Fresh Voices Bring New Opera
The Fresh Voices VI Festival of New Music Theatre concludes its two-week presentation of new opera, including Eye Eye Sailor by Steven Clark and Michael Wertz, Alan Crossman's The Music Department, Mark Alburger's Cats, Dogs, and Divas, and more. May 25 at 7:30 p.m., May 26-28 at 8 p.m., Thick House Theatre, San Francisco, $15-$25, (415) 4001-8081, www.goathall.org/Fresh2006/. (M.V.C.)

Butterfly for the People
It's called a "Plazacast," the live simulcast of San Francisco Opera's Madama Butterfly premiere, opening the summer season. With a full house inside the War Memorial and expected thousands of viewers in the Civic Center Plaza, Opera General Director David Gockley may just score a new attendance record for a subscription performance. Gockley introduced Plazacast in Houston 11 years ago, and he is already making plans for a similar "freebie" with the fall production of Carmen.

Staging Solutions of Houston is providing a 12-by-24-foot truck-mounted LED screen in the Plaza. Inside the War Memorial, an eight-camera digital video/audio system will produce the widescreen-format images and concert-quality audio to feed to the outdoor screen. You should come to the Plaza prepared as you would for any outdoor event in this cool, gray city by the Bay, with layers of warm clothes. Limited seating will be available, but bring your own folding chairs or blankets. Food and drinks will be sold onsite; if alcoholic beverages are sold, red wine is preferable for Puccini.

Both the Butterfly and the Suzuki are former Merola Program singers: Patricia Racette and Zheng Cao; Franco Farina's Pinkerton and Phillip Joll's Sharpless are San Francisco debuts. May 27, 8 p.m. curtain, but the outdoor event begins before then, in the operatic version of a tailgate party; free, (415) 861-4008, www.sfopera.com. (J.G.)

Peninsula Stravinsky
West Bay Opera concludes its 50th season with five performances of Stravinsky's The Rake's Progress, conducted by Mary Chun, directed by Jonathan Field, sets by Jean-François Revon, costumes by Richard Battle. The cast includes soprano Rhoslyn Jones as Anne Trulove, mezzo Carla López-Speziale as Baba the Turk, tenor Gerald Seminatore in the title role, and Kirk Eichelberger as Nick Shadow. May 27, June 2-3 at 8 p.m.; May 28, June 4 at 2 p.m., Lucie Stern Theater, Palo Alto, $23-$50, (650) 424-9999, www.WBOpera.org. (J.G.)

Summer Opera Offerings
As an authentic repertoire freak, I am always most interested in fresh musical experiences. So the usual excites my appetites most, and this summer offers numerous temptations. San Francisco Opera's summer season presents Puccini's Madama Butterfly (May 27 and 30, June 4, 8, 11, 16, 18, 21 and 25). And for the connoisseur, the jewel of the summer will be Tchaikovsky's Maid of Orleans, his Joan of Arc opera based on Schiller's play (June 3, 6, 9, 14, 18, and 28). Written after Eugene Onegin, Swan Lake, the first four Symphonies, and the First Piano Concerto, Tchaikovsky's Maid has only begun to creep into the international repertory, although it contains one of his most beautiful arias, Joan's "Adieu, forêts," which mezzo-soprano Dolora Zajick sings in the title role. Plus baritone Rod Gilfry as Lionel. May 27 – June 28, times and ticket prices vary; (415) 864-3330, www.sfopera.com. (H.T.)

Malcolm X
Oakland Opera presents Anthony Davis' X, the Life and Times of Malcolm X, tracing the Black Muslim leader's life from childhood to his founding of the Organization of Afro-American Unity, and finally his assassination. Davis, composer of the score for the stage presentations of Angels in America and Perestroika, followed Malcolm X, his first opera, with the science-fiction Under the Double Moon; Tania, about the abduction of Patricia Hearst; and Amistad, about a shipboard uprising by slaves. Deirdre McClure is music director; Michael Mohammed is stage director; Martin Bell is responsible for the production. The seemingly ever-present Joseph Wright sings the title role. June 2-3, 6-7, 9-10 at 8 p.m.; June 4, 11 at 2 p.m., $28-$32, (510) 763-1146, www.oaklandopera.org. (J.G.)

