September is the traditional start of the "performance season", as it used to be of the school year; now most students are back to school in August, & I start receiving back-to-school ads in early July. The seasons all blur together these days. Two weeks ago I wandered into the drugstore, looking for soft-brush toothbrushes, in my usual summer attire of shorts & a tank top, only to see the shelves being stocked with ghoulish Halloween supplies ("ghoulish" would include the mega-packs of candy that will, if they're any good, though they probably are not, undoubtedly be stale by the end of October). It was around the time of that visit that I received my first ad this year that mentioned "pumpkin spice" on . . . something. Does it matter? (I've never actually had "pumpkin spice", outside of pumpkin pie; I assume it's basically cinnamon with a dash of clove?) So Autumn (season of mists & mellow fruitfulness, thank you John Keats) is bringing its salutary chill to our thresholds. Or would be, except climate change means that we're entering the hottest months in the Bay Area, though the snowmen & sleigh bells of Christmas will soon no doubt be making their improbable California appearance. The world is a mixed-up place, as we all know, but at least the Opera & the Symphony have stuck to their traditional schedules, opening this month, so off we go. One thing that never changes is the need of the performing arts for financial support & attentive, respectful audiences, so let's all do what we can in that regard (end of sermon, at least for today: go in peace to love & serve the Muses).
Theatrical
On 27 August at SFMOMA, in conjunction with their exhibition Matisse’s Femme au chapeau: A Modern Scandal, Laura Sheppard of the Yiddish Theater Ensemble will present a staged dramatic reading from Harriet Levy's Paris Portraits: Stories of Picasso, Matisse, Gertrude Stein, and Their Circle; the show is directed by Suzanne Stassevitch with piano accompaniment by Dale Tsang & is free with RSVP.
From 4 September to 11 October at their Peet’s Theatre, Berkeley Rep presents The Cook by Eduardo Machado, directed by David Mendizábal, about an aristocratic Cuban family's cook, Gladys, who vows to protect their mansion when they flee Castro's Revolution – and then, forty years later, the family's daughter returns.
From 5 to 26 September at the Potrero Stage, Crowded Fire presents Manning by Benjamin Benne, directed by Adin Walker, about a Latin family (a father & his two sons) mourning the loss of their wife/mother.
From 10 to 12 September at the Strand Theater, ACT presents Crushing, created by Carly Steyer & Megan Calfas, executive produced by Rosario Dawson, co-produced by Natachi Onwuamaegbu, in which "multidisciplinary artists—playwrights, actors, novelists, poets, comedians—perform true stories from their love lives onstage" (thanks, but I'd rather attend the rebuttal show).
From 10 to 27 September at Fort Mason's Magic Theatre, the Lorraine Hansberry Theater presents the world premiere of African Stew by Lisa B Thompson, directed by Edris Cooper-Anifowoshe, about what happens when the families of a newly engaged African American woman & a Nigerian man meet for the first time.
From 11 September to 11 October, Berkeley Playhouse presents Legally Blonde: The Musical, directed by No’Eau Kahalekulu with music direction by Camden Daly & choreography by Cat Delos Santos Reyes.
From 12 September to 18 October, the New Conservatory Theater Center presents Little Shop of Horrors, the beloved musical by Howard Ashman & Alan Menken, directed by Ben Villegas Randle, with musical direction by Jad Bernardo & choreography by Leslie Waggoner.
From 15 to 19 September at their Roda Theater, Berkeley Rep presents Choligarchy, written & performed by Margaret Cho.
From 22 September to 18 October at the Toni Rembe Theater, ACT presents Alfred Hitchcock's North by Northwest as adapted & directed by Emma Rice.
From 25 September to 11 October at Z Space, the Oakland Theater Project & New Performance present King Lear, directed by Michael Socrates Moran.
Starting 26 September at the Ashby Stage, Shotgun Players presents The Fall Show, created by Erika Chong Shuch & Charles Mee, about "an older couple’s unexpected romance".
From 26 September to 28 November, San Francisco Playhouse presents Peter Pan Goes Wrong by Henry Lewis, Henry Shields & Jonathan Sayer, the creators of The Play That Goes Wrong, so this one is pretty self-explanatory.
Talking
On 9 September at the Goldman Theater in the David Brower Center in Berkeley, Other Minds presents The Nature of Music 21: Listening With, featuring "musician, anthropologist, and philosopher of sound" Marina Peterson discussing "How does one listen with rather than listen to? And how might listening with allow the listener to more fruitfully conceptualize climate change?"
On 15 September at the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco, Isabel Allende will discuss her new book, Story Telling: A Writing Life.
