Previews

In a good production, Osvaldo Golijov and David Henry Hwang’s 80-minute opera Ainadamar packs one heck of a punch.

Pablo Heras-Casado’s mastery of contemporary-music idioms is perfect for the S.F. Symphony’s West Coast premiere of Magnus Lindberg's EXPO.

Promising a feast for the senses, Opera Parallèle’s Ainadamar employs flamenco devices as it depicts incidents in the life of the murdered poet Federico García Lorca.

The upcoming SFS concerts promise a stunning week in a unique chance to hear truly massive pieces of the choral-orchestral repertoire.

Styles of Baroque dance are being brought back to life by a new dance ensemble, accompanied by veteran early-music instrumentalists.

When Lynn Harrell and the Berkeley Symphony led by Music Director Joana Carneiro take on Witold Lutoslawski’s Cello Concerto, they will be taking a trip to the dark side that balances, in a radical way, the vivacity of Rachmaninov’s Symphonic Dances, also on the program.

The Bay Area is so awash in great early music players, that when San Francisco Early Music Society decided to feature more local groups on their programming, it opened itself to more diversity than probably anyone but the local HIP community knew was out there.

The Calder Quartet, which formed at the Thornton School at USC and then continued training at Colburn School in Los Angeles, has been seen frequently in the Bay Area over the past few years. 

Portland-based Capella Romana is a world-class male vocal group specializing in Greek Orthodox and Slavic church music. If that’s outside your normal sphere of activity, you have a good reason to hear this group.

You won’t want to miss Hilary Hahn, who sails into San Francisco Performances with a couple of repertory warhorses and selections from her inspirational “encores” project.