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"content": "\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/san-francisco-symphony\">San Francisco Symphony\u003c/a> has appointed Elim Chan as its new music director. The 39-year-old conductor born in Hong Kong has signed a six-year contract, the Symphony announced on Thursday.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The appointment is a historic one. Chan will be the first woman to lead the San Francisco Symphony in its 115-year history. She is also the first woman to be hired as music director by one of the so-called “Big 7” symphony orchestras in the United States, encompassing New York, Boston, Cleveland, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco and Philadelphia.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Chan, who recently served as principal conductor for the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra in Belgium, is lesser-known than her two predecessors in San Francisco: \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/michael-tilson-thomas\">Michael Tilson Thomas\u003c/a>, who led the orchestra for 25 years and died earlier this month, and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13954083/esa-pekka-salonen-steps-down-sf-symphony\">Esa-Pekka Salonen\u003c/a>, who stepped down in 2024.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>But Chan is a much-talked-about rising star in the classical world, serving as principal guest conductor of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, and guest conducting the major orchestras in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Boston to effusive reviews. She made her debut at the San Francisco Symphony in 2023, and has since returned twice, drawing acclaim from audiences, musicians and critics.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In an interview with KQED Thursday at Davies Symphony Hall, Chan emphasized that one of her goals in San Francisco is to change the public’s perception of the symphony.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A big thing of mine is how to get people who have never listened to classical music, who think that they are not educated enough, or they feel they’re not comfortable enough,” Chan said. “All sorts of reasons, right? We are going to take all those reasons \u003cem>out\u003c/em>. Because coming to the symphony is so cool.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">She can ‘bring out the best’\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>After her 2023 debut at Davies, the \u003cem>San Francisco Chronicle\u003c/em> hailed Chan as “a promising podium talent, one who combines lithe physical command with a wealth of artistic resources.” Last year, after an all-Tchaikovsky program, the \u003cem>San Francisco Classical Voice\u003c/em> enthused that “it’s clear by now that conductor \u003ca href=\"https://datebook.sfchronicle.com/classical/review-sf-symphony-elim-chan-holst-18436788\">Elim Chan\u003c/a> can bring out the best in a top-rank orchestra.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The Symphony is betting that it can offer Chan a sizable enough platform to propel her further upward. Already, she is slated to conduct a program of Berlioz, Debussy and Wagner at Davies on June 5 and 6. Her first full season as music director begins in 2027.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The appointment also marks a victory for San Francisco in its sometime rivalry with Los Angeles. While the Symphony’s selection process for a music director is a highly guarded one, Chan had been one of the names whispered amongst pundits as a contender in San Francisco. Chan had also conducted regularly for the L.A. Philharmonic, and was viewed as a potential successor there to Gustavo Dudamel, whose namesake fellowship she was awarded in 2017.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\nhttps://youtu.be/fvMRqU1EU_U?si=Pxqu07JY5octt3cu\n\u003c/div>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>As a conductor, Chan’s style may best be described as outsized. Praised for her energy and rhythm, and noted for bringing precision and verve to nominally calm, flowing musical passages, Chan transcends her diminutive height. Often, she arcs forward, as if charging after the music. (Along with conducting, Chan also trains on the side with a boxing coach.)\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>On Thursday, Chan told KQED that the first time she witnessed Michael Tilson Thomas on the podium, he was conducting his Maverick Series, focusing on new works. She lists off new composers she’s especially excited about: Gabriela Smith, Anthony Cheung, Elizabeth Ogonek, Noriko Koide. \u003cbr>\u003cbr>On Thursday night, during a reception at City Hall hosted by mayor Daniel Lurie, Chan told the crowd in her casual, charismatic way of speaking that “I love the old classics. But I also love the friggin’ new things! The wacky things!”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Chan has a track record of balancing the old and the new. She has also studied with traditionalists like Bernard Haitink, who, among other enduring lessons, instilled in Chan a respect for Anton Bruckner. (On Thursday, she said she trusts the San Francisco orchestra enough to finally tackle conducting Bruckner’s music.)\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Breaking a glass ceiling — and transcending labels\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>For many years, an open question has persisted about when major symphony orchestras would embrace women as music directors or full-time principal conductors. Despite high-profile figures like Marin Alsop and Nathalie Stutzmann, no woman had been appointed at one of the top seven U.S. orchestras until now.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In 2014, still in her 20s, Chan became the first woman to win the esteemed Donatella Flick Conducting Competition in England, bringing her global attention. Two years later, writing for \u003cem>The Guardian\u003c/em>, she called for a de-emphasis on her gender.