One meaning of meridian is pinnacle, or the highest possible point. This denotation surely befits the Meridian Arts Ensemble, which is a brass quintet — two trumpets, horn, trombone, and tuba — plus a percussionist.
Certainly you’ve heard Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, both live and on recordings, over the years. But have you heard it played on a violin that inspired an Academy Award–winning movie?
That’s what’s in store at the Marin Symphony program coming up on Nov. 1 and 3.
Natasha Paremski, a fine pianist who captivated audiences in her debut recital here a year and a half ago, returns to the Bay Area to play Rachmaninov's beloved Piano Concerto No. 2 with the Peninsula Symphony. Mitchell Sardou-Klein's hardworking group are also presenting Shostakovich's whimsical Symphony No. 9 and Wagner's Overture to Rienzi.
The San Francisco Symphony has an unabashedly populist side that is refreshing and possibly also remunerative — not a small consideration for an expensive institution. Celebrating the opening of the Walt Disney Family Museum with music from classic Disney films will make a pops concert of great variety, however.
If your kids are still too young for the traditional concert hall experience, they can certainly shake, rattle, and roll at The Crowden School’s free Community Music Day — the biggest classical jam session around for kids up through the age of 6, on Oct. 25 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The former Santa Cruz Chamber Orchestra is kicking off its first season under a new name with two energetic and attractive modern works for strings and trumpet: Arthur Honegger’s Symphony No. 2 and Shostakovich’s Piano Concerto No. 1, the latter with pianist Brenda Tom.