San Francisco Classical Voice

Jewish Music Festival
The 22nd Jewish Music Festival brings performers from around the world to the Bay Area for concerts in the widest possible array of styles: A poetry slam and Jewish music of the Italian Renaissance, music from the Terezin concentration camp and Argentinian klezmer, disapora blues, and contemporary Israeli music on the mandolin. The 12 programs all look great, but are too diverse to describe in full. The festival runs from March 8 to 25 at eight venues on both sides of the Bay. March 16-25; times, locations, and prices vary; (510) 848-0237, www.jewishmusicfestival.org (L.H.)

Silk Road Ensemble
The Silk Road Ensemble, Yo-Yo Ma's traveling caravan of musical delights from around the world, returns to Cal Performances for two evenings. The program isn't available yet, but typical Silk Road Ensemble concerts include traditional music of countries from China, Central Asia, and Eastern Europe, as well as works using both traditional and European classical instruments that were commissioned by the group. The concerts are presently sold out, but tickets may become available through turn-ins. March 16 and 17, 8 p.m., Zellerbach Hall, Berkeley, $36-$96, (510) 642-9988, www.calperfs.berkeley.edu. (L.H.)

Alfred Brendel
Pianist Alfred Brendel performs a concert of sonatas by Hadyn, Mozart, Beethoven, and Mozart rounded out by two of Schubert's Impromptus — the No. 1 in F Minor, D. 935; and the No. 3 in B-flat Major, D. 935. Brendel, who is now in his 70s, has mastered most of the Vienesse classics, but his newfound passion for writing poetry might well account for the freshness and added depth he now brings to the compositions. March 18, 5 p.m., Zellerbach Hall, Berkeley, $38-$76, (510) 642-9988, www.calperfs.berkeley.edu. (C.G.)

Alexandros Kapelis: Greek Myth and the Piano
Alexandros Kapelis makes his Bay Area debut with a piano recital inspired by Greece and Greek mythology. Clementi's Sonata in G Minor, Didone Abbandonata, starts off the program, followed by rarely performed gems that range from Baroque to contemporary by Kalomiris, Debussy, Rameau, and Kostantinidis. Rachmaninov's monstrous Études-Tableaux, Op. 33 (complete), which is not for the faint of heart, rounds out the recital. March 20, 8 p.m., Herbst Theatre, San Francisco, $35-$100, (415) 392-4400, www.cityboxoffice.com. (C.G.)

Martin Fröst and Roland Pöntinen
Swedish clarinetist Martin Fröst and pianist Roland Pöntinen perform two works by Schumann including his Fantasiestücke Op. 73, Ravel's Oiseaux tristes from Miroirs, as well as works by Messiaen and Hillborg. A special highlight will be a new piece for clarinet composed by Fröst. March 22, 8 p.m., Herbst Theatre, San Francisco, $27-$39, (415) 398-6449, www.performances.org. (c.G.)

Laquita Mitchell
San Francisco Opera Center continues the 24th season of the Schwabacher Debut Recital Series with soprano Laquita Mitchell, a Merola alumna. She is accompanied by Jeremy Frank, also a Merola alumnus, in a program of John Carter's Cantata, an arrangement of four spirituals, as well as works by Carlisle Floyd, Joseph Marx, Ned Rorem, and Joaquin Turina. March 25, 5:30 p.m., Temple Emanu-El, San Francisco, $10-$20, (415) 864-3330, www.sfopera.com. (C.G.)

Richard Goode
Pianist Richard Goode, a student of Rudolf Serkin who fosters the great Austrian traditions of classicism without making a fad of it, plays a wide repertory — Bach, Mozart, Brahms, and Chopin. I’ve not heard him as anything other than Mr. Reliable. March 26, 8 p.m., Davies Hall, San Francisco, $19-$65, (415) 392-2545, www.performances.org. (H.T.)

