As a reminder, COVID is still out there –I had a forcible reminder myself in the form of a fortunately fairly mild case; even so, I had to miss two of the performances I had most been looking forward to this year – Ian Bostridge singing Winterreise & Olympia Vendicata, the latest Ars Minerva revival. Low energy levels also meant I wasn't sure I was going to get this preview done before November started. So get your shots & mask up as necessary! The California Festival, a statewide celebration of new music, runs this month, & one problem I had pulling this list together is that I was assuming their website would allow you to sort performances by location. Nope! You can sort by date or organization, but there doesn't seem to be a way to pull out events in a particular city or area. I find this a puzzling omission for a festival that covers most of a very large state. So some of the events below are technically part of the California Festival, even if they're not noted as such. It does look like a good month for those interested in Bach, particularly the cantatas, & Stravinsky. Enjoy & be healthy.
Theatrical
Alan Cumming brings his one-man cabaret act, Alan Cumming Is Not Acting His Age, to the Curran on 2 November.
Berkeley Playhouse presents Cinderella Enchanted, based on the musical by Rodgers & Hammerstein, directed & choreographed by Khalia Davis & conducted by Jessica Igarashi, from 3 November through 22 December.
On 4 November at Zellerbach Hall, Cal Performances presents John Cameron Mitchell & Amber Martin, backed by their band, playing Cassette Roulette, "songs, stories, and characters, all chosen by you and the hand of fate on the magical ‘cassette roulette.’"
Theater Rhinoceros presents the world premiere of Group Therapy by Kheven LaGrone, directed by Tanika Baptiste, about a group of queer people of color confronting middle age, their pasts, & each other; that starts 9 November & runs through 3 December.
On 10 - 11 November at the Great Star Theater, John C. Reilly plays Mister Romantic, "a mysterious man who emerges from a steamer trunk to entertain and delight audiences"; there are love songs & audience participation.
Aurora Theater presents George Orwell's 1984 as adapted by Michael Gene Sullivan & directed by Barbara Damashek from 10 November through 10 December.
Berkeley Rep presents the west coast premiere of David Cale's Harry Clarke, directed by Leigh Silverman, a one-man show starring Billy Crudup about an awkward Midwesterner who decides to lead a double life as a brash Londoner; that opens 15 November & runs through 23 December.
The UC Berkeley Drama Department presents Wintertime by Charles L Mee, directed by Christopher Herold, from 16 to 19 November at the Zellerbach Playhouse.
San Francisco Playhouse gives us Guys & Dolls, directed by Bill English, from 16 November through 13 January 2024.
BroadwaySF brings us Julie Taymor's Disney's The Lion King at the Orpheum from 22 November through 30 December.
Talking
City Arts & Lectures has some interesting speakers this month (all at the Sydney Goldstein Theater): cartoonist Roz Chast appears on 2 November; novelist Viet Thanh Nguyen, in conversation with Shereen Marisol Meraji, on 9 November; poet Tracy K Smith, in conversation with john a powell, on 10 November; & journalist Michael Lewis, in conversation with Indre Viskontas, on 13 November.
Amateur Music Network presents a new series at Old First Concerts, starting 20 November: Sarah Cahill’s Backstage Pass, in which pianist Cahill will discuss the how & why of their music with guests (in this case, bass player Lisa Mezzacappa).
BroadwaySF presents An Evening with David Sedaris on 20 November at the Opera House.
As part of its Unscripted series, on 27 November the Curran presents Henry Winkler discussing his new memoir, Being Henry: The Fonz . . . and Beyond (a copy of the book is included with each ticket).
This month at San Francisco Opera you can catch the final Lohengrin on 1 November, after which they offer the two final productions of the fall season: Omar, the Pulitzer-Prize winning opera by Rhiannon Giddens & Michael Abels, conducted by John Kennedy & directed by Kaneza Schaal, featuring Jamez McCorkle in the title role as well as Brittany Renee, Taylor Raven, Daniel Okulitch, Norman Garrett, Laura Krumm, Rehanna Thelwell, & Barry Banks, & that's on 5, 7, 11, 15, 17, & 21 November; & then Donizetti's L'elisir d'amore, conducted by Ramón Tebar & directed by Daniel Slater, featuring Pene Pati as Nemorino (Jonah Hoskins takes the role for the 29 November performance), Slávka Zámečníková as Adina, Renato Girolami as Dulcamara, & David Bižić as Sergeant Belcore, & that's on 19, 24, 26, & 29 November & 5 & 9 December.