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“I have felt there to be at times an imbalance of focus on my gender over my whole identity as a musician. I do not want to be given any special treatment because I am a woman,” she wrote. “I am proud of being a woman conductor, but I want to take the next step and go beyond any tags and be seen and valued as the same as my male colleagues.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>On the morning of her announcement, however, Chan said she was able to take a moment to realize the historic importance of the occasion.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Before I walked into the hall to meet the musicians, I told myself, actually, yeah … it \u003cem>is\u003c/em> a big deal,” Chan said. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Chan has also received attention as an Asian, making the Bay Area a natural fit; the region is home to one of the highest percentages of Asian Americans in the continental United States, and Eun Sun Kim, another Asian woman, leads the orchestra at San Francisco Opera. In the 2016 \u003cem>Guardian\u003c/em> piece, Chan expressed a regard for talent over ethnic identity.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“My core priorities have always been and will always be the music and the audience, and I think audiences over the past two years have come to see me simply as Elim, rather than under the labels ‘Asian’ or ‘female conductor.’”\u003cbr>\u003cbr>Chan’s first concerts with the Symphony since being hired — a program of Wagner, Berlioz and Debussy — take place June 5 and 6 at Davies Symphony Hall.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Chan, who recently served as principal conductor for the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra in Belgium, is lesser-known than her two predecessors in San Francisco: \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/michael-tilson-thomas\">Michael Tilson Thomas\u003c/a>, who led the orchestra for 25 years and died earlier this month, and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13954083/esa-pekka-salonen-steps-down-sf-symphony\">Esa-Pekka Salonen\u003c/a>, who stepped down in 2024.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>But Chan is a much-talked-about rising star in the classical world, serving as principal guest conductor of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, and guest conducting the major orchestras in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Boston to effusive reviews. She made her debut at the San Francisco Symphony in 2023, and has since returned twice, drawing acclaim from audiences, musicians and critics.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“A big thing of mine is how to get people who have never listened to classical music, who think that they are not educated enough, or they feel they’re not comfortable enough,” Chan said. “All sorts of reasons, right? We are going to take all those reasons \u003cem>out\u003c/em>. Because coming to the symphony is so cool.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>After her 2023 debut at Davies, the \u003cem>San Francisco Chronicle\u003c/em> hailed Chan as “a promising podium talent, one who combines lithe physical command with a wealth of artistic resources.” Last year, after an all-Tchaikovsky program, the \u003cem>San Francisco Classical Voice\u003c/em> enthused that “it’s clear by now that conductor \u003ca href=\"https://datebook.sfchronicle.com/classical/review-sf-symphony-elim-chan-holst-18436788\">Elim Chan\u003c/a> can bring out the best in a top-rank orchestra.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The Symphony is betting that it can offer Chan a sizable enough platform to propel her further upward. Already, she is slated to conduct a program of Berlioz, Debussy and Wagner at Davies on June 5 and 6. Her first full season as music director begins in 2027.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The appointment also marks a victory for San Francisco in its sometime rivalry with Los Angeles. While the Symphony’s selection process for a music director is a highly guarded one, Chan had been one of the names whispered amongst pundits as a contender in San Francisco. Chan had also conducted regularly for the L.A. Philharmonic, and was viewed as a potential successor there to Gustavo Dudamel, whose namesake fellowship she was awarded in 2017.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>As a conductor, Chan’s style may best be described as outsized. Praised for her energy and rhythm, and noted for bringing precision and verve to nominally calm, flowing musical passages, Chan transcends her diminutive height. Often, she arcs forward, as if charging after the music. (Along with conducting, Chan also trains on the side with a boxing coach.)\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>On Thursday, Chan told KQED that the first time she witnessed Michael Tilson Thomas on the podium, he was conducting his Maverick Series, focusing on new works. She lists off new composers she’s especially excited about: Gabriela Smith, Anthony Cheung, Elizabeth Ogonek, Noriko Koide. \u003cbr>\u003cbr>On Thursday night, during a reception at City Hall hosted by mayor Daniel Lurie, Chan told the crowd in her casual, charismatic way of speaking that “I love the old classics. But I also love the friggin’ new things! The wacky things!”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>For many years, an open question has persisted about when major symphony orchestras would embrace women as music directors or full-time principal conductors. Despite high-profile figures like Marin Alsop and Nathalie Stutzmann, no woman had been appointed at one of the top seven U.S. orchestras until now.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In 2014, still in her 20s, Chan became the first woman to win the esteemed Donatella Flick Conducting Competition in England, bringing her global attention. Two years later, writing for \u003cem>The Guardian\u003c/em>, she called for a de-emphasis on her gender.