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.
.jpg)