The San Francisco Conservatory of Music presents its fall opera on 16 - 17 November: a double-bill of one-acts, Mascagni's Zanetto & Puccini's Gianni Schicchi, directed by Heather Matthew & conducted by Curt Pajer.
Cal Performances presents Harry Bicket & The English Concert in Handel’s Rodelinda with Lucy Crowe, Iestyn Davies, Eric Ferring, Christine Rice, Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen, & Brandon Cedel at Zellerbach Hall on 19 November.
Choral
Bob Geary & Volti begin their 45th season with contemporary choral music by Marcos Balter, Yu-Hui Chang, Mark Winges, LJ White, & Emily Koh, on 3 November at Saint Paul's Episcopal in Oakland, 4 November at Noe Valley Ministry in San Francisco, & 5 November at The 222, Paul Mahder Gallery, in Healdsburg.
Clerestory explores Love as A Many Splendored Thing on 11 November at the David Brower Center in Berkeley & 12 November at Saint Gregory of Nyssa in San Francisco.
Vocalists
Lieder Alive! presents baritone Simon Barrad & pianist Kseniia Polstainkina Barrad performing works by Schumann, Wolf, & "an Odyssey of Ukrainian songs" on 5 November at the Noe Valley Ministry.
On 15 November in Zellerbach Hall, Cal Performances presents Kristin Chenoweth in For the Girls, a cabaret-style entertainment centered on songs made famous by women singers she loves.
Brazilian-born Bay Area-based singer, pianist, & composer Claudia Villela plays the SF Jazz Center from 9 to 12 November.
Audra McDonald spends a musical evening with the San Francisco Symphony, conducted by Andy Einhorn, on 29 November at Davies Hall.
Orchestral
Daniel Hope & the New Century Chamber Orchestra join with mezzo-soprano Kelley O’Connor & a small chorus to present Visitations, a program of haunted music that includes the world premiere of an NCCO commission, Doña Sebastiana (Lady Death) by Nicolás Lell Benavides, along with Rachmaninoff's Bogoroditse devo (Rejoice, O Virgin) from the All-Night Vigil, Fólk fær andlit (People Get Faces) by Hildur Guðnadóttir, the Ária (Cantilena) from Bachianas Brasileiras #5 by Villa-Lobos, Peter Lieberson's Amor mío, si muero y tú no mueres (My love, if I die and you don’t) from Neruda Songs, Schubert's Erlkönig (The Elf King), Dukas's The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, Carlos Simon's Elegy: A Cry from the Grave, Arvo Pärt's Cantus in Memory of Benjamin Britten, & Ariel Ramirez's Misa Criolla (arranged by Paul Bateman), & that's 2 November at First Congregational in Berkeley, 3 - 4 November at the Cowell Theater at Fort Mason in San Francisco, & 5 November at Saint Stephen's Episcopal in Tiburon.
On 2 - 4 November, Ludovic Morlot will lead the San Francisco Symphony in the American premiere of an SFS Commission, Latest by Betsy Jolas, along with the Dvořák Violin Concerto (with soloist Augustin Hadelich) & the Mussorgsky/Ravel Pictures at an Exhibition, which will be accompanied by new artworks by Liz Hernández & Fernando Escartiz.
David Milnes leads the UC Berkeley Symphony Orchestra in Bartók's Dance Suite, Britten's The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra (with Chancellor Carol Christ), & the Beethoven 7 on 3 & 4 November at Hertz Hall.
The San Francisco Symphony will hold its annual celebration of Día de los Muertos on 4 November in Davies Hall, where Miguel Harth-Bedoya, joined by vocalist Edna Vázquez, the Casa Círculo Cultural, & the Canción de Obsidiana, will perform music by Revueltas, Arturo Márquez, Alfonso Leng, Clarice Assad, & Arturo Rodríguez; the lobby will feature installations by local artists.
On 5 November at Herbst Theater, Urs Leonhardt Steiner leads the Golden Gate Symphony in the Dvořák 9, From the New World, Victor Ullman's Piano Concerto (with soloist Allison Lovejoy), & Morton Gould's Tap Dance Concerto (with tap dance soloist Sam Weber).