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“I have felt there to be at times an imbalance of focus on my gender over my whole identity as a musician. I do not want to be given any special treatment because I am a woman,” she wrote. “I am proud of being a woman conductor, but I want to take the next step and go beyond any tags and be seen and valued as the same as my male colleagues.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/san-francisco-symphony\">San Francisco Symphony\u003c/a> has appointed Elim Chan as its new music director. The 39-year-old conductor born in Hong Kong has signed a six-year contract, the Symphony announced on Thursday.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The appointment is a historic one. Chan will be the first woman to lead the San Francisco Symphony in its 115-year history. She is also the first woman to be hired as music director by one of the so-called “Big 7” symphony orchestras in the United States, encompassing New York, Boston, Cleveland, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco and Philadelphia.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Chan, who recently served as principal conductor for the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra in Belgium, is lesser-known than her two predecessors in San Francisco: \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/michael-tilson-thomas\">Michael Tilson Thomas\u003c/a>, who led the orchestra for 25 years and died earlier this month, and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13954083/esa-pekka-salonen-steps-down-sf-symphony\">Esa-Pekka Salonen\u003c/a>, who stepped down in 2024.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>But Chan is a much-talked-about rising star in the classical world, serving as principal guest conductor of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, and guest conducting the major orchestras in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Boston to effusive reviews. She made her debut at the San Francisco Symphony in 2023, and has since returned twice, drawing acclaim from audiences, musicians and critics.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In an interview with KQED Thursday at Davies Symphony Hall, Chan emphasized that one of her goals in San Francisco is to change the public’s perception of the symphony.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A big thing of mine is how to get people who have never listened to classical music, who think that they are not educated enough, or they feel they’re not comfortable enough,” Chan said. “All sorts of reasons, right? We are going to take all those reasons \u003cem>out\u003c/em>. Because coming to the symphony is so cool.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">She can ‘bring out the best’\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>After her 2023 debut at Davies, the \u003cem>San Francisco Chronicle\u003c/em> hailed Chan as “a promising podium talent, one who combines lithe physical command with a wealth of artistic resources.” Last year, after an all-Tchaikovsky program, the \u003cem>San Francisco Classical Voice\u003c/em> enthused that “it’s clear by now that conductor \u003ca href=\"https://datebook.sfchronicle.com/classical/review-sf-symphony-elim-chan-holst-18436788\">Elim Chan\u003c/a> can bring out the best in a top-rank orchestra.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The Symphony is betting that it can offer Chan a sizable enough platform to propel her further upward. Already, she is slated to conduct a program of Berlioz, Debussy and Wagner at Davies on June 5 and 6. Her first full season as music director begins in 2027.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The appointment also marks a victory for San Francisco in its sometime rivalry with Los Angeles. While the Symphony’s selection process for a music director is a highly guarded one, Chan had been one of the names whispered amongst pundits as a contender in San Francisco. Chan had also conducted regularly for the L.A. Philharmonic, and was viewed as a potential successor there to Gustavo Dudamel, whose namesake fellowship she was awarded in 2017.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/fvMRqU1EU_U'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/fvMRqU1EU_U'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/div>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>As a conductor, Chan’s style may best be described as outsized. Praised for her energy and rhythm, and noted for bringing precision and verve to nominally calm, flowing musical passages, Chan transcends her diminutive height. Often, she arcs forward, as if charging after the music. (Along with conducting, Chan also trains on the side with a boxing coach.)\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>On Thursday, Chan told KQED that the first time she witnessed Michael Tilson Thomas on the podium, he was conducting his Maverick Series, focusing on new works. She lists off new composers she’s especially excited about: Gabriela Smith, Anthony Cheung, Elizabeth Ogonek, Noriko Koide. \u003cbr>\u003cbr>On Thursday night, during a reception at City Hall hosted by mayor Daniel Lurie, Chan told the crowd in her casual, charismatic way of speaking that “I love the old classics. But I also love the friggin’ new things! The wacky things!”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Chan has a track record of balancing the old and the new. She has also studied with traditionalists like Bernard Haitink, who, among other enduring lessons, instilled in Chan a respect for Anton Bruckner. (On Thursday, she said she trusts the San Francisco orchestra enough to finally tackle conducting Bruckner’s music.)\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Breaking a glass ceiling — and transcending labels\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>For many years, an open question has persisted about when major symphony orchestras would embrace women as music directors or full-time principal conductors. Despite high-profile figures like Marin Alsop and Nathalie Stutzmann, no woman had been appointed at one of the top seven U.S. orchestras until now.