Operatic
The San Francisco Opera opens its season with Verdi's magnificent Simon Boccanegra, conducted by Eun Sun Kim & directed by Claus Guth (revival direction by Katherine M Carter), with Amartuvshin Enkhbat in the title role, Eleonora Buratto as Amelia/Maria (Toni Marie Palmertree takes the role on the 27 September performance), Christian Van Horn as Jacopo Fiesco, Joshua Guerrero as Gabriele Adorno, Aleksey Bogdanov as Paolo Albiani, & Gabriel Natal-Báez as Pietro; performances are 12, 16, 19, 22, 25, & 27 September; please note that 12 September is Opening Night for the season, & you are the best judge if that is the sort of scene that appeals to you.
The second opera in San Francisco Opera's season is a rarity, Mary, Queen of Scots, with music & libretto by Thea Musgrave, conducted by Clelia Cafiero & directed by Stewart Laing, the opera stars Heidi Stober in the title role, Thomas Mole as James Stewart, Earl of Moray, Thomas Kinch as the Earl of Bothwell, Christopher Sokolowski as Lord Darnley, Hadleigh Adams as David Riccio, David Soar as Cardinal Beaton, Philip Skinner as Lord Gordon, Olivier Zerouali as the Earl of Morton, Chance Jonas-O'Toole as the Earl of Ruthven, Sadie Cheslak as Mary Seton, Sofia Gotch as Mary Beaton, Mary Hoskins as Mary Livingston, & Alexa Frankian as Mary Fleming; performances are 20, 24, 26, 29 September & 2 & 4 October.
On 13 September at Robin Williams Meadow in Golden Gate Park, the San Francisco Opera presents its annual Opera in the Park concert, with Music Director Eun Sun Kim leading the San Francisco Opera Orchestra in "an afternoon of duets, arias, and more", performed by as yet unannounced singers from the current season. I find the idea of outdoor concerts more pleasing than the actual experience, but as with the Opening Night shenanigans, you are the best judge of whether this will appeal to you.
From 13 to 27 September, Opera San José presents Mozart's Don Giovanni, conducted by Joseph Marcheso & directed by Alek Shrader, with Wm. Clay Thompson in the title role, Kenneth Kellogg as the Commendatore, Yulan Piao as Donna Anna, Jonghyun Park as Don Ottavio, Maria Brea as Donna Elvira, Phillip Lopez as Leporello, Joseph Park as Masetto, & Nicole Koh as Zerlina.
Opera Day in the Bay will take place on 20 September in the Redwood Park at the Transamerica Pyramid Center; produced by Céline Ricci, hosted by Carla Lucero, & dedicated to the memory of Erie Mills, this event brings together Ars Minerva, Festival Opera, Lamplighters Music Theatre, Livermore Valley Opera, Mercury Opera Theater, Opera Parallèle, Opera San José, Pocket Opera, Sacramento Philharmonic & Opera, San Francisco Opera Guild, Upspark Productions, & West Edge Opera in a celebration of what opera is & can be (specific performers & musical selections will be announced in early September); the event is free but advance registration via Eventbrite is required
On 27 September at the Piedmont Center for the Arts, Festival Opera opens its Salon Series with a Resident Artist Showcase, celebrating its new resident artist program & featuring Marielle Leiboff & Rachel Nelson (sopranos), Phoebe Dinga (mezzo-soprano), Spencer Greene (tenor), Liam Daley (baritone) with pianist Daniel Lockert performing operatic scenes & arias by Verdi, Handel, Mozart, Leoncavallo, Richard Strauss, Bizet, Rachmaninoff, Lehar, Massenet, Jeanine Tesori, & Bernstein.
On 26 September at the Unitarian Universalist Church of San Francisco, the Wagner Society of Northern California will present Wagner and Clam Fritters – a Talk by Joseph Horowitz, about Anton Seidl & the early days of Wagnerism in America.
Vocalists
On 8 September in Davies Hall, Anthony Parnther leads the San Francisco Symphony as they accompany jazz singer Samara Joy.
On 27 September in Hertz Hall, Cal Performances presents baritone Lester Lynch with pianist Kevin Korth in a program "exploring love, loss, and mortality" in the form of Samuel Barber's Dover Beach (with string quartet: René Mandel & Wyatt Underhill, violins; Kaya Bryla, viola; Anne Richardson, cello), Mahler's Rückert Lieder, & lieder by Schubert & Mussorgsky, songs by Hahn & Tosti, & traditional songs as arranged by Gordon Getty,
Orchestral
On 12 September at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Robert Mollicone leads the Bay Area Rainbow Symphony in Dance, Drama, and Desire, a program including Barber's Overture to The School for Scandal, Respighi's Ancient Airs and Dances, Suite #2, Korngold's Cello Concerto (with soloist Hans Brightbill), & Chausson's Symphony in B-flat Major.