Jeri Lynne Johnson will lead the Oakland Symphony on 10 November at the Paramount Theater in Beethoven's Fidelio Overture, Anthony Davis's You Have The Right To Remain Silent, selections from Montgomery Variations by Margaret Bonds, & Stravinsky's Symphony of Psalms.
Donato Cabrera leads the California Symphony in the world premiere of Viet Cuong's Chance of Rain, Handel's Water Music, & the Schumann 3, the Rhenish, at the Lesher Center in Walnut Creek on 11 - 12 November.
Dawn Harms leads the Bay Area Rainbow Symphony's fall concert on 18 November at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where they will perform Lili Boulanger's D’un matin de printemps, David Conte's Cello Concerto (with soloist Emil Miland), Copland's Billy the Kid Suite, Seth Grosshandler's Mountain Festival Overture, & Stravinsky's Firebird Suite.
Daniel Stewart leads the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra in Bernstein's Symphonic Dances from West Side Story, Anna Thorvaldsdottir's Metacosmos, & Wagner's Prelude and Liebestod from Tristan und Isolde in Davies Hall on 19 November.
Gustavo Dudamel conducts the San Francisco Symphony in Kauyumari by Gabriela Ortiz, the first SFS performance of Odisea: Concerto for Venezuelan Cuatro and Orchestra by Gonzalo Grau (with soloist Jorge Glem), & the Brahms 2, & that's 24 - 26 November.
Chamber Music
The Left Coast Chamber Ensemble gives us the premiere of a new piece by Sarah Gibson, for which they are joined by the San Francisco Girls Chorus, as well as music by Ursula Kwong-Brown, Gabriela Lena Frank, Lisa Bielawa, Nicolás Lell Benavides, Gabriella Smith, Pauline Oliveros, Caroline Shaw, Hildegard of Bingen, & Reena Esmail, & that's 4 November at First Presbyterian in Berkeley & 5 November at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.
The San Francisco Symphony chamber group will perform music by Jason Hainsworth, Reena Esmail, Sarn Oliver, & Brahms in Davies Hall on 5 November.
On 7 November at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Trio L'Arc will give the world premiere of Vivian Fung's Ominous Machine for piano trio (a work the Trio commissioned), then will be joined by SFCM students for Jonathan Bingham's Pareidolia for string quartet, Block's Piano Quintet #1, & more.
San Francisco Performances gives us the Dublin Guitar Quartet on 10 November at Herbst Theater, where they will perform music by Philip Glass, Wojciech Kilar, Rachel Grimes, Marc Mellits, & Arvo Pärt.
Cal Performances presents the Takács Quartet with the world premiere of Nokuthula Ngwenyama's Flow (a Cal Perf co-commission), along with Haydn's Sunrise quartet & Beethoven's String Quartet #8 in E minor, on 12 November at Hertz Hall.
San Francisco Performances presents the Castalian String Quartet at Herbst Theater on 15 November, when they will play Awake, composed by Mark-Anthony Turnage for the Quartet, along with Janáček's String Quartet #1 Kreutzer Sonata & Beethoven's String Quartet in B-Flat, Opus 130, with the Grosse Fuge ending, Opus 133
Instrumentalists
On 1 November, cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason returns to Cal Performances & Zellerbach Hall to play music by Bach, Gwilym Simcock, Britten, Leo Brouwer, Edmund Finnis, & Gaspar Cassadó.
On 2 November, San Francisco Performances presents violinist Miranda Cuckson & pianist Blair McMillen performing works by Janáček, Beethoven, Prokofiev, & Ross Lee Finney.
Pianist Kevin Lee Sun will perform at Old First Concerts on 5 November, when he will play selections from Rzewski's The People United Will Never Be Defeated!, Hanns Eisler's Piano Sonata #3, & two works by Hyo-shin Na, including a west coast premiere.
Cal Performances presents harpsichordist Jean Rondeau playing works by Fux, Haydn, Clementi, Beethoven, & Mozart on 5 November at Hertz Hall.
San Francisco Performances presents cellist Jay Campbell & pianist Conor Hanick at Herbst Theater on 8 November, where they will perform pieces by Eric Wubbels, Schubert, Ligeti, & Poulenc.
