San Francisco Opera: the Ring is coming!

(from left to right: baritone Brian Mulligan, director Francesca Zambello, Music Director Eun Sun Kim, General Director Matthew Shilvock)

Yesterday afternoon in the Taube Atrium Theater, adjacent to the Opera House, San Francisco Opera made it official: Der Ring des Nibelungen is returning, with three full cycles in June 2028, along with stand-alone Rheingolds &  Walküres in preceding seasons. This announcement was not exactly a surprise, as the Verdi / Wagner project inaugurated when Eun Sun Kim was hired as Music Director implicitly would have to include the Ring, but there are now definite times, & at least some definite performers. What was a surprise, & almost a shock as far as I was concerned, was General Director Matthew Shilvock's statement that this would be the first full Ring cycle in the United States since the pandemic. But thinking for a moment about the dates, maybe I shouldn't have been so surprised, as it takes years to put together a Ring cycle (hence yesterday's announcement, years in advance of the performances) & the pandemic really wasn't that long ago: depending on how you calculate its end, maybe four years? And so much has happened since then, most of it ranging from bad to very very bad. (So I at least am grateful to have a Ring to look forward to.)

Kim of course will be the conductor, & this will be her first full Ring cycle. (During the Q&A after the presentation, Lisa Hirsch asked if Kim would be the first woman to conduct a full cycle in the United States, & it looks as if she probably will be.) Francesca Zambello's production will be revived (& probably, to some extent, revised, just because that's how these things go). Our principal singers were also announced: Brian Mulligan as Wotan (his first full Cycle in the role), Tamara Wilson as Brünnhilde (making her company debut), & Simon O'Neill as Siegfried. It's probably just me, but when they announced the "three" principals, I thought, "Wotan, Brünnhilde, & . . . who is the third lead?" Haha, so much for The Hero. (Personally, I might suggest Alberich as #3.)

Music director Eun Sun Kim

You can get such details as are currently available here on the Opera's website. Here are some highlights, or maybe odds & ends, from the presentation:

We were fed, which is always important at these things! Various sausages (beef, chicken, & vegan), cut in half  (not lengthwise, the other way), served on rolls, with mustard & sauerkraut available, very tasty, as well as thick pretzels, all very Bavarian, along with wine, beer, soft drinks, & sparkling water. Everything ran smoothly, on time, & was well coordinated (anyone who's been involved in any level in such presentations knows how impressive this is).

The large scene behind the panelists showed various logos (San Francisco Opera, the 2028 Ring logo) or various scenes from earlier productions, or shots of the performers. It was all appropriate & visually interesting, engaging enough to be useful but not obtrusive enough to be distracting.

Shilvock led a discussion with Kim, Zambello, & Mulligan. Each gave some highlights of her or his history with the Ring. Each mentioned, in their own ways, how different Wagner is from the rest of the repertory: a different level of engagement & intensity. Zambello noted that "obviously I love Verdi – look at my last name!" but directing Wagner is different. Both she & Kim noted that the musicians performing Wagner are ones who really want to be there. I was struck by the underlying theme (a leitmotif, if you will, & I guess we must) of the sheer physical difficulty of performing these lengthy & demanding works. Kim mentioned the shoulder strain of the musicians, Mulligan mentioned the daunting level of details involved in something like Wotan's Act 2 "soliloquy" to Brünnhilde in Walküre. Zambello mentioned at that point that that's where she & the conductor act as coaches, helping the singer break things down into less overwhelming segments of a few minutes each. Pacing yourself as for a marathon was repeatedly mentioned.

There was even some consideration of the physical demands on the audience: when asked what one, needed to attend a Ring, particularly for the first time, Kim immediately responded, "A good cushion." I was amused by the echo of Nilsson's advice for singing the big Wagner roles: "Wear comfortable shoes." Kim's remark came from her experience as an assistant conductor at Bayreuth, home of famously excellent acoustics & famously uncomfortable seating. Other than that, people (in the audience as well as on stage) offered varied perspectives on how much "homework" (reading the librettos or some sort of analysis of the Ring, studying the different leitmotifs) was helpful or even necessary. Some vouched for just jumping into the deep end (another sports metaphor).

Zambello was asked what moment in the Ring was most difficult to stage, & she immediately said, "the end of Götterdämmerung." The music is a lot to live up to. All panelists talked about how thoroughly the music guides one through the works, but also about how difficult it is to live up to the music. Shilvock asked the three which role they would ideally play. Kim didn't give an answer, but Mullligan immediately said Hagen, which I thought was an interesting choice, & Zambello said it would have to be Brünnhilde: she even has the name of Brünnhilde's horse on her car's license plate. When discussing her staging of the Ring, Zambello mentioned that it had been described as a "feminist" Ring, but, she pointed out, that's what Wagner wrote. I've also heard other Ring stagings described as "feminist" & I'm never clear what exactly that means in this context, as that interpretation is inherent in the material: no matter what you think of Siegfried, it really is Brünnhilde who is the key to the Cycle.

director Francesca Zambello & General Director Matthew Shilvock

There were some interesting questions from the audience; Joshua Kosman asked Mulligan about putting together the three Wotans: is there a development in the character, or do you approach each opera separately? Mulligan responded with his view of the arc of Wotan's development. I think it was then that he said Wotan's passionate outburst to Erda in Siegfried was one of his favorite moments in the role: the true love duet in the Ring.

Zambello had mentioned working through staging by way of character, which is how you turn moments from potentially mechanical exposition into something more dramatic. Scene 2 of Rheingold in particular was discussed as, in her terms, "a one-act play"; Mulligan mentioned the concentration necessary to keep up with all the overlapping exchanges of information in that scene. The Ring, for all its vastness, is often quite intimate (I was surprised by this initially, until I realized how much of it is based on Greek tragedy, which also mostly uses only a few individuals at a time in the dramatic scenes).

One questioner asked how many people had, like him, come to Wagner through Anna Russell. About ten had, but I noticed when he mentioned Russell, Kim looked puzzled & whispered something to Shilvock: time moves on, & it's been decades since Russell performed; it seemed likely to me that Kim had not heard of her. If she does look up the comedian's famous, or once famous, routine (in which she mostly just recites the plot of the Ring: "I'm not making this up, you know!") I wonder what she'll think of it. Unfortunately there was no follow-up question asking about What's Opera, Doc?

There were questions about the number of leitmotifs (someone in the audience offered I think it was 176 as the answer), & about how many musicians in the orchestra were new since the last Ring was done in 2018 (quite a few of them, apparently). Mention was naturally made of the great extra expense of putting on the Ring, which of course is one reason for announcing the performances years in advance, to allow for the necessary fund raising. And there was a question about the promised ancillary events: would they include some sort of partnership with our local WNBA team, the Valkyries? That too will be revealed as June 2028 draws closer.

Ring swag! Each attendee was given a branded tote bag.

Museum Monday 2025/45

 

Lovers in a Garden, a sixteenth-century stained glass work from the Netherlands, now at the Art Institute of Chicago

Friday Photo 2025/45

 

the Orpheum Theater, Market Street, San Francisco

San Francisco Opera: Parsifal

Where do you begin with Parsifal? Where can you end?

I was at the first performance of San Francisco Opera's current revival of Parsifal. As usual after one of the major Wagner works I reeled out afterwards, needing several days to adjust to what we so blithely, amusingly, & thoughtlessly call "reality". That's Parsifal, a work that has run like a leitmotiv through my inner life. I saw the Opera's previous staging, by Nikolaus Lehnhoff, a quarter of a century ago; my major memory is of Kundry at the end, wandering down the railroad tracks that were a prominent feature of the staging (intended as an echo of the Shoah, I think), heading towards . . . a life redeemed from the guilt that oppresses her? a death that relieves her of sin, sorrow, & regret? An ambiguity, among the work's other ambiguities, that can haunt the susceptible. It's the image that unwittingly stuck in my mind: Kundry, the conflicted, the wounded, the mocker & helper, finally free to wander off. That was several years before I started posting here, so I can link to no thoughts from the time. For other encounters with Parsifal, including  the famous Syberberg film & the notorious "bunny" staging at Bayreuth, I offer an early post of mine, which you can find here.

