul's Episcopal in Oakland.

The Klezmatics celebrate Hanukkah at the SF Jazz Center on 15 December.

On 15 December at Davies Hall, the San Francisco Girls Chorus presents Esperanza Del futuro, featuring all levels of the Girls Chorus & special guest Diana Gameros; the program features "annual favorites including The First Nowell and Silent Night" as well as new music, including the premiere of a work for 250 voices by the SFGC's 2025-2026 Composer-in-Residence Nicolás Lell Benavides.

George Cole and his Orchestra play Nat King Cole's The Magic of Christmas at the SF Jazz Center on 18 - 21 December.

Trumpeter Arturo Sandoval brings his Swinging Holiday to the SF Jazz Center on 18 - 19 December.

On 19 - 21 December, the Lorraine Hansberry Theater presents Soulful Christmas, with musical direction by Yvonne Cobbs & stage direction by Margo Hall, at the Magic Theater in Fort Mason.

On 20 December at Zellerbach Hall, Cal Performances presents the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus

Holiday Spectacular 2025!, specific repertory has not been announced, but the performance will be a "little naughty, but mostly very nice".

On 20 December, the San Francisco Choral Society performs their Festival of Carols program at Trinity + St. Peter's Episcopal Church in San Francisco.

On 20 December at Old First Concerts, Golden Bough (Margie Butler, Paul Espinoza & Kathy Sierra) present Christmas in a Celtic Land, drawing on holiday music & carols from Ireland, Scotland, Wales & Cornwall, performed on Celtic harp, penny-whistle, guitar, accordion, violin, viola, mandolin, & bodhran.

Pianist Cyrus Chestnut plays Vince Guaraldi’s music for A Charlie Brown Christmas at the SF Jazz Center on 20 December, & on 21 December, also at the SF Jazz Center, the Adam Shulman Trio will also play Guaraldi's music for A Charlie Brown Christmas.

On 21 December at Freight & Salvage in Berkeley, you can celebrate the Winter Solstice with Barbara Higbie and Friends; in addition to pianist / violinist / vocalist Higbie, the friends include guitarist Vicki Randle, percussionist Michaelle Goerlitz, cellist Mia Pixley, bassist Kofy Brown, & mandolin player Jasper Manning.

On 23 December at The Chapel in San Francisco, you can hear The Fabulous Bud E. Luv Christmas Extravaganza, if you're hankering for an old-school-Vegas-type Christmas show.

On 23 December at the Golden Gate Theater, BroadwaySF presents RAIN – A Beatles Christmas Tribute, mixing "holiday favorites alongside the legendary sounds of the Beatles".

Orchestral

On 5 & 6 December at Hertz Hall, the UC Berkeley Symphony Orchestra, led by David Milnes & Wei Cheng, will perform the North American debut of Susan Lim's Fantasy of Companionship for Piano and Orchestra (with piano soloist Mark Bebbington & the University Chorus) along with Holst's The Planets, & excerpts from the Star Wars score by John Williams.

On 6 December at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, the Bay Area Rainbow Symphony's new music director, Robert Mollicone, will help celebrate David Conte's 70th birthday by performing his The Masque of the Red Death, Suite #1, along with Debussy's Petite Suite, orchestrated by Henri Büsser, & Tchaikovsky's Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture & excerpts from his Nutcracker Ballet.

On 12 December, you can experience A Special Evening with Jon Batiste and the San Francisco Symphony, featuring "a performance of symphonic-infused hits and a few holiday surprises."

On 13 December at the Taube Atrium Theater, Jessica Bejarano leads the San Francisco Philharmonic in Berlioz's Roman Carnival Overture, Bruch's Violin Concerto #1 in G minor, Opus 26 (with soloist Wyatt Underhill), & the Dvořák 8.

BroadwaySF presents The Music of The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, and The Rings of Power - In Concert on 13 December at the Orpheum; no word on who exactly is performing.

On 14 December at First Baptist in San Francisco, the San Francisco Civic Music Association presents Civic Strings: A Nordic Winter, led by Michelle Maruyama & featuring Impromptu by Sibelius, Vivaldi's  Violin Concerto in A minor, RV 357 (with soloist Maruyama), Vivaldi Rocks, an arrangement of Winter from the Four Seasons arranged by Mark Wood (with Maruyama again as soloist), the Air & Gigue from Bach's Orchestral Suite #3, & Grieg's 2 Nordic Melodies, Opus 63; the concert is free but reservations are appreciated.

On 14 December at the Paramount, Kedrick Armstrong leads the Oakland Symphony & Chorus in Let Us Break Bread Together, their annual holiday concert, this year celebrating the legacy of Whitney Houston.

Jory Fankuchen leads the San Francisco Chamber Orchestra in Louise Farrenc's Symphony #3 in G Minor, Finale, Paganini's Violin Concerto #1, Allegro maestoso (with soloist Lisa Saito), & the Beethoven 7, on 30 December at Herbst Theater in San Francisco, 31 December at First Congregational in Berkeley, & 1 January at First United Methodist in Palo Alto; the concerts are free but RSVPs are appreciated.