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In 2014, still in her 20s, Chan became the first woman to win the esteemed Donatella Flick Conducting Competition in England, bringing her global attention. Two years later, writing for \u003cem>The Guardian\u003c/em>, she called for a de-emphasis on her gender.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“I have felt there to be at times an imbalance of focus on my gender over my whole identity as a musician. I do not want to be given any special treatment because I am a woman,” she wrote. “I am proud of being a woman conductor, but I want to take the next step and go beyond any tags and be seen and valued as the same as my male colleagues.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>On the morning of her announcement, however, Chan said she was able to take a moment to realize the historic importance of the occasion.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Before I walked into the hall to meet the musicians, I told myself, actually, yeah … it \u003cem>is\u003c/em> a big deal,” Chan said. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Chan has also received attention as an Asian, making the Bay Area a natural fit; the region is home to one of the highest percentages of Asian Americans in the continental United States, and Eun Sun Kim, another Asian woman, leads the orchestra at San Francisco Opera. In the 2016 \u003cem>Guardian\u003c/em> piece, Chan expressed a regard for talent over ethnic identity.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“My core priorities have always been and will always be the music and the audience, and I think audiences over the past two years have come to see me simply as Elim, rather than under the labels ‘Asian’ or ‘female conductor.’”\u003cbr>\u003cbr>Chan’s first concerts with the Symphony since being hired — a program of Wagner, Berlioz and Debussy — take place June 5 and 6 at Davies Symphony Hall.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "The 8 Best Free Concerts in the Bay Area This Summer",
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"headTitle": "The 8 Best Free Concerts in the Bay Area This Summer | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cem>This story is part of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/affordability\" target=\"_blank\">How We Get By\u003c/a>, a KQED series exploring how people are coping with rising costs in the Bay Area and California. Find the full series \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/affordability\">here\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We understand. Concert tickets are too expensive. Why not make a summertime project of seeing free concerts all around the Bay Area instead?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If, like many others these days, you find yourself logging onto Ticketmaster and cursing the gods, then see below for our select list of free live music this summer in the Bay Area. \u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13989605\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1268px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/BillyHart.CRED_.DesmondWhite.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1268\" height=\"672\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13989605\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/BillyHart.CRED_.DesmondWhite.jpg 1268w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/BillyHart.CRED_.DesmondWhite-160x85.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/BillyHart.CRED_.DesmondWhite-768x407.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1268px) 100vw, 1268px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jazz drummer Billy Hart. \u003ccite>(Desmond White)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://healdsburgjazz.org/festival-schedule/june-13-2026/\">George Cables, Billy Hart, Rufus Reid and others\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>June 13\u003c/i>\u003cbr>\n\u003ci>Healdsburg Plaza, Healdsburg\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One of our favorite annual traditions takes place during the Healdsburg Jazz Festival, when musical legends like Houston Person or Charles McPherson play casual afternoon sets in the town square, completely free. This year, the plaza hosts a tribute to the late bassist Ray Drummond, with a quintet of all-stars: Billy Hart (pictured above), George Cables, Rufus Reid, Bobby Watson and Craig Handy. Visiting the chi-chi wine country town has only gotten more expensive over the years, but for one day in June, at least, Healdsburg is home to the best deal in classic jazz.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13989604\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/Afterthought.TopChefs.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13989604\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/Afterthought.TopChefs.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/Afterthought.TopChefs-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/Afterthought.TopChefs-768x432.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Afterthought (center) with the Top Chefs, performing on the stoop in San Francisco. \u003ccite>(Top Chefs)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://illuminate.org/event/friday-happy-hour-june-19/\">The Top Chefs\u003c/a> / \u003ca href=\"https://www.eventbrite.com/e/rebel-soul-fest-2026-tickets-1988568553073\">Rebel Soul Festival\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>June 19 and 20\u003c/i>\u003cbr>\n\u003ci>Golden Gate Park Bandshell, San Francisco\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The historic Golden Gate Park bandshell hosts a who’s-who of local talent each summer. On Friday, June 19, it’s the Top Chefs, a tight-knit group of instrumentalists who \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DF6kCnBvRdQ/\">sometimes play on San Francisco stoops\u003c/a>; charismatic and thoughtful rapper Afterthought fronts the band. On Saturday, Rebel Soul Records presents soul singers Martin Luther McCoy and Otis McDonald; freestyle rap champ Frak; Oakland MC Ian Kelly and more. Soak in the sun on the concourse and enjoy the crisp acoustics of the bandshell, where \u003ca href=\"https://sfrecpark.org/1570/Golden-Gate-Bandshell-Concerts\">free concerts run weekly all through the summer\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13908335\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/01/Herbst-Theatre-Exterior.jpg\" alt=\"Lit-up exterior of beaux arts building at night.