I guess I should just start by saying that the current San Francisco production is very fine, very rich, very thoughtful, & would repay repeated visits, but, at the risk of sounding like Mme Verdurin in Proust, I wasn't sure my life could take it. Eun Sun Kim, who conducted, is proving once again that hiring her is one of the best recent moves the Opera has made. Her continuing Verdi / Wagner project is a source of prospective joy & hope. She apparently is the one who insisted that even before the music begins the house lights be turned completely down so we, the audience, can sit for a moment in initiatory darkness. Unfortunately, there were a number of audience members who of course had to have their goddamn cell phones out & on until after the music had started, because we, as a culture, are shallow. That's not a strong enough word, but I'll let it go. The intention of darkness & silence was there, & it was a powerful one, again, to those susceptible.

The staging by Matthew Ozawa is elegant & evocative. It has a ritualistic feel & a fairy-tale look that suit the story & leaves what we're seeing open to ruminative & variant, even contradictory, interpretations. In the first & third acts, the arching Gothic columns turn into tree trunks & back with fluid ease; the colors are dark, with brighter splashes, including a trio of dancers in scarlet (Gabrielle Sprauve, Brett Conway, & Livanna Mailsen, with stately movements by Rena Butler; they added quite a bit to the ritualistic aura of the production). The Flower Maidens in the second act made a particularly lovely scene, in shades of green, teal, pale blue, & yellow, glowing softly against a midnight blue-velvet background; it looked like an illumination by Edmund Dulac.

It was such a striking moment that I regretted the failure in Act 3 to provide the contrasting field of Good Friday flowers; instead we were given the Act 1 set, a bit decayed like the Knighthood of the Grail, but glowing with the redemption offered by Parsifal, who takes up the Grail rituals – actually, in this production, offered by Parsifal with Kundry who stand together, united, both in flowing white robes. I know some who objected to this change to the libretto. I was fine with it. It's a union & liberation of anguished forces, a redemption offered regardless of sexuality. Kundry herself is such a fascinating figure. In Act 1, here, she wears an odd sort of feathered outfit that made her look like a misfit bird. (For some reason, the two young women seated in front of me found this cause for chuckling, which I did not understand. They disappeared during Act 2, but to my surprise they returned for Act 3.) It's an evocation of the natural world that flows into the potential meanings of this staging (a misfit bird, like the swan Parsifal shoots, though perhaps he is the one who is the misfit there). Kundry was performed with intensity by Tanja Ariane Baumgartner.

All the roles, though, were filled with intensity by an excellent cast. Gurnemanz, the garrulous gatekeeper, who, like many such insiders, speak with authority & even compassion but can't quite comprehend those who are outside his organization (hence his dismissal of the awkward & he thinks uncomprehending Parsifal at the end of Act 1) was powerfully presented by Kwangchul Youn. Falk Struckmann was a perversely forceful Klingsor; I'm always surprised by how short this role actually is, given his miasmic presence in the opera. The suffering of Amfortas, he of the unending wound, had searing intensity in the performance of Brian Mulligan. And Brandon Jovanovich as the holy fool . . . this may be the role he was born to play. He has a presence both authoritative & innocent; you can easily see him as both the heedless country bumpkin of Act 1, the swan-shooter, & Act 2's troubled, searching, ultimately compassionate man who rejects Kundry's sexual advances but still offers her a loving understanding, & Act 3's firmly focused & mature Knight. He sings with purity & piercing empathy.

Parsifal is an interesting revision of an earlier Wagner hero, sort of a Siegfried 2.0. It was Bernard Shaw who pointed out the shift in Wagner, from a hero who was a dragon-slayer to one who is rebuked for, & regrets, shooting a swan in flight. There is the same alienation from conventional society, the same pang in him because of that alienation, his ignorance of his background &, especially, of his mother, that source of life & knowledge. Parsifal, though, is without what often strikes us as Siegfried's thoughtless arrogance, those Ubermenschy qualities that ring unpleasantly in 21st century ears. Parsifal listens. He considers. He is open to others, which is how he frees both them & himself.

Personally, I've always thought of Parsifal as one of the great examinations of the odd inextricable mixture of the spiritual & the sexual, a search for a cathartic synthesis of animal & angel that might count as, if not redemption, at least peace. I think Amfortas's wound, the unending, unhealable wound, is sexual desire. That's why the crucial moment in the opera is when Parsifal rejects Kundry sexually but still is open to her with compassion, as a suffering being. (This is the moment, in Syberberg's film, when the young man playing Parsifal is replaced by a young woman: I see his intention, despite the dubious gender assumptions.) Klingsor, like the Church Father / heretic Origen, castrated himself (allegedly, in Origen's case); that's one way of trying to avoid the struggle of fitting sexuality into life, but ultimately not a satisfying one (I think of Cleopatra's conversation with the eunuch, in Shakespeare's play, where he confesses that desire remains: "I think of what Venus did with Mars"). Wagner was clearly a person for whom eroticism was a guiding  force (think of Tristan!); his music, with its sinuous, insinuating, opiate lines, argues for the inescapability of our urges. Did he solve it, in Parsifal? Did he dissolve the erotic in the religious & the ritualistically religious into the redemptive, in a five-hour dramatization of Bernini's Ecstasy of Saint Teresa of Avila, freeing us from our trammeling flesh? Is there even a possible answer to this question?

Perhaps the plenitude of Parsifal is to prompt questions, & offer nothing but suggestions of possible answers.

Benjamin Appl & James Bailieu: Homage to Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau

Baritone Banjamin Appl & pianist James Bailieu recently made a return visit to Herbst Theater & San Francisco Performances with their latest program, For Dieter: The Past and the Future: Homage to Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau. Appl was one of the great lieder singer's final pupils, & considers him a mentor, & he has put together a substantial & rewarding CD set to celebrate his centennial, filled with photographs & information about Fischer-Dieskau & including Appl's renditions of songs associated with different phases of the older baritone's often difficult life. The program at Herbst is similar to that on the recording, but with some differences in arrangement& repertory.

Usually the Herbst stage is, Steinway aside, bare for these recitals, but in this case there was the addition of a stand holding a copy of one of Fischer-Dieskau's self-portraits. Appl & Bailieu both came out, dressed with an unusual formality these days in white tie & tails (though Bailieu was also wearing some stylishly striped socks, though in muted colors). I wondered if the somewhat old-fashioned attire was part of the tribute to a giant of an earlier era.

Between the carefully selected songs, Appl & Bailieu gave us the basic facts of Fischer-Dieskau's life. As he came of age during the Second World War, we obviously start in tumultuous & troubled times; I did not know that he had a disabled brother who was murdered under the Nazi's eugenics policies. Fischer-Dieskau, always a musical child, began singing frequently when he was a prisoner of war in an American-run camp in Italy, after the collapse of the fascist regimes.

Fischer-Dieskau's musical achievements approach the legendary; though I never heard him sing live, his recordings of lieder & opera formed a basic part of my musical self-education. I can't even remember how or where I first heard of him; I just knew that his name on a recording was basically a seal of artistic integrity & therefore the disc would be worth buying & listening to repeatedly. These achievements were, it seems, not mostly mirrored in his private life, which seems to have been marked by depression, self-doubt, & other emotional struggles. He seems to have used such emotions as a spur to keep working & refining his art, though perhaps I should say his arts, as, in addition to singing, he produced an astonishing number of paintings. (Sometimes I think that good time management might be the key skill in life.)