On 18- 19 September, David Afkham leads the San Francisco Symphony in Unsuk Chin's subito con forza, the Schumann 4, & the Brahms Piano Concerto #1 (with soloist Garrick Ohlsson).
On 24 September, the San Francisco Symphony holds its Opening Gala; Giancarlo Guerrero will lead the band in The Chairman Dances by John Adams, the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto (with soloist Hilary Hahn), & the Capriccio espagnol by Rimsky-Korsakov.
On 26 September in the Caroline H Hume Concert Hall of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Edwin Outwater will lead the SFCM Orchestra in To Decipher Birdsong by Brayden Meng (winner of the Conservatory's Highsmith Orchestra Composition Prize), Jennifer Higdon's blue cathedral (this piece will be conducted by Conservatory student Grace Whalen), & the Prokofiev 5.
On 26 - 27 September at the Lesher Center in Walnut Creek, Donato Cabrera leads the California Symphony in The Oceanides by Sibelius, Jennifer Higdon's Cello Concerto (with soloist Julian Schwarz), & Bartók's Concerto for Orchestra.
On 27 September in Herbst Theater, the San Francisco Pride Band will hold its Fall Community Concert; details have not yet been announced.
Chamber Music
The Friction Quartet (Otis Harriel & Kevin Rogers, violins; Mitso Floor, viola; Doug Machiz, cello) will perform Transformation, a program curated by Rogers featuring Julia Wolfe's Blue Dress, György Ligeti's String Quartet #1 (Métamorphoses nocturnes), & Haydn's String Quartet opus 76 #6 in E flat Major, & that's 18 September at the SF Community Music Center & 20 September at the Crowden School in Berkeley.
On 20 September in Davies Hall, pianist Garrick Ohlsson joins San Francisco Symphony musicians in an afternoon of chamber music, featuring the Brahms Piano Trio #2 in C major, Opus 87, Impulso Suite by Ramiro Boero, La muerte del ángel & Decarísimo by Astor Piazzolla, & the Piano Quintet, Opus 67 by Amy Beach.
Noontime Concerts hasn't released its full performance calendar for this month yet, but if you're in the vicinity of Old Saint Mary's in San Francisco around 12:30 on a Tuesday, you might want to check here to see what's on offer.
Instrumental
On 6 September at Grace Cathedral, Raymond Hawkins will perform an organ recital featuring dance & dance-inspired music by Bach, Couperin, Haydn, Vierne, Boëllmann, Edward German (as arranged by Edwin Lemare), Calvin Hampton, & Naji Hakim.
On 20 September at Old First Concerts, harpist Noël Wan will perform Les fleurs du mal, a program featuring music (some transcribed for her instrument) by Rachmaninoff, Gabriel Jenks Stalk, Gabriel Fauré, Clifton Callender, Puccini, Per Nørgård Consolazione, & Wagner.
On 20 September at Noe Valley Ministry, Noe Music presents the San Francisco recital debut of pianist Janice Carissa, who will perform two Philip Glass Études, Bach's French Suite #5, Frederic Rzewski's
Winnsboro Cotton Mill Blues. a piece composed for Carissa by Eunike Tanzil, & Prokofiev's Sonata #8.
On 27 September, percussionists Allen Biggs & Tommy Kesecker will perform at the First Unitarian Universality Society of San Francisco, as part of their Starr King Way Performance Series.
Early / Baroque Music
Chanticleer presents The Machaut Project, an exploration (staged by Elkhanah Pulitzer) of the
world of Guillaume de Machaut, a "realm of devotion and desire, where courtly love becomes a meditation on the human heart", & you can experience it on 13, 17, 19, & 20 September at the ODC Theater in San Francisco.
On 27 September the Cantata Collective resumes its traversal of Bach's cantatas at Saint Mary Magdalen in Berkeley; this time they present Aus tiefer Not schrei ich zu dir, BWV 38, Ach, lieben Christen, seid getrost, BWV 114, & Warum betrübst du dich, mein Herz, BWV 138, with vocal soloists Nola Richardson (soprano), Heidi Waterman (alto), Brian Thorsett (tenor), Edward Vogel (bass); the concerts are free & open to the public.
Modernist / Contemporary Music
On 8 September at Brava Theater, the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players & the ARTZenter Institute present the first of this season's free ARTZenter Institute Emerging Composer World Premiere Concerts; this one features flotsam by Ella Kaale, Witchcraft II: Sacrificial Ritual by Matthew Lam, One Thousand Self Portraits by James Larkins, & Crosshair Offset by Xingyue Song.