Andreas Scholl
The elegant countertenor Andreas Scholl comes to San Francisco for a recital, following a well-received run of Metropolitan Opera performances as Bertarido in Handel's Rodelinda. We won't get to hear his Bertarido, but he will be essaying Handel's Italian cantatas Nel dolce tempo and Vedendo amor, as well as works by Purcell, Haydn, and Mozart. May 25, 8 p.m., Herbst Theater, San Francisco, $27 and $49, (415) 398-6449, www.performances.org. (L.H.)

Hampson Sings Songs of America
Baritone Thomas Hampson, due in Herbst Theatre on June 5 for a recital of Schubert and Schumann lieder, will also "sing American" in San Jose a couple of days earlier. This will be the last stop of the 11-city Library of Congress-sponsored "Song of America" tour, a project involving recitals, lectures, exhibits — all about the history of classical song in this country. Accompanied by Wolfram Rieger, Hampson will speak and sing in a decades-long advocacy for works such as "Beautiful Dreamer," "Shenandoah," and "Ethiopia Saluting the Colors," songs which may be sampled in the baritone's online interpretation. June 3, 8 p.m., California Theatre, San Jose, $35-$60, (408) 286-2600, www.ticketmaster.com. Related educational workshops (free) on June 3: 9 a.m. to noon, and 2-5 p.m., both in the Martin Luther King Library, Room #213, San Jose. (J.G.)

Life, Love & Motherhood
Seventh Avenue Performances, between Irving and Judah Streets, presents soprano Susan Gundunas with pianist Daniel Lockert, celebrating Life, Love & Motherhood, with music of Alva Henderson, Mozart, Schubert, Copland, and Bernstein. June 4, 2 p.m., Seventh Avenue Presbyterian Church, San Francisco, $12-$15. (415) 664-2543, www.SAPerforms.org. (J.G.)

Academy Orchestra With Chee-Yun
The San Francisco Academy Orchestra, conducted by Florin Parvulescu, performs Schubert's Symphony No. 5 and two works by Mozart — Adagio for Violin and Orchestra and Violin Concerto No. 4 — featuring Chee-Yun as soloist. The Academy Orchestra is a new organization, formerly known as the San Francisco Student Philharmonic. May 24, 2 p.m., Herbst Theatre, $15-$50, (415) 392-4400, www.cityboxoffice.com. (J.G.)

"Symphony of a Thousand"
Mahler's mighty Eighth Symphony, the "Symphony of a Thousand," returns to Davies Symphony Hall for four performances under Michael Tilson Thomas, the last before the Symphony records the work two seasons hence. The overwhelming two-movement symphony sets the hymn "Veni, creator spiritus" and a scene from Goethe's Faust and earns its nickname by requiring eight soloists and an enormous chorus, including two children's chorus. These will be the last performances of the Eighth in which the choruses were prepared by retiring chorus master Vance George. They are reportedly sold out, and of course no terrace seats will be available, but watch for returns and the June 13 broadcast on KDFC. With Marisol Montalvo, soprano; Celena Shafer, soprano; Jennifer Welch-Babidge, soprano; Stephanie Blythe, mezzo-soprano; Elena Manistina, mezzo-soprano; Anthony Dean Griffey, tenor; James Johnson, baritone; and Raymond Aceto, bass; the S.F.S. Chorus, Pacific Boychoir, and San Francisco Girls Chorus. May 31-June 3, 8 p.m., Davies Symphony Hall, San Francisco, (415) 864-6000, www.sfsymphony.org. (L.H.)

"Music and Machines"
There aren't too many orchestra concerts that encourage children to attend, and include an old-fashioned ice cream social as an added inducement. In two concerts (the second being for families), the Mill Valley Philharmonic explores the relationship between music and machines, and explains things this way: "The driving rhythm of locomotion is precisely expressed in Arthur Honegger's Pacific 231. ... Copland's Quiet City evokes the haunting nighttime sounds a city dweller hears. ... The final movement of Dvorák's New World Symphony pounds out the rhythms of his image of America. The second movement of Beethoven's Symphony No. 8 features a parody of the recently invented metronome." Also on the program is Marin composer Tara Flandreau's Timepiece. June 2, 8 p.m., Mt. Tamalpais United Methodist Church, Mill Valley (tickets by donation); Family Concert/Ice Cream Social: June 4, 11 a.m., Tamalpais Valley Community Center, Mill Valley, free; (415) 383-8013, www.millvalleyphilharmonic.org. (M.B)