Appl related several of his personal encounters with his mentor, including the last time the two met; I will quote Appl's words from the CD set: "The last time I visited Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau in his house on Lake Starnberg was just a few weeks before his death on 18 May 2012; it was important to him to explore Schubert's Hafner-Lieder once again, The themes of these songs include a longing for death, isolation, and reproaches to the gods after a tragic life. He was depressed and his mood was dark; he often fell asleep briefly during the lessons or began to cry. I sensed that this was the last time I would be able to see him."

There were also less somber stories, including one about Appl arriving for a lesson & Fischer-Dieskau coming out to meet him & announcing that he & Julia [Varady, the soprano who was his final wife] had been discussing it at breakfast & they had decided that "Benjamin Appl" was too complicated a name for an international career, & he should now go by "Ben Appl". Appl told us he refrained from responding, "Very well, Mr Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau." What struck me as very amusing about this story was that Fischer-Dieskau's objection was to the younger man's first name, which is fairly common in the English-speaking world & in any case not very difficult, instead of to his last name, which computers struggles with, as it seems to lack the final e necessary for autocorrect's acceptance. People do get hung up on funny things.

Appl sang with a velvety warmth & an attention to meaning that would have given satisfaction to his mentor. The whole recital was clearly sincere & loving & deeply meaningful to the performers, emotions they conveyed to the audience (which thankfully refrained from unnecessary applause that would interrupt the flow of song & anecdote). Most of the pieces were in German, as you might expect, but as we neared the end there was one item in English, the mysterious & evocative setting by Fischer-Dieskau's friend Benjamin Britten of William Blake's Proverb III: "The bird a nest, the spider a web, man friendship." It's a sentiment that may give some insight into how Fischer-Dieskau managed through life, though the delicately suspenseful, even eerie, music undercuts any possible sense of hearty comradeship.

One interesting bit of information is that the most significant lieder set for the baritone was not Winterreise, as you might expect, but the Brahms Vier ernste Gesänge Opus 121 (Four Serious Songs), a meditative setting of Biblical texts from Ecclesiastes, Sirach, & First Corinthians. (We were given a lovely Der Lindenbaum from Winterreise earlier in the program.)

One significant different between the order of the night's program & that of the CD was the placement of Schubert's An die Musik; this act of profound thanksgiving for the "Blessed Art" opens the recording, but closed the concert. It was preceded by Schubert's Litanei auf das Fest Allerseelen (Litany for all Souls), a prayer for rest for the weary who have passed through life. Together the two songs acted as a summation of the often anguished, always dedicated musician whose art & life we had spent the evening exploring; these two last songs spread over the auditorium like a final benediction. I thought of Larkin's famous lines about the jazz trumpeter Sidney Bechet: "On me your voice falls as they say love should, / Like an enormous yes. . . ."

For the encore, Appl first read a long passage from the diaries of Fischer-Dieskau's wife about his first visit to San Francisco (I think this was in the 1950s), a narration of outward triumph but inward risk & uncertainty, as Fischer-Dieskau suffered a few vocal blips but nonetheless triumphed with critics & audience, though he was distressed & anxious enough to leave the theater while the German Consul was looking for him. The final song was another item in English, the folk song The Foggy, Foggy Dew (I assume in Britten's setting, as tribute to their association). Appl's English diction is remarkable, & his telling rendition of the song was both witty & mournful. I wondered if the choice of that particular piece as the encore was a tribute to the celebrated fogs of San Francisco.

San Francisco Opera: Beethoven & Falla

In recent seasons Music Director Eun Sun Kim has led the San Francisco Opera Orchestra in one-off concerts featuring the symphonic repertory; the most recent of these, featuring works by Manuel de Falla as well as the Beethoven 5, was the first of these I have attended. It was an enjoyable evening, & the Opera House was full & enthusiastic.

For the opener, mezzo-soprano Daniela Mack came out, looking exceedingly glam in a low-cut gown of a deep iridescent purple, with ruffles cascading down one side & her dark hair swept up, to perform de Falla's Siete canciones populares españolas (Seven Popular Songs). I don't know how many other members of the audience had these songs in the back of their minds, memories conjured up through Mack's warm, rich voice. Though they sound typically "Spanish", they also evoke different moods & modes, from the wistful regrets of El paño moruno (The Moorish Cloth), about a once-fine cloth for sale that goes for a lower price because it is stained (Ay!) – draw your own metaphorical conclusions – to the bitter edge of lost love in Canción (Song), but I found the loveliest to be Nana (Lullaby), a soothing & sad midpoint to the set.

I would happily have heard more of Mack, but after her seven songs she left the stage, & we were given a Suite from de Falla's ballet music for  El sombrero de tres picos (The Three-Cornered Hat). Again, a piece evocative of an idealized Spain of an earlier time, a vaguely foreign world of swirling flamenco dancers, in its colors & rhythms. Kim shaped a lively performance. In the full ballet there is a witty quotation of the opening of Beethoven's Fifth, which she had worked back into this suite: a preview of coming attractions, as it were.

The opening of the Beethoven 5 is of course possibly the most famous moment in "classical" music, known to those who know nothing else, similar to "To be or not to be" for classic theater, a phrase similar in its stripped-down daring, its challenge to our existential being. I can't remember the last time I heard the Beethoven 5 played live! This is true of many of the "standards" – how often have we actually heard them live, & how recently? That's especially true if you're a long-time concert-goer, who probably, after many decades of attendance, & in the face of dwindling time, money, & energy, automatically avoids these standards. And then something happens, & we end up hearing them again, & we wonder why we don't listen to them all the time, as they have so much to give. If you keep house the way I do, you frequently have the experience of coming across something you only vaguely remembered that you owned, & finding in it, as if it were Christmas morning, the enchantments of new discovery. Revisiting the basic repertory is like that.

The performance struck me as vivid & full of tensile energy, fleet rather than ponderous. There was enthusiastic applause after the first two movements (I don't know if people were unaware of not clapping between movements, or if, in the style of our day, they didn't care about that convention); as the third movement moved right into the finale, there was no interruption then for applause, & we moved right into the blazing conclusion. Bits of this symphony have floated through my mind since I heard this performance. Through a developing struggle to some sort of breakthrough: it's an encouraging message for us, in our troubled times. I was very glad to hear this music again, played so beautifully, & I hope I never again take Beethoven or this symphony for granted.

Museum Monday 2025/44

 

detail of Triptych for Steven by Suzanne Jackson, seen at SFMOMA as part of the special exhibition Suzanne Jackson: What Is Love

Friday Photo 2025/44

 

