Lisa Hirsch

Julia Wolfe’s new oratorio makes a passionate feminist argument that’s musically and theatrically unrelenting.

Toshi and Bernice Johnson Reagon’s operatic rendering of Octavia Butler’s novel is scarily on point but also musically winning.

Michel van der Aa’s elusive and subtle work is brilliantly realized at Cal Performances.

The Norwegian group sings spiritual music from ancient to modern with its usual exquisite touch.

The composer’s dark, often mocking orchestral work shares space with Brahms’s First Piano Concerto and Sibelius’s Symphony No. 3.

Allen Shearer and Claudia Stevens’s operatic take on The Tempest succeeds most in musical moments that depart entirely from the original.

The ensemble’s Cal Performances appearance brought a unique intensity to Kaija Saariaho’s Terra Memoria and Schubert’s final quartet.

Under Music Director Thomas Conlin, the orchestra, founded in 2020, is exceeding expectations in every way.

The pioneering flutist and SF Symphony collaborative partner makes a masterpiece out of Marcos Balter’s imaginative work.

Classical insiders, like conductor JoAnn Falletta, have major issues with the film’s veracity, but they’re still fascinated.