Pianist Matthew Bengtson will perform at Old First Concerts on 10 November; his program includes the world premiere of Roberto Sierra's Piano Sonata #13, which is dedicated to him, along with other pieces by Sierra as well as by Pinchas (Paul) Schoenfeld, Ingrid Arauco, Curt Cacioppo, Luke Carlson, & William Bolcom.
Old First Concerts presents violinist Nato on 12 November, when he will perform music by Bartók, Grażyna Bacewicz, Prokofiev, & Ysaÿe.
Pianist Stephen Hough comes to Herbst Theater on 14 November under the auspices of San Francisco Performances, with a program including pieces by Mompou, Scriabin, Debussy, Liszt, & Hough himself. In addition, Hough will be leading a master class at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music on 13 November.
The San Francisco Symphony presents pianist Daniil Trifonov in recital at Davies Hall on 19 November, when he will perform pieces by Rameau, Mozart, Mendelssohn, & Beethoven (the Hammerklavier).
Early / Baroque Music
See Handel's Rodelinda at Cal Performances above under Operatic.
See Dido & Aeneas from Philharmonia Baroque below under Modern / Contemporary Music.
The San Francisco Early Music Society presents Vox Luminis performing early cantatas by Bach (Weinen, Klagen, Soren, Zagen (BWV 12); Gottes Zeit ist die allerbeste Zeit (BWV 106); Aus der Tiefen rufe ich, Herr, zu dir (BWV 131); & Nach dir, Herr, verlanget mich (BWV 150)) at Saint Mark's Lutheran in San Francisco on 2 November.
Countertenor Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen joins Jeffrey Thomas & the American Bach Soloists to perform Bach's Ich habe genug, Cantata 82 & his Widerstehe doch der Sünde, Cantata 54; along with instrumental works by Bach, Biber, & Schmelzer (featuring Stephen Hammer on oboe & Tomà Iliev & YuEun Gemma Kim on violin), & that's 3 November at Saint Stephen's in Belvedere, 4 November at Saint Mark's Episcopal in Berkeley, 5 November at Saint Mark's Lutheran in San Francisco, & 6 November at the Davis Community Church in Davis.
On 8 November at First Congregational, Cal Performances presents A Journey through Baroque Europe with the young French group Le Consort; "Europe" in this case means Italy, England, Germany, & France, as seen through the music of Vivaldi, Reali, Corelli, Rameau, Dandrieu, Veracini, Eccles, Purcell, & Bach.
Guest Conductor Derek Tam will lead Chora Nova in Bach's Magnificat in D Major & the Credo from the Mass in B Minor on 18 November at First Church in Berkeley; soloists are Victoria Fraser & Theresa Nelson, sopranos; Gabriela Estephanie Solís, mezzo-soprano; Michael Desnoyers, tenor; & Ben Kazez, baritone.
On 19 November the Cantata Collective continues its series of free performances at Saint Mary Magdalen's in Berkeley with Liebster Gott, wenn werd ich sterben, BWV 8, & Herr Jesu Christ, du höchstes Gut, BWV 113, featuring Jennifer Paulino (soprano), Christine Brandes (alto), Steven Caldicott Wilson (tenor), & Edward Vogel (bass).
Modern / Contemporary Music
The California Festival, a state-wide celebration of new music, runs from 3 to 19 November; you can check out their website here, though as noted above, the site allows you to filter by date or organization, but not by location, so good luck with that.
In what seems to be an annual visit across the Bay, Cal Performances presents Esa-Pekka Salonen & the San Francisco Symphony in Zellerbach Hall on 10 November, where they will perform the world premiere of Drowned in Light by Jens Ibsen, along with Salonen's Kínēma (featuring clarinetist Carey Bell) & Stravinsky's Symphony in Three Movements.
On 11 November in Grace Cathedral, the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players, joined by guest artist mezzo-soprano Tonia D’Amelio, will open its 53rd season with RE:Voicing, a program including Messiaen's Apparition de l’Église éternelle, Chinary Ung's Luminous Spirals, & the Bay Area premiere of Raven Chacon's Pulitzer-Prize winning Voiceless Mass, followed by George Crumb's Ancient Voices of Children; before the performance, Raven Chacon will be the guest for a How Music Is Made interview.