Silicon Valley Symphony
Michael Paul Gibson conducts the Silicon Valley Symphony (not to be confused with Symphony Silicon Valley) in a concert titled, rather laborously (and in an exclamatory fashion), "Great Scott! 'n' the Wright Stuff!" because ... Scott Krijnen is the soloist in the Dvorák Cello Concerto, and baritone Joseph Wright is presented in opera arias by Verdi, Bizet, and Wagner. Bizet's L'Arlesienne Suite No. 1 completes the program. June 3, 7:30 p.m., Presbyterian Church, Los Gatos, $15-$20, (408) 873-9000, www.bamusic.org/svs/. (J.G.)

Berkeley Festival and Exhibition
The Berkeley Festival and Exhibition of early music returns after a four-year hiatus. Its concert schedule, running from June 4 to 11, consists of eight programs (one of which is repeated) and the semifinal and final rounds of the American Bach Soloists & Henry I. Goldberg International Young Artists Competition. Chanticleer presents a program titled "La Guerre: Triumph & Tragedy at Mission Dolores" (not available as part of a Berkeley Festival subscription); The King's Noyse and The Whole Noyse combine in "Ornament and Splendor," a concert of 17th century German music. Le Poème Harmonique and Le Centre National des Arts du Cirque recreate the Roman Carnival season, complete with processions, singers, banquets, and commedia dell'arte. Le Poème Harmonique separately performs a concert of music by Michel Richard de Lalande. Most concerts are at Hertz Hall or Zellerbach on the UC Berkeley campus or First Congregational Church in Berkeley; concert pricing, times, and venues vary; http://bfx.berkeley.edu/bfx/.

This year's Exhibition, an opportunity to try out and purchase period instruments and meet publishers and early musicians, is on June 8, noon to 5 p.m., and June 9-10, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., at Berkeley's First Congregational Church; admission is free.

The official festival isn't all there is, though. The Fringe Festival, organized by the San Francisco Early Music Society, features several dozen additional events in various Berkeley locations. These include: Les Violettes playing Marais, Couperin, Sainte-Colombe on June 4; a (humorous) history of Western music by La Foolia on June 5; the Artists' Vocal Ensemble (AVE) concert titled "666: Music of the Apocalypse" on June 6; a Vox Populi concert devoted entirely to 15th century master Guillaume Dufay on June 7; Pedro Jesús Gómez playing Spanish and Italian Renaissance vilhuela music on June 8; a presentation by Peter Hallifax and Julie Jeffrey of the complete viol works of Antoine Forqueray each morning from June 5 to 9; a recorder play-in sponsored by the American Recorder Society on June 10; and a performance of motets from Couperin, Bernier, and others by Pacific Collegium on June 10. Fringe: June 4-11, times and venues vary, www.sfems.org/fringe2006.htm. (L.H.)

Basically British VII
Old First Concerts presents the seventh in a series of concerts of British chamber music, this one featuring Laura Albers, violin; Thomas Glenn, tenor; Adrienne Herbert, violin; Emil Miland, cello; John Parr, piano; and Elizabeth Prior Runnicles, viola. Glenn, who was a sensation in Doctor Atomic at San Francisco Opera last fall, sings songs by Sir Arnold Bax, Michael Tippett's cantata Boyhood's End, and Ivor Gurney's setting of Houseman's Ludlow and Teme for tenor, string quartet, and piano. Also on the program is Bax's Trio in One Movement for violin, viola, and cello. May 23, 8 p.m., Old First Church, San Francisco, $12-$15, (415) 474-1608, www.oldfirstconcerts.org. (L.H.)

Lee Trio at Herbst
Playing together since San Francisco Conservatory Preparatory Division days, pianist Melinda Lee, violinist Lisa Lee, and cellist Angela Lee have gone on to graduate, respectively, from Harvard, Curtis, and Yale, conquering concert halls in the U.S., Italy, China, and Finland, both separately and, as the Lee Trio, together. They are coming back to San Francisco for a concert in Herbst Theatre, performing the Beethoven Piano Trio No. 5 (Ghost), Schumann's Piano Trio No. 3, the Bach Chaconne from Violin Partita No. 2, arranged for piano trio, and San Franciscan Nathaniel Stookey's Above the Thomas Gate. May 24, 8 p.m., Herbst Theatre, $15-$50, (415) 392-4400, www.cityboxoffice.com. (J.G.)