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13908335\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/01/Herbst-Theatre-Exterior.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/01/Herbst-Theatre-Exterior-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/01/Herbst-Theatre-Exterior-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/01/Herbst-Theatre-Exterior-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/01/Herbst-Theatre-Exterior-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/01/Herbst-Theatre-Exterior-1536x864.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Herbst Theatre, in San Francisco’s War Memorial. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of San Francisco Performances)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://www.sfcivicmusic.org/calendar\">Henryk Górecki, Symphony No. 3\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>June 21\u003c/i>\u003cbr>\n\u003ci>Herbst Theater, San Francisco\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even if you don’t think you’ve heard Górecki’s 1977 symphony, you probably have — possibly in the Netflix series \u003ci>The Crown\u003c/i>, or in feature films like \u003ci>Basquiat\u003c/i> and \u003ci>A Hidden Life\u003c/i>. The languid, emotional work shares a mood with Arvo Pärt’s \u003ci>Spiegel im Spiegel\u003c/i> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13927554/barry-jenkins-nicholas-britell-interview-soundbox-san-francisco-symphony\">Nicholas Britell’s “Agape,”\u003c/a> perfect for conveying a feeling of hopeful beauty. In a program that includes two piano pieces by Chopin, the free Sunday afternoon concert in the heart of San Francisco features Marnie Breckenridge in the soprano role.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13906756\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1390px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/12/2676A77F-DF1D-458C-95AB-222CFBF2911F-1-1-e1638496339267.jpeg\" alt=\"Miko Marks\" width=\"1390\" height=\"997\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13906756\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/12/2676A77F-DF1D-458C-95AB-222CFBF2911F-1-1-e1638496339267.jpeg 1390w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/12/2676A77F-DF1D-458C-95AB-222CFBF2911F-1-1-e1638496339267-800x574.jpeg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/12/2676A77F-DF1D-458C-95AB-222CFBF2911F-1-1-e1638496339267-1020x732.jpeg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/12/2676A77F-DF1D-458C-95AB-222CFBF2911F-1-1-e1638496339267-160x115.jpeg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/12/2676A77F-DF1D-458C-95AB-222CFBF2911F-1-1-e1638496339267-768x551.jpeg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1390px) 100vw, 1390px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Miko Marks. \u003ccite>(Amanda Lopez)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://www.cortemaderacommunityfoundation.org/corte-madera-summer-concerts\">Miko Marks\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>July 5\u003c/i>\u003cbr>\n\u003ci>Town Park, Corte Madera\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The singer Miko Marks, from Oakland, knows that all the best country music lives just a half-inch away from soul music. For two decades now, she’s been teaching that lesson to the rest of the country, from the restlessness of her 2005 debut \u003ci>Freeway Bound\u003c/i> to the puttin’-down-roots theme of her recent album \u003ci>Feel Like Goin’ Home\u003c/i>. A stellar live performer, she’s a highlight of this year’s Corte Madera’s summertime free music series (which also boasts the sharply skilled blues guitarist Jackie Greene on Aug. 25).\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13989606\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1440px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/Lady-Wray-2025-for-site.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1440\" height=\"960\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13989606\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/Lady-Wray-2025-for-site.jpg 1440w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/Lady-Wray-2025-for-site-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/Lady-Wray-2025-for-site-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1440px) 100vw, 1440px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Lady Wray performs at this year’s Yerba Buena Gardens Festival in San Francisco. \u003ccite>(Big Crown Records)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://ybgfestival.org/event/lady-wray/\">Lady Wray\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>July 11\u003c/i>\u003cbr>\n\u003ci>Yerba Buena Gardens, San Francisco\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Born in Salinas and raised in the church, Nicole Wray first entered the music biz working in the sequined-wardrobe era of pop R&B. A couple decades later, she’s become one of the most emotional purveyors of acutely traditional soul; her recordings could easily be mistaken for a forgotten 45 rpm record from 1968. This year’s Yerba Buena Gardens Festival has no shortage of great free concerts, including Mission District faves \u003ca href=\"https://ybgfestival.org/event/la-gente-sf-2026/\">La Gente SF\u003c/a> (July 16) and the Ecuadorian American musician \u003ca href=\"https://ybgfestival.org/event/helado-negro-reyna-tropical/\">Helado Negro\u003c/a> (Aug. 15), but for #saturdayvibes, Lady Wray’s our pick.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10604599\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1913px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2015/04/PMO.