Previews

The Japanese guitarist Shin-Ichi Fukuda possesses an astonishingly large repertoire, ranging from the Renaissance to the present day.

Berkeley Symphony and their music director, Joana Carneiro deeply engage contemporary symphonic music in all its diversity. 

Magen Solomon’s San Francisco Choral Artists, having justreceived a favorable review in Fanfare for their recent With Strings Attached CD, should makeanyone’s shortlist of choral concerts to attend.

The Alexander String Quartet visits the Mondavi Center with Schubert quartets on the bill. The Alexanders are a superb, long-standing group which doesn’t get enough credit for their fine music-making.

The Ives Quartet is the second act in the Crowden Music Center’s marvelous Sundays@Four concert series.

This combination ought to make people sit up and take notice: conductor George Cleve and pianist Peter Serkin performing Brahms’ First Piano Concerto. 

The New Esterhazy Quartet's concert is a fascinating way to mull over the Haydn-Beethoven teacher-student relationship, and it will be great to see these fantastic period instrumentalists dig into Beethoven’s masterpiece. 

Walnut Creek’s esteemed Festival Opera does an about-face, to present an innovative opera experience that evokes issues of judgment and kindness and acceptance.

Anyone who doesn’t yet know that Kansas-bred former Merolina Joyce DiDonato is a treasurable and highly versatile artist can join her throngs of devotees for “Drama Queens”.

The Brasil Duo is equally at home on a classical or a world music series, and its innovative programming features a seamless blend of traditional and Brazilian works.