On 9 September, 836M presents a Creative Lab in partnership with the Kronos Performing Arts Association; the Kronos Quartet (David Harrington & Gabriela Díaz, violins; Ayane Kozasa, viola; Paul Wiancko, cello) will hold a public rehearsal of Philip Glass's String Quartet #5 & Yevgeniy Sharlat’s Pencil Sketch (the Quartet will be performing the Glass in several concerts in 2027, celebrating the composer's 90th birthday); you can make a reservation here.
On 12 September at BAM/PFA, cellist / composer Theresa Wong will perform her 2011 song cycle The Unlearning, "a reflection on Francisco Goya’s 1810 series of etchings Los desastres de la guerra (The Disasters of War) and their resonance with our contemporary world", as a duo with violinist / vocalist Carla Kihlstedt, along with projections by Daria Martin & Mao Mollona.
On 13 September at Old First Concerts, pianist Kevin Lee Sun & Friends will perform Look to This Day, a program that "presents music by two living composers—Hyo-shin Na and Daniel De Togni—centered around the difficulty, ephemerality, and cherishment of life. Sun performs two solo works by Na, and is joined by composer De Togni on shakuhachi for his own Death Poems, and soprano Wallis Lucas joins for De Togni’s Songs of Becoming, both West Coast Premieres."
On 19 September at the Noe Valley Ministry in San Francisco & on 20 September at the Berkeley Piano Club, Left Coast Chamber Ensemble presents Impossible Inventions, a program featuring Thea Musgrave's In the Still of the Night, Paul Novak's impossible inventions (their 2025 Composition Contest Winner), Mendelssohn's String Quartet #1 in E-flat major, Opus 12, & world premieres from LCCE's Pathways Program.
On 25 September at the Curran Theater, Laurie Anderson performs The Republic of Love featuring Sexmob.
Jazz
On 6 September at Old First Concerts, Mike Greensill & Friends will celebrate pianist / arranger /accompanist Greensill’s 80th birthday & his 40th anniversary of performing at Old First Concerts; the friends will include Roberta Donnay, Kellie Fuller, & Gale Terminello, vocals; Noel Jewkes, saxes; Bill Klingelhoffer, French horn; Ruth Davies, bass; & Brad Buethe, guitar.
Pianist / composer Paul Cornish brings his eponymous Trio to the SF Jazz Center on 10 - 11 September.
On 10 -11 September at the SF Jazz Center, Christian McBride pays a centennial tribute to Ray Brown, joined by with an all-star trio of Ray Brown Trio alumni — pianist Benny Green & drummer Gregory Hutchinson, both alums of the Ray Brown Trio.
On 12 - 13 September at the SF Jazz Center, pianist Nduduzo Makhathini will make his venue debut, bringing his trio & music from his latest release, The Myth We Choose.
On 12 - 13 September, bassist Christian McBride brings his Quintet (also featuring Nicole Glover, tenor saxophone; Ely Perlman, guitar; Mike King, piano; & Savannah Harris, drums) to the SF Jazz Center.
From 17 to 20 September at the SF Jazz Center, Branford Marsalis & the rest of his quartet (Marsalis on tenor saxophone, Joey Calderazzo on piano, Eric Revis on bass, & Justin Faulkner on drums will be joined by vocalist Dianne Reeves to pay centennial tribute to John Coltrane.
On 19 September at the UC Theater in Berkeley, the SF Jazz Center presents saxophonist Ravi Coltrane (joined by Jonathan Finlayson on trumpet, Gadi Lehavi on piano, Elé Howell on drums, & a bass player TBA) paying centennial tribute to his father, John Coltrane.
USAF The Commanders Jazz Ensemble will perform a free concert (first come, first seated) at the Presidio Theater on 19 September.
On 19 - 20 September at the SF Jazz Center, pianist / composer Myra Melford brings her Trio (Medford, Michael Formanek on bass, Ches Smith on drums & vibraphone) will perform music from her latest release, SPLASH.
On 21 September at the SF Jazz Center, the Branford Marsalis Quartet (Marsalis on tenor saxophone, Joey Calderazzo on piano, Eric Revis on bass, Justin Faulkner on drums) will perform.
On 22 September, the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra will perform at the SF Jazz Center.
Dance
On 6 September at the East Meadow of Presidio Park in San Francisco, World Arts West will hold the third & final weekend (the other two were in July & August) of its 2026 festival, Legacy of Liberation, with free public performances to "celebrate diverse communities through the art of dance" by Academy of Danse Libre, Amazed by Grace Dance Ministry, Los Lupeños de San José, & Uzumaru.