San Leandro sidewalk: Godzilla on a skateboard

Another Opening, Another Show: November 2025

I love this time of year, as the light draws in & the temperatures drop (at least at night), but like everything else, it has its difficulties: the urge to hibernate grows stronger. At least, it is to that impulse I am attributing my increasing difficulty in getting out of bed in the mornings. As a high-functioning depressive, I generally manage to be fairly responsible, but, you know, nothing gets easier. One difficulty this month is the great number of collisions on the schedule: wonderful events, all planned for the same day. I guess it's an urge to get things scheduled before the holidays march in; next month is mostly tinsel, glitter, & drag queens, & sure, why not, but it's best to have a solid meal before you start gorging on cream puffs & bonbons. I was interested to see the number of musicals, not necessarily seasonal, but not inappropriate either, that are scheduled to run into the new year. I was also surprised by the number of choral performances happening (mostly listed under Choral, of course, but there are also major choral contributions under Orchestral & Early Music). I love Christmas music, but I salute the choral urge to sing something else. As for the conflicts, we all have some individual method for deciding among them, of course: it could be cost, or location, or some slim edge making one event more desirable to us than another; for me, start times also come into play. Long-time readers, if such there be, know I have long complained about 8:00 start times as unsuited to The Way We Live Now (I won't rehearse all that once again, at least not right now), & to my great surprise, many arts groups have made the sensible shift to earlier curtains, so that I'm somewhat bemused now when I come across organizations that persist in 8:00 beginnings – for me, the inconvenience that entails can put that show out of the running, at least as far as my ticket-buying is concerned. One of the things that happened to me during the pandemic is that, without evening performances to go to, I reverted to my natural state as someone who falls asleep early & consequently gets up early (at least, until recently; hence the concern about the trouble getting out of bed). Anyway, there's certainly a lot going on this month that can help fortify you with the strength to go on. I'd end with some sort of bromidic benediction to "go forth & be good to each other" but as that phrase floated through my mind, I thought of one of my attempts to be & do good, theater-division: I was sitting next to a woman whose hacking cough interrupted the entire first half of the show. (This was pre-pandemic, so threat level was Severe Annoyance, rather than Possibly Life-Threatening.) I decided to rein in the glares & try to be helpful, so during the intermission I asked her if she would like some lozenges from my inevitable bag of Ricola cough drops, which I carry like Saint Peter his keys or Saint Catherine of Alexandria her wheel: "Yes," she said, sticking out her hand. I gave her two or three, surely enough to carry her through the rest of the performance. "Give me more!" she demanded. I gave her a few more. Her friend stuck out her hand & said, "Well, I want some too!" I gave her some more, realizing I would now have to go back to CVS & buy another bag. And no, neither one, at any point, uttered the words "please" or "thank you". So shines a good deed in a naughty world, my people. Let's all do what we can, regardless. Here's the listing, enjoy!

Theatrical

The AfroSolo Theatre Company presents the 32nd Annual AfroSolo Arts Festival, with the theme Go Soar!, at the Potrero Stage from 31 October to 2 November, with featured performers James Cagney, J (Albert) Jackson, Augustene Phillips, Darlene Roberts, & Unique Derique.

The Marsh Berkeley presents Shameless Hussy, written by Lynne Kaufman & directed by David Keith, a two-person show about Anais Nin, the writer whose diary & erotica were both regular features in the bookstores of the late 1970s, from 1 to 16 November.

Theater of Yugen presents the classic Kyōgen comedies (in English) Shuron (A Religious Dispute) & Kaki Yamabushi (Persimmons & the Mountain Priest), directed by Lluís Valls, on 6 - 9 November at Theatre of Yugen’s NOHSpace.

Theater Rhinoceros presents The Break-Up! A Latina queer torch song, written & performed by Tina D’Elia & directed by Mary Guzmán, from 6 to 23 November.

If you're in the mood for plucky orphans, Berkeley Playhouse presents the musical Annie, directed & choreographed by Megan McGrath with music direction by Daniel Alley, from 7 November to 21 December.

The Marsh San Francisco presents Before I Forget, a memory meditation written & performed by Adam Strauss & directed & developed by Jonathan Libman, from 9 November to 13 December.

On 12 November on their San Francisco mainstage, the Marsh presents Amadeus Never Gives Me the Blues, written & performed by Amy Bouchard, about an "up-and-coming opera singer . . . torn between equal desires for career and family".

Berkeley Rep presents the world premiere of Mother of Exiles by Jessica Huang, directed by Jaki Bradley, beginning with an immigrant detained on Angel Island in 1898 & jumping ahead with her descendants into a perilous present & an unknown future, & that's 14 November to 21 December.

Shotgun Players presents Sondheim's Sunday in the Park with George, directed by Susannah Martin with music direction by David Möschler, from 15 November to 30 December at the Ashby Stage.

On 18 & 20 November at the Potrero Stage, you can hear The Ballad of Madelyne & Therese, "a new song cycle written and performed by singer-songwriter Rachel Garlin" the story of two women in 1939, married to men, who have a brief romantic connection & then re-encounter each other a year later in Manhattan.

On 19 November on their San Francisco mainstage, the Marsh presents Emil Amok, 69, written & performed by Emil Amok Guillermo, a one-person show about " how everything’s flipped in a '69' world, where no one knows which way is up, morally, ethically, politically. In all aspects of his life from DEI, Harvard, NPR, and his trans daughter, when it comes to Trump, it’s personal".

UC Berkeley's Department of Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies presents She Kills Monsters by Qui Nguyen, directed by Karina Gutiérrez, from 20 - 23 November at Zellerbach Playhouse.

San Francisco Playhouse presents Sondheim's Into the Woods, directed by Susi Damilano, with music direction by Dave Dobrusky & choreography by Nicole Helfer, from 20 November through 17 January 2026.

The Oakland Theater Project presents the Kander & Ebb musical Cabaret, directed by Erika Chong Shuch, from 21 November to 14 December.

On 22 November in Zellerbach Hall, Cal Performances presents Manual Cinema in The 4th Witch, a tale about "a young girl, orphaned during wartime, who becomes unwittingly apprenticed to the three witches from Shakespeare’s Macbeth. . . . Told without text—like a silent film coming to life on stage—the story explores themes of war and generational conflict through shadow puppetry, actors in silhouette, immersive sound design, and live music".

Talking

You can spend An Evening with Annie Leibovitz at the Palace of Fine Arts Theater on 10 November, courtesy of Live Nation; the celebrated photographer will be discussing her new book, Women, & signing copies (available at the venue) afterwards.

City Arts & Lectures presents Salman Rushdie in conversation with Poulomi Saha at the Sydney Goldstein Theater on 16 November.

City Arts & Lectures presents Padma Lakshmi in conversation with W Kamau Bell at the Sydney Goldstein Theater on 17 November.

Get a jump on the holidays when the celebrated auteur of Pink Flamingoes & other fine works presents his annual one-person show, A John Waters Christmas, at the Great American Music Hall on 30 November.

Operatic

At San Francisco Opera, Parsifal continues its run, the first here in 25 years, with Eun Sun Kim conducting, Matthew Ozawa directing, & Brandon Jovanovich as Parsifal, Kwangchul Youn as Gurnemanz, Brian Mulligan as Amfortas, Tanja Ariane Baumgartner as Kundry, & Falk Struckmann as Klingsor, & this month's dates are 2, 7, & 13 November. On 1 November at the Jewish Community Center in San Francisco, the Wagner Society of Northern California will present Outside/Inside: Sacred Spaces in Parsifal with Professor Thomas Grey of Stanford University.

San Francisco Opera also presents the world premiere of The Monkey King (猴王悟空), based on the classic Chinese novel Journey to the West, with music by Huang Ruo & libretto by David Henry Hwang, conducted by Carolyn Kuan, with direction by Diane Paulus & puppet work by Basil Twist, starring Kang Wang as the Monkey King, Konu Kim as the Jade Emperor, Mei Gui Zhang as Guanyin, & that runs 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, 25, 28, & 30 November. (In related Monkey King business, on 24 November at the David Brower Center in Berkeley, Ruo & UC Berkeley Professor of Musicology Mary Ann Smart will discuss the opera's composition; RSVP is required.)

On 14 - 16 November at the ODC Theater, Ars Minerva presents its latest eagerly awaited recovery of a baroque opera; this time around, it's Ercole Amante by Antonia Bembo (to a libretto by Francesco Buti), with staging by company founder & Artistic Director Céline Ricci, & conducting by Matthew Dirst, starring Zachary Gordin as Ercole & Kindra Scharich as Deianira.

Opera San José presents Puccini's Madama Butterfly, conducted by Joseph Marcheso & directed by Michelle Cuizon, featuring Emily Michiko Jensen as Cio-Cio San, Kayla Nanto as Suzuki, Christopher Oglesby as Lieutenant BF Pinkerton, & Eugene Brancoveanu as Sharpless, on 16, 21, 23, 29 & 30 November.

