Artist Spotlights

The violinist-turned-conductor tells of conducting for Karajan, being encouraged by Previn, and having a sports-minded family.

For the first time, visionary New York City vocalist Meredith Monk and the Oakland-based Kitka Women’s Vocal Ensemble will showcase four decades of Monk’s dramatic compositions.

Open to improvising, the Venezuelan pianist knows her own voice and says she loves sharing it with audiences.

The young French artist is well on the rise, performing this week with the S.F. Symphony — and in June playing “live” to hundreds of American theaters with fellow hotshot Gustavo Dudamel.

Frederica von Stade shares her master class strategies, plans for the future, gratitude for her “guardian angels” ... and joy at being a new grandma.

After-hours at the Symphony, Joan Jeanrenaud and PC Munoz promise to stir up the joint with mashups for cello and percussion/beats.

Christian Tetzlaff, visiting S.F. with his longtime quartet, insists that a chamber musician’s job is to draw listeners into the story — whether of friendship, compassion, intimate feelings, or terrible things happening.

Trevor Pinnock lives to make music, and believes that it should sound freshly made. When at rest, he prefers listening to silence.

Acclaimed cellist Zuill Bailey talks with SFCV about his love-at-first crush with the cello, doing what he loves for a living in El Paso and Alaska, his passion for musical outreach programs, and working on the television series Oz.

Since winning the lieder prize at the 1997 Cardiff Singer of the World competition, Christopher Maltman has ascended to the top ranks of operatic baritones. Yet Maltman is an avid recitalist. He talks with SFCV about his upcoming performance, his voice, and the future.