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1913\" height=\"955\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10604599\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2015/04/PMO.jpg 1913w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2015/04/PMO-400x200.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2015/04/PMO-800x399.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2015/04/PMO-1180x589.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2015/04/PMO-960x479.jpg 960w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1913px) 100vw, 1913px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Pacific Mambo Orchestra. \u003ccite>(Artist Photo)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://jazzontheplazz.com/2026-concerts/\">Pacific Mambo Orchestra\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>July 15\u003c/i>\u003cbr>\n\u003ci>Los Gatos Town Plaza, Los Gatos \u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you’ve ever watched supper-club scenes from movies made in the 1940s and thought, “I wish dance bands like that still existed,” well, look no further. The Pacific Mambo Orchestra is a tight-knit, swinging unit that modernizes the nightclub bands of yesteryear, adept in salsa, mambo and other Latin big-band styles. It’s no wonder they’ve played at jazz festivals all over the world and won a Grammy Award. This one’s free \u003ci>and\u003c/i> worth the trip down to the furthest corner of the South Bay before you hit Hwy. 17’s long winding path down to Santa Cruz. \u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13989607\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2500px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/AlGreen.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2500\" height=\"1875\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13989607\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/AlGreen.jpg 2500w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/AlGreen-2000x1500.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/AlGreen-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/AlGreen-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/AlGreen-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/AlGreen-2048x1536.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2500px) 100vw, 2500px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Al Green headlines this year’s Stern Grove Festival finale. \u003ccite>(David Raccuglia)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://www.sterngrove.org/lineup2026\">Al Green\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>Aug. 16\u003c/i>\u003cbr>\n\u003ci>Stern Grove, San Francisco\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There are so many shows to choose from at this year’s Stern Grove Festival — Japanese Breakfast, the Violent Femmes, Public Enemy — but c’mon now. Al Green. \u003ci>Al Green\u003c/i>. The most famous human embodiment of the sacred meeting the sexual this side of Aretha Franklin. The Memphis reverend who hands out roses to all the ladies. If you’re going to brave the festival’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.sterngrove.org/galotterytickets\">relatively recent ticket lottery system\u003c/a> for just one show, make it the man behind “Tired of Being Alone,” “Love and Happiness” “How Can You Mend a Broken Heart” and “Let’s Stay Together.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13989608\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/Deke_Dickerson_1_photo_credit_Susie_Delaney.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13989608\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/Deke_Dickerson_1_photo_credit_Susie_Delaney.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/Deke_Dickerson_1_photo_credit_Susie_Delaney-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/Deke_Dickerson_1_photo_credit_Susie_Delaney-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/Deke_Dickerson_1_photo_credit_Susie_Delaney-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Deke Dickerson appears as part of the KRSH-FM free backyard concert series. \u003ccite>(Susie Delaney)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://www.krsh.com/backyard-concerts-2026/\">Deke Dickerson\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>Aug. 20 \u003c/i>\u003cbr>\n\u003ci>KRSH Studios Backyard, Santa Rosa \u003c/i>\u003ci>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For lovers of country pickin’, Telecaster twangin’ and B-string bendin’, there are few finer guitarists than Deke Dickerson. Raised on rockabilly and not immune to novelty (he performed in the Go-Nuts, a “snack rock” band that once showered the Bottom of the Hill in a hailstorm of donuts), Dickerson is serious about guitars, even once penning a biography of country guitar icon Merle Travis. In the humble backyard of Americana radio station KRSH — its studios are located inside a passenger train car — this should be an afternoon of free music to remember. \u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "As concert tickets only get more expensive, see our roundup of 100% free shows by top-notch performers.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>This story is part of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/affordability\" target=\"_blank\">How We Get By\u003c/a>, a KQED series exploring how people are coping with rising costs in the Bay Area and California. Find the full series \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/affordability\">here\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We understand. Concert tickets are too expensive. Why not make a summertime project of seeing free concerts all around the Bay Area instead?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If, like many others these days, you find yourself logging onto Ticketmaster and cursing the gods, then see below for our select list of free live music this summer in the Bay Area. \u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13989605\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1268px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/BillyHart.CRED_.DesmondWhite.