On 20 & 21 November, the San Francisco Conservatory of Music Opera program presents Britten's The Turn of the Screw, directed by Heather Mathews & conducted by Michael Christie; as usual with the Conservatory operas, there will be different casts for each performance.

On 21 November at Herbst Theater, you can hear the annual Adler Concert, The Future Is Now, featuring this year's Adler fellows; the program will be conducted by Ramón Tebar & directed by Omer Ben Seadia.

Choral

On 2 November at the 222 in Healdsburg, 21V, the chorus of soprano & alto voices of all genders, led by Martín Benvenuto & joined by Margaret Halbig on piano & Jimmy Cha on percussion, performs Promise and Peril, a Día de los Muertos Concert.

Volti opens its 47th season with Sound & Transformation, a program featuring Jerod Impichchaachaaha' Tate’s Visions of a Child, Žibuoklė Martinaitytė’s Chant des Voyelles (commissioned & premiered by Volti in 2018), & Marcos Balter’s Livro das Cores (a setting of texts by Pessoa), as well as a preview of Chris Castro’s Oracles, which will have a full premiere with Left Coast Chamber Ensemble next March, & you can hear all that on 7 November at Noe Valley Ministry in San Francisco & 8 November at First Presbyterian in Berkeley.

On 14 November at their Caroline Hume Concert Hall, the San Francisco Conservatory of Music Chorus, led by Eric Choate, will be joined by guest artists Chanticleer to perform Melchior Franck's Da Pacem Domine, Alessandro Scarlatti's Exultate Deo, Saint-Saëns's Calme des Nuits, Brahms's O Schöne Nacht, Thomas Morley's My Bonny Lass, She Smileth, John Bennett's Weep, O mine eyes, Ralph Vaughan Williams's Sweet Day, Mendelssohn's Behold, God the Lord from Elijah, Moses Hogan's Swing Low, Sweet Chariot, & his Walk Together, Children.

On 14 November at Hertz Hall, the UC Berkeley Chamber Chorus, led by Wei Cheng, will perform A Journey Beyond the World, a program featuring works by Bach, Pärt, & others.

Slavyanka Chorus, led by Artistic Director Irina Shachneva, will perform Rachmaninoff’s All Night Vigil (also known as Vespers) on 13 November at Church of the Redeemer in Los Altos, 14 November at Saint Mark's in Berkeley, & 16 November at Star of the Sea in San Francisco.

On 14, 15, & 17 November at Noe Valley Ministry in San Francisco, Resound Ensemble will perform Across the vast, eternal sky, a program celebrating nature through music by Marques LA Garrett, Ola Gjeilo, Elaine Hagenberg, Stephen Paulus, Rosephanye Powell, Jake Runestad, & Caroline Shaw. 

Clerestory presents Light Unhindered, a "contemplative program of a cappella works that invoke celestial illumination and spiritual awakening" including the double-choir piece Exultemus Domine by Benedetto Bagni, Michael Trotta’s Surge Illuminare, & other works, & you can experience it 14 November at Saint Mark's Lutheran in San Francisco & 16 November at Saint Mark's Episcopal in Berkeley.

Robert Geary leads the San Francisco Choral Society & the California Chamber Symphony in The Lake Isle & Brontë by Ola Gjeilo along with Dona Nobis Pacem by Ralph Vaughan Williams, with soloists Michele Kennedy (soprano), Kenneth Goodson (baritone), Maxwell Gibbs (guitar), & Keisuke Nakagoshi (piano), & that's 15 & 16 November at Trinity + Saint Peter's Episcopal in San Francisco.

On 16 November in Zelelrbach Hall, Cal Performances presents the Vienna Boys Choir in Strauss For Ever, a program celebrating the 200th birthday of the Waltz King himself, Johann Strauss Jr.

The International Orange Chorale of San Francisco presents the world premiere of Tarik O’Regan’s Dominion of Light: A Requiem for the Estranged, & you can hear it 22 November at Saint Mark's Lutheran in San Francisco & 23 November at First Presbyterian in Berkeley (there will be a pre-concert talk by the composer at each venue).

On 23 November at the Taube Atrium Theater, John Keene leads the San Francisco Opera Chorus in an afternoon of, you know, opera choruses, with piano accompaniment by Fabrizio Corona.

Vocalists

On 30 October in the Green Room at the War Memorial Complex in San Francisco, Taste of Talent & Red Curtain Addict present their 5th annual Halloween concert, Death by Aria, featuring pianist & master of ceremonies Ronny Michael Greenberg along with mezzo-soprano Nikola Printz, soprano Maria Valdes, tenor Christopher Oglesby, & oboist & tenor Jesse Rex Barrett, who will perform music from Phantom of the Opera, Wicked, Verdi’s Macbeth, Handel’s Julius Cesar,  Leoncavallo's I Pagliacci, Purcell’s Dido & Aeneas, & Brecht/Weill's Pirate Jenny from the 3Penny Opera.

Orchestral

Violinist Daniel Hope leads the New Century Chamber Orchestra in Dobrinka Tabakova's Dawn, Dvořák's Serenade for Strings in E Major, & Vivaldi's Four Seasons, & you can hear it all on 30 October at First Congregational in Berkeley, 31 October at the Empress Theater in Vallejo, 1 November at Herbst Theater in San Francisco, & 2 November at Osher Marin Jewish Community Center in San Rafael.

On 1 November at the Opera House, Eun Sun Kim leads the San Francisco Opera Orchestra in the Beethoven 5 along with  Manuel de Falla's El sombrero de tres picos (The Three-Cornered Hat) Suite #2 & his Siete canciones populares españolas (Seven Popular Songs) with soloist Daniela Mack.

On 1 November, the San Francisco Symphony hosts its annual celebration of Día de los Muertos; the program is "curated by longtime collaborator Martha Rodríguez-Salazar and is performed in collaboration with artistic partner Casa Círculo Cultural" & features Lina González-Granados leading the orchestra (& featured cellist Santiago Cañón-Valencia) in works by Gabriela Ortiz, Arturo Márquez, Ricardo Castro, Paul Desenne, Jimmy López, Arturo Márquez, & Gabriela Lena Frank (there will also be an art installation in the lobby).

On 2 November at Herbst Theater, the San Francisco Civic Symphony, led by Paul Schrage, presents Spinning Stories, a program featuring Don Juan by Richard Strauss, Ravel's Sheherazade (with vocalist Madison Hatten), & the Schumann 3; admission is free but RSVPs are appreciated.

On 6 - 8 November, Karina Canellakis will lead the San Francisco Symphony in Dvořák's Scherzo capriccioso, Prokofiev's Piano Concerto #3 (with soloist Alexandre Kantorow), & Sibelius's Four Legends from the Kalevala.

On 7 & 8 November at Hertz Hall, the UC Berkeley Symphony Orchestra, led by David Milnes & Wei Cheng, will perform Gabriella Smith's Tumblebird Contrails, Tchaikovsky's Variations on a Rococo Theme (with cello soloist Lorelei Deutsch), & the Beethoven 9 (joined b y the University Chorus & Chamber Chorus). 

Urs Leonhardt Steiner leads the Golden Gate Symphony Orchestra & Chorus in Beyond Border Walls 2025: Voices from Near & Far, a program including Last Light - Symphony #1., a world premiere from Benjamin Gribble, &, joined by Kulintang Dialect (ed by Conrad Benedicto), Lahing Kayumanggi by Lucio San Pedro, with soloists Gabrielle Goozee-Nichols (soprano) Celeste Camarena (mezzo-soprano), & Timothy Echavez Salaver (baritone), & you can hear it all on 8 November at the Benicia Clock Tower in Benicia & 9 November at the First Unitarian Universalist Church in San Francisco.

