Marianne Lipanovich

Composer Jennifer Higdon may have come late to the world of classical music (she famously didn’t start playing a musical instrument until she was in her teens), but she has certainly made up for any lost time. She holds the Milton L. Rock Chair in Composition Studies at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, she’s in demand as a composer for symphonies and festivals, and her most famous work, blue cathedral, has become an often-performed staple of modern classical music. She returns to the Bay Area in August for the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music, where two of her pieces will be featured.

Who would think that the “fun” chamber concert at the Carmel Bach Festival will be a ballad opera that is based on an early 18th-century poem about economic theories of the free market and was inspired by the economic downturn in 2008? Hark, The Grumbling Hive, scheduled for the mornings of July 23 and 30.

In some ways, pianist Joyce Yang is merely getting started. She graduated from the Juilliard School in May, and is still only age 23. When you look at her accomplishments to date, though, you’ll find that hard to believe. She has been called “the most gifted young pianist of her generation," and here she talks about music that moves people to tears, filming a documentary as the youngest in the Van Cliburn competition; and in her spare time — food, wine, and hitting the gym.

This is not your grandmother’s chamber music.

Sure, there are some similarities. When the Double Duo, the newest chamber music grouping of the Paul Dresher Ensemble, takes the stage at Old First Concerts on June 4 and 6, you’ll see concerts designed to explore both the range of conventional instruments doing unconventional pieces and the combination of conventional and unconventional instruments.

After 29 years with the San Francisco Symphony, violist Geraldine Walther left to join the Takács Quartet. She returns on June 6 for a performance at the Herbst Theatre. Here, she talks about the Brahms she wants to play before kicking the bucket, the challenge of performance in a quartet, and why mowing the lawn can be more rewarding than learning French.

The San Francisco Bach Choir is holding a Thanksgiving celebration, of sorts, at its next performances, on May 15 and 16. The program, “Celebrating American Heroes,” is more than just an acknowledgment of the famous heroes and events in American history.

Stephen Hough wears a lot of hats — here, the "pianist's pianist" and blogger talks about his upcoming performance and tribute to Alfred Cortot and Paris, how he starts the day, nearly becoming a priest, and everything from hats to pudding.

It’s story time at the Marin Center in San Rafael when the Marin Symphony plays its upcoming Family Concert the afternoon of May 8. “Once Upon a Symphony,” conducted by George Thomson, explores musical works that are based on old and new childhood tales, from Mother Goose to Harry Potter.