On 11 - 12 September at Z Space, the Natasha Carlitz Dance Ensemble will celebrate its 20th Anniversary with a sampler of their repertory.
The Parsons Dance Company performs at the Presidio Theater on 12 - 13 September.
RAWdance will be in residence at 836M this fall, developing a new full-length work based on the myth of Echo & Narcissus which will premiere in December at ZSpace; the residency kicks off on 17 September with an opening receiption at 835M (free but reservations are required).
On 20 September, the Chitresh Das Dance Company will perform Invoking the River at the Presidio Theater.
From 25 to 27 September in Zellerbach Hall, Cal Performances presents the Australian Ballet in Oscar, based on the life of Oscar Wilde, with choreography by Christopher Wheeldon & music by Joby Talbot (performed live by the Berkeley Symphony Orchestra).
Mostly Museums
GaHee Park: Behind the Curtain, the surrealist painter's first solo institutional exhibition in the USA, opened at the Yerba Buena Center on 7 August & runs through 3 January 2027.
Eternal Paris: Photographing the City of Light opens at the Legion of Honor on 5 September.
You have until 13 September to see Matisse's Femme au chapeau: A Modern Scandal, an excellent small exhibit at SFMOMA.
BeHere / 1942: A New Lens on the Japanese American Incarceration opens in the Great Hall of the Oakland Museum of California on 18 September & runs through 27 December.
You have until 20 September to take in the superb exhibit The Etruscans: From the Heart of Ancient Italy at the Legion of Honor.
On 20 September, Maren Hassinger will restage her 1982 performance piece Pink Trash, on UC Berkeley’s Crescent Lawn (this is in conjunction with BAM/PFA's current exhibit Maren Hassinger: Living Moving Growing).
Ha Chong-Hyun: Retrospective, opening at the Asian Art Museum on 25 September & running through 25 January 2027, offers the first North American museum exhibition of the career of the Korean abstract artist.
Cinematic
On 29 August & 1 September, the Roxie will be showing a new 4K restoration of Center Stage, Stanley Kwan's unconventional biopic of Chinese silent film star Ruan Lingyu, played by Maggie Cheung (Kwan also directed one of my all-time favorite films, Rouge).
The Yerba Buena Center for the Arts is running Through an Open Window, co-curated by filmmaker Michael Vass & artist GaHee Park, described as a "weekly film series exploring voyeurism and theatricality, cocktail charm and social taboos"; check here for upcoming titles.
BAM/PFA is launching many of their fall film series this month, beginning with Alice Diop in Person from 3 to 18 September, in conjunction with the French filmmaker's residence at UC Berkeley; Jean-Luc Godard’s Early Films opens 5 September & runs through 19 November; an extensive retrospective of Martin Scorsese Pictures opens 5 September & runs through next June; Alternative Visions, the Archive's "long-running annual series of historical and contemporary experimental film" starts 9 September & runs through 18 November; Georgian Cinema Now: Part 1 (Georgia as in the country, not the southern state) opens 23 September & runs through 2 October; & the Special Screenings series this month includes Chaplin's Modern Times on 12 September.
On 17 September at the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco, Loren Means will present a lecture with film clips on Jewish Directors: Film Noir & the Femme Fatale.
From 17 to 20 September at the 4-Star Theater in San Francisco, you can check out SFCritterFest, a series of films exploring the relations between humans & the animal world.
On 19 September at the Roxie, the Neon Speaks Festival presents SF Lost Neon Landscapes: Chinatown, a compilation of short films featuring the iconic (yes, I'm using the word) SF neighborhood.
On 19 September, the Orinda Theater & the San Francisco Silent Film Festival present a centennial screening of Buster Keaton’s The General, with Timothy Brock conducting the San Francisco Conservatory of Music Orchestra in his original score; though I've always regretted that Keaton chose to make a Confederate soldier his hero, this is truly one of the great films of the silent era.
From 24 to 27 September at the Roxie Theater, the San Francisco Film Preserve presents Re:Vision, their "inaugural film festival, celebrating the work of archives and archivists. Over four days at the Roxie, we're spotlighting astounding works of cinema across decades, borders, and genres"; check out the full schedule here.
The first annual San Francisco Brazilian Film Festival will be held at the Vogue Theater on 24 - 27 September; click here for more information.
This month's classic movie matinee at the Orinda Theater, on 29 September, is 1933's Footlight Parade, with musical numbers staged by Busby Berkeley, & what more do you need to know than that?
No comments:
Post a Comment