On 9 November at the Valley Center for Performing Arts in Oakland (on what used to be the campus of Holy Names College), Omid Zoufonoun leads the Oakland Symphony Youth Orchestra in Adolphus Hailstork's An American Fanfare, the Brahms Violin Concerto (with soloist Michael Oliveira), Arturo Marquez's Danzon #2, & selections from Bizet's L’Arlésienne Suites.

On 9 November at First Presbyterian in Oakland, Samantha Burgess leads the Community Women's Orchestra in Uncommon Women, a program that includes Schubert's Rosamunde Overture, The Ten Woman Bicycle by June Bonacich, Joan Tower's Fanfare for the Uncommon Woman #4 , & Wagner's Ride of the Valkyries.

On 13 - 14 November, the San Francisco Symphony will be led by Sarah Hicks in Danny Elfman’s Music from the Films of Tim Burton, combining selections from Elfman's scores with visuals, including "original sketches, drawings, & storyboards"; there will be a live vocal performance by Elfman, & violin solos by Sandy Cameron.

On 14 November at the Paramount Theater, Kedrick Armstrong leads the Oakland Symphony in the world premiere of a Symphony commission, Suite for Humanity by Cava Menzies, along with the Verdi Requiem, with soloists Tiffany Townsend (soprano), Raehann Bryce-Davis (mezzo-soprano), Robert Stahley (tenor), & Reginald Smith Jr (baritone).

On 15 November at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music's Caroline Hume Concert Hall, the SFCM Orchestra, led by guest conductor Earl Lee, will perform Vivian Fung's Aqua (this piece will be led by student conductor Jason Gluck), the Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto #1 (with soloist Oliver Moore, winner of the Conservatory's Piano Concerto Competition), & the Shostakovich 11.

On 15 - 16 November at the Lesher Center in Walnut Creek, Donato Cabrera leads the California Symphony in Jessie Montgomery's Overture, Mozart's Piano Concerto #21 (with soloist Robert Thies), & the Beethoven 3, the Eroica.

On 16 November at First Congregational in Berkeley, Ming Luke leads the Berkeley Symphony in Worlds Beyond, a program exploring "the artist’s voice at moments of transition and liminality" through Alma Monarca, a new work by Juan Pablo Contreras (a Symphony co-commission), the Four Last Songs of Richard Strauss, with soprano soloist Laquita Mitchell, Missy Mazzoli’s Sinfonia (for Orbiting Spheres), & the Shostakovich 9.

On 16 November at Herbst Theater in San Francisco, the San Francisco Civic Music Association, led by John Kendall Bailey, in collaboration with Chora Nova will perform Beethoven's Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage & his Elegischer Gesang as well as Mendelssohn's Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage & his Verleih uns Frieden as well as Anton Joseph Reicha's Te Deum; the concert is free but RSVPs are appreciated.

On 21 November at Hertz Hall, the UC Berkeley Philharmonia Orchestra, led by Wei Cheng & Noam Elisha, will perform Prokofiev's Lieutenant Kijé, Glazunov's Symphony #5, & the Dvořák 9, From the New World.

On 23 November in Davies Hall, Radu Paponiu leads the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra in Gabriela Ortiz's Kauyumari, the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto in E minor, Opus 64 (with soloist Aaron Ma), the Brahms Academic Festival Overture, Opus 80, & the Dvořák 8.

Chamber Music

On 1 November, Old First Concerts will hold an afternoon-evening marathon Concert Gala; although this is a gala, & therefore a fundraiser, admission is free & all donations are gratefully accepted. Performers scheduled to appear include pianists Sarah Cahill, Robert Schwartz, Monica Chew, Jeff LaDeur, Keisuke Nakagoshi, & Brett Waxdeck; organist John Walko; tenor Michael Desnoyers & soprano Chelsea Hollow; the Sixth Station Trio, the Wooden Fish Ensemble, the Circadian String Quartet, & the Trio de Garagem, who will perform music by Monica Chew, Chopin, Antônio Carlos Jobim, Liszt, Mozart, Hyo-shin Na, Fred Onovwerosuoke, Astor Piazzolla, David Ryther, Karen Tanaka, and others.

Left Coast Chamber Ensemble presents Midnight Memories: Mendelssohn, Mahler, Moderns, a program featuring Roberto Sierra's Tríptico, Mahler's Rückert-Lieder (arranged by David Hefti, featuring soprano Nikki Einfield), Fanny Mendelssohn's Piano Trio in D Minor, Opus 11, & Artur Akshelyan's Sillage (the 2024 Composition Contest Winner), & that's 1 November at Noe Valley Ministry in San Francisco & 2 November at the Maybeck First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Berkeley.

On 8 November at Noe Valley Ministry in San Francisco, the San Francisco Civic Music Association presents An Afternoon of Chamber Music, featuring Haydn's String Quartet, Opus 76, #1 (with violinists Gayle Tsern Strang & Harry Chomsky, violist Mark McAuliffe, & cellist Irene Herrmann) the Brahms Clarinet Sonata in E-flat, Opus 120 #2 (with clarinetist Michael Kimbell & pianist Elizabeth Lee,), the Oboe Sextet #2 in F major, by Cayetano Brunetti (with oboist John Quinlan, violinists Clay Froelich & Michelle Zhang, violists Andrew Zhang & Frances Gregor, & cellist Nathan Leber), & the Mendelssohn String Quartet #6 in F Minor, Opus 80 (with violinists Khang Huynh & Karen Ouyang, violist Evan Dorsky, & cellist Leo Steinmetz, cello); admission is free but RSVPs are appreciated.

On 8 November at Herbst Theater, San Francisco Performances in association with the OMNI Foundation for the Performing Arts presents the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet (Bill Kanengiser, John Dearman, Matt Greif, & Douglas Lora) performing pieces by Ralph Towner, Bryan Johanson, Frederic Hand, Chet Atkins, Andrew York, Michael Hedges, Kevin Callahan, & Pat Metheny, as well as traditional tunes.

On 8 November at Saint John's Presbyterian in Berkeley, Four Seasons Arts presents the Galvin Cello Quartet (James Baik, Sydney Lee, Luiz Fernanco Venturelli, Haddon Kay) in Voice of the Piano, a program which "explores the captivating versatility of the cello by reimagining iconic piano compositions through its rich tones and expressive qualities"; the composers transmogrified include Mozart, Debussy, Mussorgsky, Beethoven, Andre Mehmari, Carlos Gardel, Schumann, & Gershwin.

On 9 November at Noe Valley Ministry, Noe Music presents the San Francisco debut of the first prize winners of the 2025 Banff International String Quartet Competition, the Poiesis Quartet (Sarah Ying Ma & Max Ball, violins; Jasper de Boor, viola; Drew Dansby, cello; the name of the quartet comes from the classical Greek term meaning to make: "specifically, to create something that has never existed before"), who will perform works by Brian Raphael Nabors, Kevin Lau. Jerod Impichchaachaaha’ Tate, Sky Macklay’, & Prokofiev (his Second String Quartet).

On 9 November as part of its Chamber Music Sundaes series, the Berkeley Hillside Club presents the Tomodachi Quartet (Cordula Merks & Mayumi Wyrick, violins; Amy Hiraga, viola; Peter Wyrick, cello, joined by cellist Thalia Moore & violinist Caroline Lee to perform the Grande Sestetto Concertante (after Sinfonia Concertante in Eb Major) by Mozart & the String Sextet #2 in G Major Opus 36 by Brahms.