Ensemble Lucidarium
Italy's Ensemble Lucidarium plays Jewish music from the Italian Renaissance. "La Istoria de Purim" centers on the festival of Purim. The program has been presented around the world to rave reviews; a CD is available on Harmonia Mundi. March 15, 7:30 p.m., First Congregational, Berkeley, $22-$26, (510) 848-0237, www.jewishmusicfestival.org. (L.H.)

Baroque Banquet
Violinist John Holloway, an integral figure in the global early-music revival, ignites a program that ranges from better-known works by Bach and Vivaldi to lesser-known gems (and composers), such as Biber's Fidicinium sacro-profanum (Sacred-profane fiddle noise), Charpentier's overture and chaconne from Le rendez-vous des Tuileries, and Blow's overture and dances from Venus and Adonis. (See review.) The talented Elizabeth Blumenstock joins on violin. March 16, 8 p.m., Herbst Theatre, San Francisco; March 17, 8 p.m., Lafayette-Orinda Presbyterian Church, Lafayette; $29-$67, (415) 392-4400, www.philharmonia.org/Concert.htm. (C.G.)

Ensemble Masques
The Montreal-based Ensemble Masques presents music of 17th-century violin virtuoso Heinrich Biber and his contemporaries, Georg Muffat and Johann Heinrich Schmelzer. Biber, who celebrated the humanistic tradition of listening to music while partaking of a meal, is responsible for some of the hairier compostions of the 17th century. His works, as well as those by the infrequently tackled Muffat and Schmelzer, will be performed by Sophie Gent and Chloe Meyers, baroque violin; Elin Söderström and Mélisande Corriveau, bass viols; Josh Cheatham, violone; and Olivier Fortin, harpsichord. March 16, 8 p.m., First Lutheran Church, Palo Alto; March 17, 8 p.m., St. John's Presbyterian Church, Berkeley; March 18, 3:30 p.m., St. Gregory of Nyssa Episcopal Church, San Francisco; $29-$67, (510) 528-1725, www.sfems.org. (C.G.)

Biber's Mystery Sonatas
Heinrich Biber's phantasmagorical music was hardly known a decade ago. Important recordings and performances by violinist Andrew Manze, the English Concert, and the New York Collegium have changed all that. Cynthia Miller Freivogel (violin), Joanna Blendulf (cello), and Daniel Zuluaga (lute) play the middle set of his Mystery Sonatas, depicting the Passion of Christ. March 24, 8 p.m., Trinity Chapel, Berkeley, $8-$12, (510) 549-3864, www.trinitychamberconcerts.com. (L.H.)

The Seraglio
Berkeley Opera is bringing Mozart’s Abduction From the Seraglio to the Julia Morgan Theatre. (See review.) Mozart was rightly proud of this singspiel: In his first Viennese opera, he gave comic stereotypes the extra dimensions that we now identify as his trademark. Performed in an English translation by director Ross Halper and a modern-day libretto/adaptation by Amanda Moody, the production is conducted by George Thomson. March 16, 18, times vary, Julia Morgan Theatre, Berkeley, $15-$20, (925) 798-1300, www.berkeleyopera.org. (M.Z.)

Eugene Onegin
Tchaikovsky's romantic masterpiece based on Pushkin's novel comes to the North Bay Opera, fully staged and sung in Russian. (See review.) Nicolai Janitzky performs in the title tole, Tatyana is performed first by Paula Goodman Wilder and later by Svetlana Nikitenko, and Marie Soklova is Olga. March 16, 18, times vary, Fairfield Center for Creative Arts, Fairfield, $12-$38, (707) 428-7664, www.nothbayopera.org. (C.G.)

Symphony Silicon Valley
Symphony Silicon Valley offers a delectable program of modern works under Leslie Dunner. Copland’s Third Symphony, the sweeping culmination of his Americana period, is the sort of work SSV can bring vision to. Kodály’s Háry János Suite outdoes anything in the standard repertoire for flashy display of brass and percussion. As an appetizer, Ravel’s Bolero. This should be fun. March 17, 8 p.m.; March 18, 2:30 p.m.; California Theatre, San Jose, $36-$72, (408) 286-2600, www.symphonysiliconvalley.org. (D.B.)