Del Sol in All-Canadian Program
Violinists Kate Stenberg and Rick Shinozaki, violist Charlton Lee, and cellist Monica Scott are performing an all-Canadian program on the Del Sol Quartet's next series of concerts. The music featured in the Northern Lights events include the world premiere of Ronald Bruce Smith's String Quartet No. 2 (Nostalgia), Linda Catlin Smith's 1991 As You Pass a Reflective Surface, R. Murray Schafer's 1981 String Quartet No. 3, and José Evangelista's 1993 Spanish Garland. Wonder how they missed my favorite contemporary Canadian composer, Kelly-Marie Murphy, whose string quartets are accessible and brilliant. Maybe next time. May 24, 8 p.m., Ashby Stage, Berkeley; May 25, 7 p.m., Tateuchi Hall, Finn Center, Mountain View; May 26, 8 p.m., Veterans Building Green Room, San Francisco; May 28, 4 p.m., Dance Palace Center, Pt. Reyes Station, $7-$20, (415) 831-5672, www.delsolquartet.com. (J.G.)

By Jove!
The brilliant Jupiter Trio — violinist Robert Waters (former S.F. Opera associate concertmaster); DePaul School of Music faculty member and cellist Julian Hersh; and Bulgarian-born, German-trained San Francisco pianist Aglika Angelova — will sandwich Takemitsu's terribly difficult Between Tides between slices of majestic comfort-music, Beethoven's Trio, Op. 1, No. 3, and Schubert's Trio in E Flat, all in the delightful roundness of the Florence Gould Theater. May 28, 2 p.m., Legion of Honor, San Francisco, $27-$32, (415) 392-4400, www.chambermusicSF.org. (J.G.)

Chamber Music Sundaes
Various members of the San Francisco Symphony appear in concert under the name Chamber Music Sundaes, performing just what you'd expect: a Sunday afternoon chamber music series. Exactly who will be playing isn't announced in advance, but given the astonishing musical and technical abilities of the Symphony's players, it is reasonable to expect top-notch performances. The concert of May 28 will feature string quartets by the birthday boys — Mozart's in D Major, K. 575, and Shostakovich's 11th in F Minor — and the Violin Sonata of local composer Martin David Rokeach. May 28, 3:15 p.m., St. John's Presbyterian Church, Berkeley, $9-$21, (415) 584 5946, www.chambermusicsundaes.org. (L.H.)

Broderick Ensemble
The Broderick Ensemble plays an intriguing chamber music concert at Old First Church, featuring Hindemith's Viola Fantasy; Martin Loeffler's Trio for Piano, Viola, and Oboe; and Beethoven's String Quartet, Op. 59, No. 3, the third Rasumovsky quartet. Violist Elizabeth Prior Runnicles is the soloist for the Hindemith; Avi Downes and Marc Shapiro, piano; Laura Griffin, oboe; Chen Zhao, violin; Joe Meyer, violin; and Sarah Hong, cello. May 28, 4 p.m., $12-$15, Old First Church, San Francisco, (415) 474-1608, tickets at Ticketweb. (L.H.)

Dancing Across Cultures
Presidio Dance Theater presents the 2006 edition of Dancing Across Cultures, with original choreography by Sherene Melania, Jerry Duke, Thais Sobreira, and Albert Chan. The educational/performance company's mission is "to blend classical ballet and folklore to flow together in a single stream, bringing inexhaustible richness to the art of dance." Judy Bretschneider is founder of the parent Presidio Performing Arts Foundation, a nonprofit organization that provides free dance and performing arts training to underprivileged children from San Francisco's Bayview, Richmond, and Sunset districts. May 26, 7 p.m., Palace of Fine Arts Theater, San Francisco, $35, (415) 561-3958, www.presidiodance.org. (J.G.)