On 9 November in Davies Hall, a chamber-music group of musicians from the San Francisco Symphony will perform Erwin Schulhoff's Concertino for Flute, Viola, and Double Bass, Ravel's Piano Trio in A minor, & Beethoven's Septet in E-flat major, Opus 20.

On 11 November at Old Saint Mary's in San Francisco, Noontime Concerts presents the Carpe Diem String Quartet (Sam Weiser & Marisa Ishikawa, violins; Korine Fujiwara, viola; Ariana Nelson, cellist) who will perform Two Pop Songs of Antique Poems and A Letter from Afterlife by Dinuk Wijeratne, Standing Death by Paul Wianko, & Schubert's Death and the Maiden quartet.

On 11 November at their Barbro Osher Recital Hall on Van Ness Avenue, the San Francisco Conservatory of Music presents its monthly Chamber Music Tuesday, this time featuring violist Jonathan Brown, who will be joined by SFCM performers to play music by Bach, György Kurtág, Shulamit Ran, Sofia Gubaidulina, Beethoven, & Schumann.

On 14 November at Herbst Theater, San Francisco Performances presents the Modigliani Quartet (Amaury Coeytaux & Loïc Rio, violins; Laurent Marfaing, viola; François Kieffer, cello) performing György Kurtág's Twelve Microludes, Opus 13 “Hommage à András Milhály”, Haydn's String Quartet in F Major, Opus 77, #2, & Beethoven's String Quartet in C Major, Opus 59, #3.

San Francisco Performances continues 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 15 November, the focus will be on his String Quartet #15 in G Major.

On 16 November, the Berkeley Hillside Club presents the Melodiya Chamber Ensemble (Sergey Rakitchenkov, viola; Emile Serper,  cello; Arkadi Serper, piano) playing music by Bach, Beethoven, Schumann, Glinka, Sofia Gubaidulina, Rodion Shchedrin, & Prokofiev.

On 16 November at the Legion of Honor's Gunn Theater, the San Francisco Symphony presents Alexander Barantschik (violin), Peter Wyrick (cello), & Anton Nel (piano) performing an all-Beethoven concert: his Piano Trio in E-flat major, Opus 1, #1, his Variations on Ich bin der Schneider Kakadu, Opus 121, & his Piano Trio in B-flat major, Opus 97, the Archduke.

On 16 November at Hertz Hall, UC Berkeley's Wind Ensemble II, led by Matthew Sadowski, will perform Afrospire by Bakhari S Nokuri, Into the Silent Land by Steve Danyew, Evergreen by Viet Cuong, & Love & Nature by  Gala Flagello.

On 18 November at Old Saint Mary's in San Francisco, Noontime Concerts presents violinist Karen Bentley Pollick & pianist Daniel Glover, who will play three sonatas for violin & piano by Hugo Kauder.

On 22 November at Herbst Theater, San Francisco Performances in association with the OMNI Foundation for the Performing Arts presents the Romeros, three generations of the famed guitar-playing family, performing music by Vivaldi, Praetorius, Granados, Ruperto Chapi, Bizet, Boccherini, de Falla, Albéniz, Gerónimo Giménez, & Pepe Romero, as well as the world premiere of La Cita by Douglas J Cuomo (with soprano Amy Goymerac).

On 23 November, the Berkeley Hillside Club presents Victor Romasevich (violin & viola) & John Wilson (piano), performing works by Beethoven, Schumann, Iosif Andriasov, Grieg, & Zoltan Kodaly .

On 23 November, as part of the Candlelight Concert series at the Episcopal Church of Saint Mary the Virgin in San Francisco, the Friction Quartet (Otis Harriel & Kevin Rogers, violins; Mitso Floor, viola; Doug Machiz, cello), joined by bassoonist Jamael Smith, will perform a free concert that includes the String Quartet #3 by Samuel Carl Adams, Dirtwork by Michi Wiancko, Strum by Jessie Montgomery, & some folk-tune arrangements by the Danish String Quartet.

On 25 November at Old Saint Mary's in San Francisco, Noontime Concerts presents the Eos Ensemble Trio (Craig Reiss, violin; Evan Kahn, cello; Elizabeth Dorman, piano) performing the Brahms Piano Trio #1 in B Major, Opus 8 & the Shostakovich Piano Trio #2 in E Minor, Opus 67.

Instrumental

On 4 November at Old Saint Mary's in San Francisco, Noontime Concerts presents pianist Mira T Sundara Rajan, who will play pieces by Bach, Scriabin, & Rachmaninoff.

On 4 November, the San Francisco Symphony presents violinist Itzhak Perlman in recital with pianist Rohan De Silva; they will perform Mozart's Violin Sonata #2 in G major, Franck's Sonata in A Major, & Dvořák's Sonatina in G major for Violin and Piano, Opus 100.

Philharmonia Baroque starts off this season's "casual & intimate" Sessions concerts with lutenist Thomas Dunford playing music from baroque to the Beatles on 14 Noveember at the Swedish American Hall on Market Street in San Francisco.

On 14 November at Old First Concerts, pianist Tanya Gabrielian will perform Schumann's Kinderszenen, Opus 15, Sahba Aminikia's Lullaby, & the Sonata in A major for violin and piano by César Franck, as arranged for solo piano by Alfred Cortot 

Early / Baroque Music

On 2 November at the Conservatory's Sol Joseph Recital Hall, the San Francisco Conservatory of Music Baroque Vocal Ensemble will perform a chamber concert featuring works by Barbara Strozzi'Giulio de Ruvo's, Vivaldi, Johann Vilsmayr, Giovanni Girolamo Kapsberger, & Geminiano Giacomelli.

On 6 November at First Congregational in Berkeley, the San Francisco Early Music Society presents Tafelmusik, led by its Principal Guest Director, the violinist Rachel Podger, performing works by Bach, Handel, Telemann, & others.

Voices of Music presents The Voice of the Viol: Petrucci – the first music printer, a program featuring vocal & instrumental music performed on "early renaissance instruments including our new set of early renaissance viols with singer Danielle Reutter-Harrah", & that's 7 November at First Congregational Church of Palo Alto, 8 November at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, & 9 November at First Congregational in Berkeley.

On 9 November in Hertz Hall, Cal Performances presents period-instrument ensemble Twelfth Night, joined by soprano Nicoletta Berry, to perform Handel's Armida abbandonata, his Se vago rio & his Al dispetto di sorte crudele from Aminta e Fillide, & his É un foco quel d’amore from Agrippina, as well as Vivaldi's Overture to Il Giustino & his Violin Concerto in E minor, Telemann's Sonata in A minor, Johann Friedrich Fasch's Sonata in D Minor, & Francesco Durante's Concerto in G minor.

On 13 November at First United Methodist in Palo Alto, the San Francisco Early Music Society presents Stile Antico in a program celebrating the 500th birth-anniversary of Palestrina, featuring works he wrote for Roman performance.

On 14 November in Zellerbach Hall, Cal Performances presents pianist Jeremy Denk playing Bach’s Six Partitas for Solo Keyboard.

On 16 November at Saint Mary Magdalene in Berkeley, the Cantata Collective presents a gala program featuring Sherezade Panthaki & Paul Max Tipton, performing Bach's Tritt auf die Glaubensbahn, BWV 152, duets from Ich hatte viel Bekümmernis, BWV 21 & Christen, ätzet diesen Tag, BWV 63, as well as selected arias.

On 16 November at Hertz Hall at UC Berkeley, the University Baroque Ensemble, led by David Miller, presents Music of Stillness, Slumber, and Rest, a program featuring thematically appropriate instrumental & vocal works by Vivaldi, Handel, Bach, Telemann, & others.