Chamber Music

On 2 December at Old Saint Mary's in San Francisco, Noontime Concerts presents cellist Michael Graham & pianist Aileen Chanco playing Arvo Pärt's Fratres, Chopin's Sonata for Cello and Piano in G Minor, Opus 65, & Shostakovich's Sonata for Cello and Piano in D Minor, Opus 40.

On 7 December at Noe Valley Ministry, Noe Music presents pianist Inon Barnatan performing "an all-Schubert program, including the Impromptu in F minor (D.935/1) and the towering Sonata in B-flat major (D.960). He is joined by co-Artistic Director and violinist Owen Dalby for the composer’s radiant Fantasie in C major for violin and piano (D.934)". If you'd like more of Barnatan, on 9 December at the Barbro Osher Recital Hall, the San Francisco Conservatory of Music features its monthly Chamber Music Tuesday, this time featuring pianist Barnatan, who, along with the Esme Quartet (Wonhee Bae & Yuna Ha, violins; Dimitri Murrath, viola; Yeeun Heo, cello), will give the world premiere of Juri Seo's String Quartet, along with Rachmaninoff's Trio élégiaque #1 in G minor & Dvořák's Piano Quintet #2, Opus 81; Barnatan will also give a Master Class at the Conservatory on 8 December.

This month, San Francisco Performances completes its Saturday morning Herbst Hall lecture / concert series, with host / lecturer Robert Greenberg & the Esmé Quartet (Wonhee Bae & Yuna Ha, violins; Dimitri Murrath, viola; Yeeun Heo, cello) exploring the quartets of Schubert on 13 December, when they will examine & perform the String Quintet in C Major, D 956, the Cello Quintet (with cellist Paul Wiancko).

On 15 December at the Caroline Hume Concert Hall of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Conservatory faculty member & SF Symphony Principal Flute Yubeen Kim will perform Philippe Gaubert's Sicilienne & his Berceuse (joined by Yu-Hsin Galaxy Su on piano), CPE Bach's Trio Sonata in D Minor, & Franz Doppler's Andante et Rondo, Opus 25 (joined by Julin Cheung on flute & Yu-Hsin Galaxy Su on piano); the second half of the program will be Wilhelm Friedemann Bach's Flute Duet #4 in F Major (joined by Julin Cheung on flute), Lensky's Aria from Eugene Onegin by Tchaikovsky (I assume in an arrangement), & Prokofiev's Sonata for Flute and Piano in D Major, Opus 94 (joined by Yu-Hsin Galaxy Su on piano).

Instrumental

Organist Jonathan Dimmock will give his annual performance of Messiaen's La Nativité du Seigneur. on 7 December at the Cathedral of Christ the Light in Oakland.

On 13 December at Freight & Salvage in Berkeley, pianist Vijay Iyer, sarod player Alam Khan, & tabla player Nitin Mitta will improvise & explore their sound-worlds together.

Early / Baroque Music

Voices of Music will perform Vivaldi's The Four Seasons, joining in the 300th anniversary celebrations, as well as his Concerto for Four Violins featuring soloists Elizabeth Blumenstock, YuEun Kim, Isabelle Seula Lee, Augusta McKay Lodge, Hanneke van Proosdij, & Shelby Yamin, & you can hear them 19 December at First United Methodist in Palo Alto, 20 December at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, & 21 December at First Congregational in Berkeley.

On 31 December at Herbst Theater in San Francisco, you can join Jeffrey Thomas & the American Bach Soloists in A Baroque New Year's Eve at the Opera, featuring "Opera Arias, Duets, and Overtures" by Handel (Ariodante, Giulio Cesare, Tamerlano, & Hercules), Rameau (Pygmalion), Gluck (Orphée et Eurydice), & Vivaldi (Ercole sul Termodonte & Griselda), with soloists Sarah Coit (mezzo-soprano) & Matthew Hill (tenor).

Messiah

Jane Glover leads the San Francisco Symphony in Messiah on 5 -6 December at Davies Hall, with soloists Susanna Phillips (soprano), Jennifer Johnson Cano (mezzo-soprano), Josh Lovell (tenor), & Will Liverman (baritone).

Urs Leonhardt Steiner leads the Golden Gate Symphony Orchestra & Chorus (& the audience) in their annual Sing It Yourself Messiah, with soloists Gabrielle Goozee-Nichols (soprano), Celeste Camarena (alto), Ben Sasnet (tenor), & Kirk Eichelberger (bass), on 7 December at Herbst Theater in San Francisco & 14 December at the Clock Tower in Benicia.

The San Francisco Bach Choir performs Part I of Messiah along with Candlelit Seasonal Favorites on 6 - 7 December at Calvary Presbyterian in San Francisco.

Jeffrey Thomas will lead the American Bach Soloists in Messiah in Grace Cathedral on 11 - 12 December, with soloists Liv Redpath (soprano), Ágnes Vojtkó (contralto), Brian Giebler (tenor), & Christian Pursell (bass-baritone).