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1268\" height=\"672\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13989605\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/BillyHart.CRED_.DesmondWhite.jpg 1268w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/BillyHart.CRED_.DesmondWhite-160x85.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/BillyHart.CRED_.DesmondWhite-768x407.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1268px) 100vw, 1268px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jazz drummer Billy Hart. \u003ccite>(Desmond White)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://healdsburgjazz.org/festival-schedule/june-13-2026/\">George Cables, Billy Hart, Rufus Reid and others\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>June 13\u003c/i>\u003cbr>\n\u003ci>Healdsburg Plaza, Healdsburg\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One of our favorite annual traditions takes place during the Healdsburg Jazz Festival, when musical legends like Houston Person or Charles McPherson play casual afternoon sets in the town square, completely free. This year, the plaza hosts a tribute to the late bassist Ray Drummond, with a quintet of all-stars: Billy Hart (pictured above), George Cables, Rufus Reid, Bobby Watson and Craig Handy. Visiting the chi-chi wine country town has only gotten more expensive over the years, but for one day in June, at least, Healdsburg is home to the best deal in classic jazz.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13989604\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/Afterthought.TopChefs.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13989604\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/Afterthought.TopChefs.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/Afterthought.TopChefs-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/Afterthought.TopChefs-768x432.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Afterthought (center) with the Top Chefs, performing on the stoop in San Francisco. \u003ccite>(Top Chefs)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://illuminate.org/event/friday-happy-hour-june-19/\">The Top Chefs\u003c/a> / \u003ca href=\"https://www.eventbrite.com/e/rebel-soul-fest-2026-tickets-1988568553073\">Rebel Soul Festival\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>June 19 and 20\u003c/i>\u003cbr>\n\u003ci>Golden Gate Park Bandshell, San Francisco\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The historic Golden Gate Park bandshell hosts a who’s-who of local talent each summer. On Friday, June 19, it’s the Top Chefs, a tight-knit group of instrumentalists who \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DF6kCnBvRdQ/\">sometimes play on San Francisco stoops\u003c/a>; charismatic and thoughtful rapper Afterthought fronts the band. On Saturday, Rebel Soul Records presents soul singers Martin Luther McCoy and Otis McDonald; freestyle rap champ Frak; Oakland MC Ian Kelly and more. Soak in the sun on the concourse and enjoy the crisp acoustics of the bandshell, where \u003ca href=\"https://sfrecpark.org/1570/Golden-Gate-Bandshell-Concerts\">free concerts run weekly all through the summer\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13908335\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/01/Herbst-Theatre-Exterior.jpg\" alt=\"Lit-up exterior of beaux arts building at night.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13908335\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/01/Herbst-Theatre-Exterior.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/01/Herbst-Theatre-Exterior-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/01/Herbst-Theatre-Exterior-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/01/Herbst-Theatre-Exterior-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/01/Herbst-Theatre-Exterior-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/01/Herbst-Theatre-Exterior-1536x864.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Herbst Theatre, in San Francisco’s War Memorial. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of San Francisco Performances)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://www.sfcivicmusic.org/calendar\">Henryk Górecki, Symphony No. 3\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>June 21\u003c/i>\u003cbr>\n\u003ci>Herbst Theater, San Francisco\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even if you don’t think you’ve heard Górecki’s 1977 symphony, you probably have — possibly in the Netflix series \u003ci>The Crown\u003c/i>, or in feature films like \u003ci>Basquiat\u003c/i> and \u003ci>A Hidden Life\u003c/i>. The languid, emotional work shares a mood with Arvo Pärt’s \u003ci>Spiegel im Spiegel\u003c/i> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13927554/barry-jenkins-nicholas-britell-interview-soundbox-san-francisco-symphony\">Nicholas Britell’s “Agape,”\u003c/a> perfect for conveying a feeling of hopeful beauty. In a program that includes two piano pieces by Chopin, the free Sunday afternoon concert in the heart of San Francisco features Marnie Breckenridge in the soprano role.