On 17 November at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music's Sol Joseph Concert Hall, harpsichordist Corey Jamason of the Conservatory's Historical Performance Department will perform an all-Bach program, featuring the Prelude and Fugue in B Major, BWV 868 & the Prelude and Fugue in F# Major, BWV 858 from Book 1 of The Well-Tempered Clavier, his Ouverture in the French Style, BWV 831, from Clavier-Übung II, selections from his 15 Sinfonias, his Capriccio ‘sopra la lontananza del fratello dilettissimo’,  BWV 992, & his Concerto in D Major, BWV 972 (arranged from a violin concerto by Vivaldi).

On 20 - 22 November, the San Francisco Symphony presents one of its occasional forays into the (mostly) baroque, as violinist & leader Alexi Kenney, with featured performers Yubeen Kim on flute & Jonathan Dimmock on harpsichord, guides the group through Olli Mustonen's Nonet #2 for String Orchestra, Che si può fare, Opus 8, #6 by Barbara Strozzi (as arranged by Kenney), Bach's Brandenburg Concerto #5, & Vivaldi's The Four Seasons.

Modern / Contemporary Music

On 1 November at Zellerbach Hall, Cal Performances presents Third Coast Percussion, joined by Salar Nader on tabla, in Murmurs in Time, a program consisting of Murmurs in Time by Zakir Hussain (the tabla master who died unexpectedly late in 2024, & to whom this concert is a tribute), Lady Justice/Black Justice, The Song by Jessie Montgomery, Please Be Still by Jlin, & Sonata for Percussion by Tigran Hamasyan.

On 7 November at Old First Concerts, Ensemble for These Times (E4TT) (soprano Nanette McGuinness, cellist Megan Chartier, pianist Margaret Halbig), with guest violinist Maya Victoria, will perform Lines, Circles + Spirals, "a program featuring new music that engages with geometrical shapes, including West Coast Premieres by Clarice Assad, Hannah Ishizaki, and Karim Al-Zand, in conversation with Duo No. 1 for Violin and Cello by Bohuslav Martinu"; the program also includes pieces by Anna Clyne & Niloufar Nourbakhsh.

On 11 November at UC Berkeley's Wu Concert Hall, the University's music program will present a Korean Experimental Music Festival: Program with Traditional Korean Gayageums with Del Sol String Quartet; the festival continues on the 12th with Korean Wind Instruments with Electronics (by graduate students) & Korean Wind Instruments with Electronics (faculty works).

On 12 November at their Barbro Osher Recital Hall on Van Ness Avenue, the San Francisco Conservatory of Music Composition Department presents a recital featuring the Kristin Pankonin American Art Song Award Showcase; the award is to highlight new English-language art-song cycles.

On 16 November at the Brava Theater, the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players present American Reflections: Exuberance, a program featuring the west coast premiere of a new work by Samuel Carl Adams a setting of "texts by modern ecstatic poets in a song cycle for soprano Winnie Nieh" along with Shulamit Ran's Soliloquy, Terry Riley's Días de los Muertos, & the Chamber Symphony by John Adams.

On 16 November, the San Francisco Symphony presents cellist Gautier Capuçon, joined by a small group of musicians, in Gaïa, a program celebrating the earth through 16 specially commissioned pieces by Max Richter, Armand Amar, Jean-Benoît Dunckel, Gabriela Montero, Olivia Belli, Missy Mazzoli, Joe Hisaishi, Ludovico Einaudi, Xavier Foley, Nico Muhly, Bryce Dessner, Abel Selaocoe, Michael Canitrot, Ayanna Witter-Johnson, Quenton Blache, & Jasmine Barnes.

Jazz

On 1 - 2 November at the SF Jazz Center, the SF Jazz Center Collective celebrates the 50th anniversary of Wayne Shorter's Native Dancer, playing music from & inspired by the album.

On 9 November at the SF Jazz Center, you can attend the San Francisco International Boogie Woogie Festival.

On 30 November at the SF Jazz Center, you can hear le jazz hot baby when the Django Festival Allstars, joined by guest vocalist Veronica Swift, take the stage.

Dance

On 1 November at the Paramount Theater, the Oakland Ballet presents Luna Mexicana 2025, a celebration of both Dia de los Muertos & the Company's 60th anniversary.

On 8 - 9 November at Zellerbach Hall, Cal Performances presents Sadler’s Wells & Shaolin Temple in Sutra, in which "[c]ontemporary dance and ancient martial arts combine in this award-winning collaboration between Belgian choreographer Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, sculptor Antony Gormley, composer Szymon Brzóska, and 20 Buddhist monks from the Shaolin Temple in China’s Henan Province".

On 29 - 30 November, at Zellerbach Hall, Cal Performances presents MOMIX in Alice, "a wild and fantastical take on Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland by company founder Moses Pendleton".

Mostly Museums

The Cartoon Art Museum presents The West Coaster: New Yorker Cartoons from the Other Side, running 11 October to 22 February 2026, celebrating Pacific coast artists such as Zareen Choudhury, Eric Drooker, Lonnie Millsap, Tom Toro, Mike Twohy, Mark Ulriksen & Shannon Wheeler who have produced cartoons for the ultimate Manhattan magazine.

Happiest Place on Earth: The Disneyland Story opens on 14 November at the Walt Disney Family Museum & runs through next May.

KAWS: FAMILY, exploring the influential world created by KAWS, opens at SFMOMA on 15 November & runs through 3 May 2026.

Alejandro Cartagena: Ground Rules, exploring the Mexico-based photographer's work, opens at SFMOMA on 22 November & runs through 19 April 2026.

Two textile shows are opening at the de Young Museum, both on 29 November: The McCoy Jones Collection: Textiles from Central Asia and the Middle East features both traditional & contemporary rugs, wedding furnishings, & fabric works; Embroidered Histories explores samplers from the 17th through the 19th centuries, drawn from the museum's collection.

Routed West: Twentieth-Century African American Quilts in California, the absolutely stunning exhibit at BAM/PFA, closes this month on 30 November.

Cinematic

The biggest cinematic news this month as far as I'm concerned is the return of the annual San Francisco Silent Film Festival, running from 12 to 16 November at the Art Deco & conveniently located Orinda Theater; as always there is a great, eclectic selection of films with live musical accompaniment, starting with a centennial viewing of the Chaplin masterpiece The Gold Rush on opening night through Buster Keaton's lovely Go West as the closer; check out the full schedule here.

Here's what's playing at BAM/PFA this month: Cambodian Elegist: The Films of Rithy Panh runs 6 - 9 November (the filmmaker was originally scheduled to appear, but "due to unforeseen circumstances" he will not be able to); Gunvor Nelson: A Life in Film, exploring the works of the experimental Swedish filmmaker who was long resident in the Bay Area, runs 12 to 21 November; & Marta Mateus Presents Fire of Wind and Films by Margarida Cordeiro and António Reis runs 13 to 16 November.

On 15 November at the Roxie in San Francisco, CiNEOLA & the San Francisco Film Preserve present a restored version of Garras de oro (The Dawn of Justice) from 1927, "regarded as World Cinema’s first explicitly anti-imperialist film"; the screening is accompanied live with an original score by the nobozos band & following the show there will be "a panel discussion about the film’s historical significance and its preservation with Kathy Rose O’Regan (San Francisco Film Preservation), Alex Feliciano Mejia (SFSU, ethnographic scholar of race, media, and education), and Héctor Hoyos (Standord University Professor of Iberian and Latin American Cultures)".

On 22 November at the SF Jazz Center, The Queen’s Cartoonists will perform the music to some classics from the animation golden age of 1930 - 1950, as well as some contemporary cartoons.

The San Francisco Symphony presents Ang Lee's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, with Tan Dun's score played live by the orchestra (conducted by Sarah Hicks, with pipa soloist Gao Hong) on 25 November at Davies Hall.

This month's classic movie matinee hosted by Matías Bombal on 25 November at the Orinda Theater is King Kong.