Santa Rosa Symphony
Guest conductor Edward Gardner comes to Santa Rosa fresh from his appointment as music director of the English National Opera. He will lead the orchestra in Elgar’s Cello Concerto, a standard of the cello literature, to be performed by guest guest cellist Johannes Moser. Also on the program: Walton's Symphony No. 1 and Beethoven’s operatic Leonore Overture No. 3, complete with an offstage trumpet call. March 17-19, times vary, Wells Fargo Center, Santa Rosa, $27-$50, (707) 546-8742, www.santarosasymphony.com. (C.G.)

Arabian Nights and Russian Tales
Michael Morgan conducts a program that unites one Argentine composer with two Russians. Clarinetist Todd Palmer is soloist in the new orchestral arrangement of Osvaldo Golijov's Dreams and Prayers of Isaac the Blind, a work influenced by Jewish tradition and klezmer music that can be tied to the meteoric rise of the composer. Also on the program: Rimsky-Korsakov's bright, melodic Scheherazade, which recreates the tales of The Arabian Nights told by the clever young Scheherazade to her husband (the sultan), and Shostakovich's Ballet Suite No. 1 for Orchestra. March 23, 8 p.m., Paramount Theater, Oakland, $25-$62, (510) 444-0801, www.oebs.org. (C.G.)

Josquin Singers
The Josquin Singers perform a fascinating concert of Lenten music from the Eastern Orthodox tradition, featuring early Byzantine and Slavic chant and polyphony, in three free concerts around the Bay Area. March 15, 7:30 p.m., St. Matthew's Lutheran Church, San Francisco; March 17, 7:30 p.m., Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church, Sacramento; March 22, 7:30 p.m., Greek Orthodox Cathedral of the Ascension, Oakland; (510) 868-0695, free, www.bayareabach.org/. (M.B.)

Schola Cantorum San Francisco
Schola Cantorum San Francisco, the outstanding independent professional choir (formerly the resident choir of the National Shrine of Saint Francis of Assisi in San Francisco), performs a concert titled "In Exitu Israel," which promises music of penitence and redemption from the Tanakh, the Hebrew scriptures. March 16, 8 p.m., St. Peter and Paul Church, San Francisco; March 17, 8 p.m., St.Mark's Episcopal Church, Berkeley; March 18, 7 p.m., Main Post Chapel, Interfaith Center in the Presidio, San Francisco; (415) 419-3500, www.scholasf.org. (C.G.)

San Francisco Choral Artists
San Francisco Choral Artists, under Magen Solomon, sings a program called "I Hear America Singing." America has many voices, and the concert will include arrangements of spirituals, by Dawson, Hogan, and Hairston; psalm settings by Ives and Rochberg; folk settings, some of music from other countries, by Chen Yi, Parker, Allen, and Keller; works by local composers Richard Feliciano and Linda Mankin; and music by Barber, Carter, Bernstein, and Schuman. The program also features an exciting premiere, Fireworks, by SFCA composer-in-residence Jerry Mueller. March 17, 8 p.m., St. Gregory of Nyssa, San Francisco; March 18, 4 p.m., St. Paul's Cathedral, Oakland; March 31, 8 p.m., St. Mark's, Palo Alto; $12-$25, (415) 979-5779, www.sfca.org. (L.H.)

American Bach Soloists
The American Bach Soloists have spent the last several years performing music increasingly far from its original terrain, which was the unbelievably rich and unfamiliar world of the several-score Bach cantatas that aren't routinely performed. I, for one, am thrilled to see director Jeffrey Thomas following up his January return to the Bach cantatas with a second all-cantata concert, revisiting three pieces of which the ensemble has made memorable recordings (BWV 12, 18, and 106), and adding another two that it has never performed before (BWV 132 and 196). March 23, 8 p.m., St. Stephen's Church, Belvedere; March 24, 8 p.m., First Congregational Church, Berkeley; March 25, 7 p.m., St. Mark's Lutheran Church, San Francisco; March 26, 8 p.m., Davis Community Church, Davis; $10-$42, (415) 621-7900, www.americanbach.org. (M.D.T.)

