Bay Area Music Groups
The Bay Area is home to literally hundreds of classical music organizations, from community choruses to world-renowned orchestras, opera companies and chamber ensembles. This listing provides all the vital statistics for Bay Area music groups, as well as a summary of what they do best. Search by type of organization or alphabetically. Note to classical music groups: If your organization is not listed here or there is an error in your listing, please email Eric@sfcv.org.
Sacramento Baroque Soloists
Founded: 2001
Artistic Director: Lisa Lawson
Where to hear them: Sacramento, California
Sacramento Choral Society and Orchestra
Founded: 1996
Artistic Director: Donald Kendrick, Music Director
Sacramento Opera
The mission of the Sacramento Opera is to produce outstanding opera, to develop and cultivate a wider public interest in opera and its allied arts, and to further music education in the region.
Founded: 1947 (as the Sacramento Opera Guild)
Artistic Director: Timm Rolek
Where to hear them: The Community Center Theater in Sacramento
Sacramento Philharmonic
Artistic Director: Michael Morgan
Where to hear them: The Community Center Theater in Sacramento
Sacramento Youth Symphony
The program is made up of 5 ensembles for young musicians. The repertoire is often difficult and always challenging.
Founded: 1956 (as the Northern California Junior Philharmonic Orchestra)
Artistic Director: Michael Neumann
Where to hear them: Mondavi Center at UC Davis and other Sacramento area venues
Sacred and Profane
This amateur chamber chorus presents a cappella performances of sacred and secular music from all eras. With only 18-24 voices, concerts provide an intimate musical experience.
Founded: 1977
Artistic Director: Rebecca Seeman
Where to hear them: Various churches in San Francisco and the East Bay
San Domenico Music Conservatory
The Conservatory integrates music education into the curriculum for boys and girls from Pre-K to 8th grade and Girls from 9th to 12th grades. The Virtuoso Program (VP) is the most advanced level in the Music Conservatory's group instrumental music curriculum. Since 1977 the Virtuoso Program has provided advanced music instruction to Upper School string players who wish to dedicate themselves to an intense course of study
Founded: 1850
Artistic Director: Robin Creighton Ravazzini
Where to hear them: Dominican Hall at the Conservatory
San Domenico Virtuoso Program
Founded: 1977
Artistic Director: George Thomson, Music Director; Robin Ravazzini, Managing Director
Where to hear them: Bettye Poetz Ferguson Hall, San Domenico School, 1500 Butterfield Rd, San Anselmo
San Francisco Academy Orchestra
Each year, young professional musicians from all over the Bay Area take the Academy Orchestra audition. Those selected for the "Academy Experience" are given the opportunity to rehearse and perform alongside members of the San Francisco Symphony.
Founded: 2006
Artistic Director: Andrei Gorbatenko, Music Director
San Francisco Accordion Club
Founded: 1990
Where to hear them: 2:00 p.m. every 3rd Sunday at Oyster Point Yacht Club, So. San Francisco
San Francisco Bach Choir
One of the oldest community choirs in the West, this ensemble is known for its historically accurate presentations of Bach and other choral composers of the late Renaissance and Baroque periods. The group specializes in antiphonal (multi-choir) works, and collaborates with first-rate professional instrumentalists and vocal soloists.
Founded: 1935
Artistic Director: Corey Jamason
Where to hear them: Calvary Presbyterian Church, San Francisco
San Francisco Ballet
As America’s oldest professional ballet company, San Francisco Ballet has enjoyed a long and rich tradition of artistic “firsts” since its founding in 1933, performing the first American productions of Swan Lake and Nutcracker, as well as the first 20th-century American Coppélia. A lively, vital ensemble, San Francisco Ballet is one of the three largest ballet companies in the United States.
Founded: 1933
Artistic Director: Helgi Tomasson
Where to hear them: War Memorial Opera House
