Every fall, we survey the upcoming Bay Area’s classical music schedule and try to pick out some of the most promising highlights from the upcoming cornucopia.
Not since before the arrival of COVID-19 has that selection process felt so painful. For every event included here, there are two or three I had to leave out, lest the list swell to an unmanageable size.
So please take this not as a complete guide, but as a skim across the surface of everything this amazing region has to offer — opera, chamber music, contemporary music, choral offerings and so much more.
These should be enough to get you started.
‘The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs’
This quintessentially Bay Areaopera, a tale of Silicon Valley doings created by South Bay composerMason Bates, was due to arrive at San Francisco Opera in summer 2020. Well, we know what happened to that plan.
Now the wait is over, and this intricately nuanced retelling of familiar events will finally receive its local premiere.
Baritone John Moore makes his company debut in the title role, with Sasha Cooke as Laurene Powell Jobs and Bille Bruley as Apple co-founderSteve Wozniak.
Sept. 22-Oct. 3. $26-$378. War Memorial Opera House, 301 Van Ness Ave., S.F. 415-864-3330.www.sfopera.com
S.F. Symphony concerto premieres
For two successive weeks this fall, the San Francisco Symphony and Music DirectorEsa-Pekka Salonenplan to present the commissioned world premieres of substantive new concertos by two of Sweden’s leading living composers.
On Oct. 6-7, violinist Pekka Kuusisto, one of Salonen’s team ofCollaborative Partners, will introduce “Convergence,” a violin concerto by Jesper Nordin.
The following week, from Oct. 12-14, pianist Emanuel Ax joins the orchestra to premiere a piano concerto by the inventive and unpredictable Anders Hillborg.
Oct. 6-Oct. 14. $25-$169. Davies Symphony Hall, 201 Van Ness Ave., S.F. 415-864-6000.www.sfsymphony.org
‘Of Mice and Men’
The operas of the late Carlisle Floyd, tunefully wrought and full of canny dramatic purpose, are still struggling to maintain their rightful place in the repertoire. Any chance to encounter one in live performance is welcome.
That’s particularly true in connection with Livermore Valley Opera, which has been punching well above its weight in recent years.
For Floyd’s 1970 adaptation of the classic John Steinbeck novella, the company has enlisted Matthew Pearce and Robert Mellon as the iconic duo of Lennie and George, and soprano Véronique Filloux sings Curley’s Wife.
Livermore Valley Opera. Oct. 7-15. $20-$105. Bankhead Theater, 2400 First St., Livermore. 925-373-6800.www.livermorevalleyopera.com
Christine Goerke
The great American operatic soprano has given San Francisco Opera audiences some of our most unforgettable experiences in recent years, most notably the title role in the electrifying 2017 production of Strauss’ “Elektra.” While we wait for her to return to the War Memorial Opera House, we can console ourselves with a solo recital in the more intimate setting of UC Berkeley’s Hertz Hall.
Goerke’s recital, together with pianist Craig Terry, is dubbed “A Celebration of the American Diva.” It features music by Wagner, Strauss and Brahms, but also an array of American popular song.
3 p.m. Oct. 8. $77-$82. Hertz Hall, UC Berkeley. 510-642-9988.www.calperformances.org
‘Olimpia Vendicata’
Every year, with welcome reliability, Céline Ricci and her Baroque opera companyArs Minervadive into the archives and come up with a completely forgotten operatic gem from centuries gone by.
This year’s offering is “Olimpia Vendicata,” an opera from 1682 by the Italian composer Domenico Freschi. No one today knows anything about him or the piece — that’s part of the adventure — but we will all learn about it together.
The cast, led by conductor Matthew Dirst, includes Leslie Katter in the title role, and such local luminaries as Aura Veruni, Sara Couden and Deborah Rosengaus.
Oct. 20-22. $27-$250. ODC Theater, 3153 17th St., S.F. 415-863-9834.www.arsminerva.org
JACK Quartet
Perhaps the only thing more enticing than the prospect of an evening’s worth of music by American composer John Luther Adams is the chance to hear it performed by theJACK Quartet.