Music Director Esa-Pekka Salonen leads two sets of concerts at the San Francisco Symphony as part of the California Festival of New Music: on 11 - 12 November, there is To the Edge, a program made up of the SFS premiere of Salonen's kínēma (with clarinetist Carey Bell as soloist), the world premiere of an SFS commission, Drowned in Light by Jens Ibsen, & Stravinsky's Symphony in Three Movements (this is the program they are performing at Cal on 10 November); on 17 - 18 November, there is From the Edge, featuring the first SFS performance of Gabriella Smith's Breathing Forests, along with Stravinsky's Octet for Winds and Brass & his Les Noces (orchestrated by Steven Stucky & featuring soprano Lauren Snouffer, mezzo-soprano Kayleigh Decker, tenor Paul Appleby, & bass David Soar, along with organist James McVinnie & animation by Hillary Leben).
Other Minds presents its 27th Festival, featuring composers from five countries, from 14 to 19 November, mostly at the Taube Atrium Theater in the War Memorial Complex in San Francisco but also opening & closing at the Gray Area on Mission Street; check out the entire schedule here.
John Butt will lead the forces of Philharmonia Baroque in Dido's Ghost (music by Errollyn Wallen, libretto by Wesley Stace), an original work incorporating in its entirety, if I'm understanding correctly, Purcell's Dido & Aeneas; Frederic Wake-Walker directs, Nicole Heaston is Dido, Matthew Brook, Aeneas, Nardus Williams, Belinda, & Allison Cook, Sorceress; Valérie Sainte-Agathe directs the PBO Chorale; & all that is 29 - 30 November at Herbst Theater in San Francisco; PBO will also perform Purcell's Dido & Aeneas on its own for two performances with the same forces on 2 December at First Congregational in Berkeley.
Jazz, Folk, Roots, & Blues
Cal Performances presents the Brad Mehldau Trio (Mehldau on piano, Larry Grenadier on bass, & Jeff Ballard on drums) at Zellerbach Hall on 11 November.
The San Francisco International Boogie Woogie Festival will take place at SF Jazz on 12 November.
In Zellerbach Hall on 17 November, under the auspices of Cal Performances, Rhiannon Giddens & the Silk Road Ensemble present American Railroad, looking at the music of Black, Chinese, Irish, Indigenous, & other cultures through the lens of the construction of the Transcontinental Railroad; there is also a pre-performance panel discussion.
Dance
The Oakland Ballet celebrates Día de los Muertos on 28 October at the Hammer Theater in San Jose & 3 - 4 November at the Paramount in Oakland with Luna Mexicana, a program featuring Viva la Vida, a ballet inspired by "the life and spirit of Frida Kahlo" (co-choreographed by Martín Romero of Ballet Folklórico México Danza & Oakland Ballet Artistic Director Graham Lustig), Ballet Folklórico México Danza presenting traditional Mexican Folkloric dance, music from Mariachi Mexicanisimo, & Oakland Ballet in Luna Mexicana.
Art Means Painting
Wolfgang Tillmans: To look without fear, a comprehensive exhibit of the photographer's work, opens at SFMOMA on 11 November & runs through 3 March 2024.
The Asian Art Museum presents The Heart of Zen, featuring "two extraordinary ink paintings, Persimmons (popularly known as Six Persimmons) and Chestnuts, on view in the United States for the first time. Attributed to the 13th-century monk Muqi, these exquisitely subtle compositions were painted in China and then crossed the ocean to Japan, where they have been designated Important Cultural Properties and treasured for centuries at Daitokuji Ryokoin Zen temple in Kyoto"; the two paintings will be displayed mostly separately, Six Persimmons from 17 November to 10 December & Chestnuts from 8 to 31 December (there are a couple of days of overlap from 8 to 10 December when both will be on view).
The much anticipated, at least by me, exhibit Botticelli Drawings, which the museum says is the first exhibition ever dedicated to the artist's drawings, opens at the Legion of Honor on 19 November & runs through 11 February 2024.
Cinematic
Infinite Horizons: The Films of Werner Herzog will open at BAMPFA on 9 November & run through February 2024; the director will be there in person for the opening week, but it looks as if those performances are sold out already.
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