Modern / Contemporary Music

On 4 December at Littlefield Concert Hall at Mills College at Northeastern University in Oakland, Other Minds presents Margaret Leng Tan, playing piano & toy piano, performing The Nature of Music: And No Birds Sing, a program focusing on our environmental emergencies through music by John Luther Adams, Lois V Vierk, Somei Satoh, Annie Gosfield, Michael Wookey, Eric Griswold, & John Cage.

On 20 December at the Berkeley Hillside Club, you can celebrate the Winter Solstice with eight world premieres of music for Chamber Orchestra & Jazz Quartet; composed by Daggerboard (Gregory Howe & Erik Jekabson) & by Jekabson alone.

Dance

Smuin Ballet presents its popular The Christmas Ballet, featuring "new works this year by . . . Julia Adam, . . .  Amy Seiwert, and . . .  Myles Thatcher. In addition to beloved Michael Smuin classics, look for favorite numbers by Val Caniparoli, Nicole Haskins, Ben Needham-Wood, and Rex Wheeler" & that's 22 -23 November at the Lesher Center in Walnut Creek, 5 - 6 December at the Sunset Center in Carmel, 11 - 14 December at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts, & 18 - 28 December at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco.

ODC Dance gives us its annual performances of The Velveteen Rabbit, choreographed by KT Nelson, & based on the book by Margery Williams, from 29 November to 7 December at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco.

On 11 December at the Presidio Theater, the Grand Kyiv Ballet performs The Snow Queen, with choreography by Alexander Adbdukarimov & Arshak Galumyan (no mention of where the score comes from).

Nutcrackers

On 1 December at the Palace of Fine Arts Theater, The Nutcracker will be performed by International Ballet Stars, part of Classical Arts Entertainment.

San Francisco Ballet's Nutcracker, choreographed by Helgi Tomasson, runs at the Opera House from 5 to 28 December.

On 6 - 7 December at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, the San Francisco Pride Band puts on A Wicked Dance-Along Nutcracker, featuring music from Tchaikovsky's score as well as The Wizard of Oz, The Wiz, & Wicked, as well as dancing & singing by professionals as well as the audience.

On 13 - 14 December at the Palace of Fine Arts Theater, City Ballet San Francisco performs The Nutcracker.

On 17 December at the Golden Gate Theater, BroadwaySF presents Nutcracker! Magical Christmas Ballet, "featuring all-new choreography this season by acclaimed Ukrainian choreographer Viktor Davydiuk." along with "marionettes . . . by Petre Puppeteer, and . . .  animal puppets, reimagined by . . . Nino Novellino" (& dancers, of course!).

On 19 - 21 December at the Palace of Fine Arts Theater, Stapleton School of the Performing Arts presents its 37th annual production of The Nutcracker, with the "green" cast on 19 (evening) & 20 (matinee) December & the "red" cast on 20 (evening) & 21 (matinee) December.

On 20 - 21 December at  the Paramount, the Oakland Ballet Company presents Graham Lustig’s The Nutcracker, with the score performed live by the Oakland Symphony & the Piedmont East Bay Children’s Choir.

Mostly Museums

Claes Oldenburg + Coosje van Bruggen: Thinking Big, featuring "models [from the museum's Doris and Donald Fisher Collection] for four of their most iconic projects, including San Francisco’s own beloved Cupid’s Span" opens at SFMOMA on 20 December.

Cinematic

Frameline has two presentations this month: on 1 December, for World AIDS Day, you can see Marlon Riggs’ Affirmations & Stephen Winter’s Chocolate Babies, "followed by a post-film conversation with representatives from Frameline, the Oakland LGBTQ Community Center, and more" (RSVP is required to attend); & on 21 December at the Toni Rembe Theater in San Francisco, you can see a 10th anniversary screening of Carol, with director Todd Haynes expected to attend.

On 7 December at the Great Star Theater, there will be a screening of the Joan Chen film Saving Face, followed by a Q&A with Chen.

The 13th Festival of the Moving Image, featuring recent work by students in the Broadcast Electronic Media Arts (BEMA) and Cinema programs at City College of San Francisco, will take place at the Roxie Theater on 7 December.

At BAM/PFA, here are this month's series: Jerry Ross Barrish: A Life in Film and Art runs 6 to 14 December; & Akira Kurosawa: Four Recent Restorations, featuring refurbished classics Ikiru, The Hidden Fortress, Yojimbo, & High and Low, starts 10 December, with showings scheduled through 20 February 2026.

On 21 December at the Orinda Theater, you can experience the 1925 Ben Hur – that is, the best of Ben Hurs. Charlton who? There is only Ramon Novarro!

This month's Classic Movie Matinee at the Orinda Theater, hosted by Matías Bomba, is as usual on the last Tuesday of the month – 30 December – & will be a 75th anniversary showing of Sunset Boulevard, & I can't think of a better way to end this year than tangoing on Valentino-approved tile floors with Gloria Swanson.