Even through a series of personnel changes, the ensemble has remained one of the leading proponents of contemporary music, and Adams’ work — probing, contemplative and deeply attuned to nature — is among the great pleasures of the musical landscape.
The program offers an array of characteristically Adamsian music, including “Untouched,” “Lines Made by Walking” and “The Wind in High Places.”
7:30 p.m. Oct. 26. $50-$70. Herbst Theatre, 401 Van Ness Ave., S.F. 415-392-2545.www.sfperformances.org
Los Angeles Master Chorale
Director Grant Gershon has shaped this chorus into an extraordinary ensemble, one that can sing with both precision and expressive alertness in the most wide-ranging repertoire. The group’s collaborations with directorPeter Sellarsaren’t alwaystheatrically persuasive, but they’re always fascinating and musically alive.
The latest offering is “Music to Accompany a Departure,” an exploration of grief and farewell based on the funerary masterpiece “Musikalische Exequien” by the great Baroque composer Heinrich Schütz. Catch it in Berkeley this fall, or in April as part of Stanford Live at Bing Concert Hall (or both).
8 p.m. Oct. 28. $55-$90. Zellerbach Hall, UC Berkeley. 510-642-9988.www.calperformances.org
California Festival
This 2½-weekcelebration of new musicin California promises to be an ambitious, all-encompassing project combining the efforts of 95 musical organizations statewide.
The roster includes just about every organization of note from the Bay Area — not just the San Francisco Symphony, one of the orchestras spearheading the project, but the New Century Chamber Orchestra, Santa Rosa Symphony, Volti, Chanticleer, Left Coast Chamber Ensemble and many more.
Nov. 3-19. Various Bay Area locations.www.cafestival.org
Rhiannon Giddens
Anyone who has yet to experience the expansive and astonishingly versatile artistry of the composer and performer Rhiannon Giddens will have plenty of opportunities to make up for it this fall.
Giddens’ opera “Omar,” which just won thePulitzer Prize for Music在旧金山,是由于当地首映Opera, which co-commissioned the piece. The opera, with a score by Giddens and composer Michael Abels, features tenor Jamez McCorkle in the title role of an African Islamic scholar sold into slavery in South Carolina.
At the same time, Giddens is slated to appear around the Bay Area with the Silkroad Ensemble in “American Railroad,” a portrait of the multiethnic collaborations that allowed Americans to span the continent in the 19th century.
“Omar”: San Francisco Opera. Nov. 15-21. $26-$378. War Memorial Opera House, 301 Van Ness Ave., S.F. 415-864-3330.www.sfopera.com
“American Railroad”: Rhiannon Giddens and Silkroad Ensemble. 7:30 p.m. Nov. 15. $15-$110. Bing Concert Hall, 327 Lasuen St., Stanford. 650-724-2464.live.stanford.edu• 8 p.m. Nov. 17. $45-$79. Zellerbach Hall, UC Berkeley. 510-642-9988.www.calperformances.org• 7:30 p.m. Nov. 18. $55-$140. Weill Hall, Green Music Center, Rohnert Park. 707-664-4246.gmc.sonoma.edu
Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra & Chorale
1689年亨利珀塞尔的歌剧大师piece“Dido and Aeneas”would seem to be the complete package, a streamlined hour-long tale of love, betrayal and death. But there’s more to be done with it.
The Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra & Chorale, led by conductor John Butt, plans to present “Dido’s Ghost,” a newly composed prequel by the acclaimed British composer Errollyn Wallen with a libretto by novelist Wesley Stace.
Two performances are followed by two of Purcell’s original, with soprano Nicole Heaston as both Didos.
“Dido’s Ghost”: 7:30 p.m. Nov. 29-30. $30-$100. Herbst Theatre, 401 Van Ness Ave., S.F. “Dido and Aeneas”: 2:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Dec. 2, First Congregational Church, 2345 Channing Way, Berkeley. 415-295-1900.www.philharmonia.org
Reach Joshua Kosman:jkosman@sfchronicle.com;Twitter:@JoshuaKosman