Trio Mediæval
The marvelous Norwegian a cappella trio is back with a typical program: part 13th-century music, part new music written for the ensemble, taking advantage of its incredible control and clarity. March 25, 7 p.m., Herbst Theatre, San Francisco, $27-$44, (415) 392-2545, www.performances.org. (M.D.T.)

Chora Nova
Paul Flight leads the new chamber chorus Chora Nova in a concert of Brahms' Neue Liebeslieder Waltzes, Bading's Chansons Bretonnes, and works by Elgar, Jenner, Rheinberger, Finzi, and Vaughn Williams. March 25, 7:30 p.m., First Congregational Church, Berkeley, $10-$15, www.choranova.org. (M.B.)

Creative Voices
These first-rate singers feature the choral works of Francis Poulenc, including the stirring La Figure Humaine. April 1, 4 p.m., Holy Cross Church, Santa Cruz; (415) 861-3680, www.creativevoices.org. (M.B.)

Avedis
This program of trios — performed by the winning combination of Alexandra Hawley, flute; Stephen Harrison, cello; Paul Hersh; piano; and James Matheson, oboe — features rarely heard composers, one from Germany, another from France, and two Americans. There's the sparkling style of Friedrich Kuhlau, sometimes referred to as the "Beethoven of the Flute," as well as Eugène Goossens, contemporary composer Lowell Liebermann, and Arthur Foote, who had one foot in the 19th century and another in the 20th. Mar. 17, 2 p.m, Florence Gould Theater, San Francisco, $15-$20, (415) 392-4400, www.avedisconcerts.org. (C.G.)

Flora, Fauna, and Fantasy
You would think that the repertory for English horn, harp, alto, and soprano would be small, but the intrepid Julie Giacobassi (formerly of the San Francisco Symphony), Doug Rioth, Delia Voitoff-Bauman, and Deborah Kavasch have assembled an intruiging program for Noe Valley Chamber Music. They'll be playing music by Glinka, Faure, Kavasch herself, and John Marvin. March 18, 4 p.m., Noe Valley Ministry, San Francisco, $15-$18, (415) 648-5236, www.nvcm.org. (L.H.)

Takács Quartet
The Takács continues its Beethoven series here, and I can only reiterate what I and my colleague David Bratman said about the previous two installments. Go, if you possibly can. You're not likely to hear better quartet playing this year, anywhere. March 25, 3 p.m. (sold-out), Hertz Hall, UC Berkeley, $42, (510) 642-9988, www.calperfs.berkeley.edu. (M.D.T.)

Paul Dresher Ensemble
The Paul Dresher Ensemble revives 1988's Slow Fire, a seminal work in the group's history. Hallucinatory, improvisatory, total theater, Slow Fire has been hailed wherever it has been performed. The remarkable singer/dancer/actor Rinde Eckert wrote the text, Dresher composed the music, and the two and percussionist Gene Reffkin perform the piece. March 14, 15, 16, and 17, 8 p.m.; March 18, 2 p.m.; Project Artaud Theater, San Francisco, $16-$30, (415) 392-4400, www.dresherensemble.org. (L.H.)

sfSoundSeries
The upcoming sfSoundSeries concert will include Xennakis' Akanthos, Wadada Leo Smith's Emmeya, and Matthew Goodheart's Study No. 6. Perhaps most intruiging is Grand Duett, a work by the recently deceased Galina Ustvolskaya, a reclusive Shostakovich pupil whose music is just becoming known. March 19, 8 p.m., ODC Theater, San Francisco, $5, (415) 863-9834, www.sfsound.org. (L.H.)