MTT-Goode: Stay Together
Michael Tilson Thomas is the composer and Joe Goode is the choreographer for the upcoming world premiere of the Joe Goode Performance Group's Stay Together, marking the company's 20th anniversary — and MTT's first contribution to dance. Starting with the composer's theater song by that name, described by MTT as a "mordant homage to a bygone era of pop," the music director and Goode developed, expanded, and reshaped the music for movement. June 2-3 and 9-10, 8 p.m.; June 4 and 11, 7 p.m., Yerba Buena Center Theater, $16-$40, (415) 978-2787, www.ybca.org. (J.G.)

Vox Populi Vocal Ensemble
Vox Populi performs music of the 15th century Burgundian master Guillaume Dufay, including Missa Ave Regina Coelorum and various motets. One of the latter, Nuper rosarum flores, was written for the dedication in 1436 of Florence Cathedral, and its musical proportions are identical to the physical proportions of the great church in which it was first performed. May 26, 8 p.m., St. Ann's Chapel, Palo Alto; May 27, 8 p.m., St. Mary Magdalen Church, Berkeley; June 7, 6 p.m., The Chapel of St. Joseph of Arimathea, Berkeley, $10-$12, (510) 843-3608, www.vox-pop.org/performance.php. (L.H.)

Creative Voices
This promising chamber chorus aims to "introduce audiences to the healing and transforming properties of vocal music." Its next concert, titled "Obscurantism and Enlightenment," features such Renaissance works as Josquin Desprez' Missa Pange Lingua, Clement Janequin's Le Chant des Oiseaux and La Guerre, and Mateo Flecha's Ensaladas. June 3, 8 p.m., St. Gregory of Nyssa Episcopal Church; June 4, 4 p.m., St. Mark's Episcopal Church, Berkeley, $13-$18, (415) 861-3680, www.creativevoices.org. (M.B.)

Ali Akbar Khan, in the Ninth Decade
The great sarod player and musical icon Ali Akbar Khan turned 84 last month, but he is going strong — both at the helm of his Ali Akbar College of Music in San Rafael, and in performance. Next up: a benefit concert of springtime ragas, with his son and sarod-playing colleague, Alam Khan, and tabla virtuoso Swapan Chaudhauri. To make this a true crossover item, consider that at the concert's special benefit auction, the main prize will be a drumhead signed by the surviving Grateful Dead during their 2004 "Wave That Flag" tour. May 26, 7 p.m., St. John's Presbyterian Church, Berkeley, $25-$35, (415) 454-626, www.aacm.org. (J.G.)

Musical Celebration of the Asian's 40th Birthday
As the Asian Art Museum turns 40, well-ensconced in its still-new quarters in the Civic Center, the summerlong birthday party includes a great deal of music. One of the first highlights is the MATCHA first-Thursday evening series, June 1 (and also July 6 and August 3), 6 to 9 p.m. Named after the Japanese powdered green tea of robust flavors and blends, MATCHA events feature such artists as classical Indian vocalist Sukhawat Ali Khan, who represents a 500-year lineage of musicians, hailing from the Sham Chaurasi Gharana school of music in the court of Akbar the Great. Throughout the summer, Asian Art Museum galleries and Samsung Hall, San Francisco, free with admission to the museum ($5 after 5 p.m.), except as noted above, (415) 581-3500, www.asianart.org. (J.G.)

Opera Guild Lectures
The San Francisco Opera Guild presents Simon Williams, chair of the UC Santa Barbara drama department, in a series of lectures about Puccini's Madama Butterfly, coming to the War Memorial this week. May 23, noon, Koret Auditorium, Main Library, San Francisco, free, (415) 565-3204; May 23, 7:30 p.m., Little House, Menlo Park, $8, (650) 329-1374; May 24, 8 p.m., St. Mark's United Methodist Church, Orinda, $7, (510) 531-5677; May 25, 10:30 a.m., Sonoma/Napa chapter, Kenwood Depot, Kenwood, $8, (707) 546-4379, www.sfopera.com. (J.G.)

Adams at Crowden
Composer John Adams will conduct the middle-school students of Berkeley's Crowden School at the Spring Celebration Concert. Motivated in part by two of his own children attending Crowden, Adams has long supported the school. The event is dedicated to cello teacher and Crowden faculty member Milly Rosner on her 80th birthday. On the program: Vaughan Williams, Mozart, Mendelssohn, and Dvorák. May 25, 7 p.m., First Congregational Church, Berkeley, free but tickets are required, (510) 559-6910, www.crowden.org. (J.G.)