Alexander Scriabin’s symphonic poem Prometheus, The Poem of Fire celebrates synesthesia and cosmic unity. San Francisco Symphony music mirector Esa-Pekka Salonen has partnered with pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet and Cartier in-house perfumer Mathilde Laurent to create a multisensory production of Prometheus that aims to realize Scriabin’s vision of a truly synesthetic work of art. March 1-3. https://www.sfsymphony.org/Discover-the-Music/Prometheus
Lyric Opera of Orange County celebrates the 100th anniversary of Ethel Smyth’s Fête galante with a production directed by Diana Farrell, calling it “a debaucherous dance-dream.” This story thrusts familiar commedia dell’arte characters into the psyche of the 20th century. Performances March 8-10. https://lyricoperaoc.org/
In a special program called The Wonders We Carry Inside, Iranian-American composer Gity Razaz will curate a collection of music for the spring equinox, honoring the mystical beauty of Persian culture and the power of women to shape history both past and present. Razaz will be joined by members of the San Diego Symphony for […]
Throughout the 2023-34 season, the San Francisco Symphony will present its SoundBox series, curated by four musicians on each of four weekends. The small Soundbox space is designed to allow for multi-sensory, interactive experiences. Expect the unexpected. Get ready to see musical experiments in action. The details of the SoundBox programs remain under wraps, but […]
Resilience is the title of the April 19-21 program by the San Francisco Chamber Orchestra. Trevor Weston’s Aqua, a commission made via the Emerging Black Composers Project, will receive its world premiere. Works by Caroline Shaw, Stravinsky, and Schumann are also on tap. https://www.thesfco.org/main-stage-202324
San Jose Opera will produce its first-ever Spanish-language opera, Florencia en al Amazones by Mexican composer Daniel Catan. Directed by Crystal Manich and conducted by Joseph Marcheso, the opera is based on Gabriel García Márquez’s novel Love in the Time of Cholera. Performances run April 20-May 5. https://www.operasj.org/
The Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra has commissioned a new work from L.A.-based composer Derrick Skye. The premiere of To Be a Horizon, described as multicultural exploration designed to deconstruct cultural divides, will take place April 20-21, with guests Tereza Stanislav on violin and Yura Lee on viola. Conductor Jaime Martín will also lead Mozart’s Sinfonia […]
South Korean composer Unsuk Chin was co-commissioned to write Alaraph ‘Ritus des Herzschlags’ for the San Francisco Symphony, which will give its U.S. premiere on May 16-18. Chin has described the work as having two main inspirations: pulsating binary stars and the traditions of Korean courtly and folk music. Ryan Bancroft conducts this program, which includes […]
Although she is not yet 30, composer Nina Shekhar has already won a long list of awards and accepted commissions from some of America’s leading orchestras. The Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra will give the world premiere of her work Sound Investment on the May 24-25 concert conducted by Jaime Martín. Gabriela Montero will be the […]
Innocence, an opera by the late Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho, will receive its U.S. premiere June 1-21 at the San Francisco Opera. The story, told in eight languages through Sofi Oksanen’s libretto, deals with the long-term emotional consequences of a school shooting in Helsinki. The production will be conducted by Saariaho specialist Clément Mao-Takacs. https://www.sfopera.com/
Under the curatorship of music director Mitsuko Uchida, the 2024 Ojai Music Festival will give special focus to three composers: Kaija Saariaho, Helmut Lachenmann, and Sofia Gubaidulina. All three are represented in the June 7 “Ojai Dawns” series program (at 8 am) with Jay Campbell on cello, Sae Hashimoto on percussion, and Ljubinka Kulisic on […]
For the final festival program of 2024, Ojai music director Misuko Uchida will lead the Mahler Chamber Orchestra in Haydn’s Symphony No. 46 and Jörg Widmann’s Chorale Quartet. To complete the June 9 concert, Uchida will solo in Mozart’s Piano Concerto in G, K. 453. https://ojaifestival.my.salesforce-sites.com/ticket/#/events/a0SU1000000Z1XVMA0
The 2024 season opener on July 20 at Music@Menlo is titled Baroque Tableau. Festival chamber players will perform music of the late Baroque, from Buxtehude and F. Couperin to Rameau and Rebel. Telemann and J.S. Bach make an appearance too. https://musicatmenlo.org/cp/?evt=1745
Two 20th-century anti-war works anchor the Aug. 8-10 program at Music@Menlo: George Crumb’s Black Angels and Olivier Messiaen’s Quartet for the End of Time. The chamber concert opens with two late works by Bach. https://musicatmenlo.org/cp/?evt=1753
Esa-Pekka Salonen is joined by pianist Alexandre Tharaud in his San Francisco Symphony debut Sept. 27–28, performing the world premiere of Nico Muhly’s Baroque-inspired Piano Concerto. The program features three additional works that draw inspiration from an earlier time: Paul Hindemith’s raucous Ragtime (Well-Tempered), Edward Elgar’s transcription of Bach’s Fantasia and Fugue in C minor, BWV […]
In a wide-ranging program Oct. 17-19 conducted by Grete Pedersen, the Philharmonia Baroque will play works spanning more than a millenium, from Hildegard of Bingen to Caroline Shaw. Thomas Carroll, specialist in basset clarinet, will solo in Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto. https://philharmonia.org/2024-25-season/dreams-passions/
Laura Karpman’s new work will receive its world premiere at the Nov. 2-3 program by the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra. Jeff Beal’s Body in Motion for Violin and Orchestra, featuring Kelly Hall-Tomkins, will also be performed on the West Coast for the first time. The program includes two symphonies under the baton of Jaime Martín: […]
Antonio Cagnoni’s Don Bucefalo will be performed for the first time in the U.S. since 1867 when Pacific Opera Project presents this slapstick comedy at the Garibaldina Society, one of LA’s hottest retro spots. This production will offer an optional Italian dinner add-on complete with pasta, salad, and wine! Kyle Naig conducts, with Josh Shaw […]
Conductor Bernard Labadie will make his debut with the San Diego Symphony on Nov. 9-10. The program includes two Mozart works—the overtures to The Magic Flute and La clemenza di Tito—as well as Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 1 (with Jonathan Biss) and Haydn’s Drum Roll Symphony No. 103. https://www.sandiegosymphony.org/performances/biss-plays-beethoven/
On Nov. 22 members of the San Diego Symphony will give the city’s premiere of the chamber opera Tres Minutos. The opera, by composer Nicolás Lell Benavides and librettist Marella Martin Koch, imagines the story of a brother and sister who share DNA but not citizenship. When one is deported, questions of identity, duty, and […]
