Rebecca Wishnia

Kaija Saariaho is being given a great composer’s retrospective this month, and her music more than justifies the celebration.

In a refreshing departure, the S.F. Symphony, with guest conductor Susanna Mälkki, highlighted the music of Finland.

Tenor Rinde Eckert, the Kronos Quartet, and Vietnamese multi-instrumentalist Vân-Ánh Võ are collectively powerful in this new opera.

The young string quartet, the first quartet-in-residence at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, also performed early works by Webern and Beethoven.

The ensemble’s interpretations of Beethoven’s late quartets at The Berkeley Hillside Club were too temperate.

Pieces by Missy Mazzoli and Nico Muhly were the only standouts in a program of music that lacked ambition and scale.

The cellist shows polish and musicality in new, experimental works.

The chamber opera follows the transition of a transgender person to womanhood, sung simultaneously by baritone Dan Kempson and mezzo-soprano Brenda Patterson.

The annual event, commemorating the summer solstice, brings together over 40 groups for a unique experience.

New arrangements refresh Wagner’s Wesendonck Lieder and Mahler’s Rückert-Lieder.