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13906756\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1390px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/12/2676A77F-DF1D-458C-95AB-222CFBF2911F-1-1-e1638496339267.jpeg\" alt=\"Miko Marks\" width=\"1390\" height=\"997\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13906756\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/12/2676A77F-DF1D-458C-95AB-222CFBF2911F-1-1-e1638496339267.jpeg 1390w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/12/2676A77F-DF1D-458C-95AB-222CFBF2911F-1-1-e1638496339267-800x574.jpeg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/12/2676A77F-DF1D-458C-95AB-222CFBF2911F-1-1-e1638496339267-1020x732.jpeg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/12/2676A77F-DF1D-458C-95AB-222CFBF2911F-1-1-e1638496339267-160x115.jpeg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/12/2676A77F-DF1D-458C-95AB-222CFBF2911F-1-1-e1638496339267-768x551.jpeg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1390px) 100vw, 1390px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Miko Marks. \u003ccite>(Amanda Lopez)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://www.cortemaderacommunityfoundation.org/corte-madera-summer-concerts\">Miko Marks\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>July 5\u003c/i>\u003cbr>\n\u003ci>Town Park, Corte Madera\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The singer Miko Marks, from Oakland, knows that all the best country music lives just a half-inch away from soul music. For two decades now, she’s been teaching that lesson to the rest of the country, from the restlessness of her 2005 debut \u003ci>Freeway Bound\u003c/i> to the puttin’-down-roots theme of her recent album \u003ci>Feel Like Goin’ Home\u003c/i>. A stellar live performer, she’s a highlight of this year’s Corte Madera’s summertime free music series (which also boasts the sharply skilled blues guitarist Jackie Greene on Aug. 25).\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13989606\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1440px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/Lady-Wray-2025-for-site.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1440\" height=\"960\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13989606\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/Lady-Wray-2025-for-site.jpg 1440w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/Lady-Wray-2025-for-site-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/Lady-Wray-2025-for-site-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1440px) 100vw, 1440px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Lady Wray performs at this year’s Yerba Buena Gardens Festival in San Francisco. \u003ccite>(Big Crown Records)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://ybgfestival.org/event/lady-wray/\">Lady Wray\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>July 11\u003c/i>\u003cbr>\n\u003ci>Yerba Buena Gardens, San Francisco\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Born in Salinas and raised in the church, Nicole Wray first entered the music biz working in the sequined-wardrobe era of pop R&B. A couple decades later, she’s become one of the most emotional purveyors of acutely traditional soul; her recordings could easily be mistaken for a forgotten 45 rpm record from 1968. This year’s Yerba Buena Gardens Festival has no shortage of great free concerts, including Mission District faves \u003ca href=\"https://ybgfestival.org/event/la-gente-sf-2026/\">La Gente SF\u003c/a> (July 16) and the Ecuadorian American musician \u003ca href=\"https://ybgfestival.org/event/helado-negro-reyna-tropical/\">Helado Negro\u003c/a> (Aug. 15), but for #saturdayvibes, Lady Wray’s our pick.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10604599\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1913px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2015/04/PMO.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1913\" height=\"955\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10604599\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2015/04/PMO.jpg 1913w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2015/04/PMO-400x200.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2015/04/PMO-800x399.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2015/04/PMO-1180x589.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2015/04/PMO-960x479.jpg 960w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1913px) 100vw, 1913px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Pacific Mambo Orchestra. \u003ccite>(Artist Photo)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://jazzontheplazz.com/2026-concerts/\">Pacific Mambo Orchestra\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>July 15\u003c/i>\u003cbr>\n\u003ci>Los Gatos Town Plaza, Los Gatos \u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you’ve ever watched supper-club scenes from movies made in the 1940s and thought, “I wish dance bands like that still existed,” well, look no further. The Pacific Mambo Orchestra is a tight-knit, swinging unit that modernizes the nightclub bands of yesteryear, adept in salsa, mambo and other Latin big-band styles. It’s no wonder they’ve played at jazz festivals all over the world and won a Grammy Award. This one’s free \u003ci>and\u003c/i> worth the trip down to the furthest corner of the South Bay before you hit Hwy. 17’s long winding path down to Santa Cruz. \u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13989607\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2500px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/AlGreen.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2500\" height=\"1875\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13989607\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/AlGreen.jpg 2500w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/AlGreen-2000x1500.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/AlGreen-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/AlGreen-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/AlGreen-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/AlGreen-2048x1536.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2500px) 100vw, 2500px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Al Green headlines this year’s Stern Grove Festival finale. \u003ccite>(David Raccuglia)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://www.sterngrove.org/lineup2026\">Al Green\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>Aug. 16\u003c/i>\u003cbr>\n\u003ci>Stern Grove, San Francisco\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There are so many shows to choose from at this year’s Stern Grove Festival — Japanese Breakfast, the Violent Femmes, Public Enemy — but c’mon now. Al Green. \u003ci>Al Green\u003c/i>. The most famous human embodiment of the sacred meeting the sexual this side of Aretha Franklin. The Memphis reverend who hands out roses to all the ladies. If you’re going to brave the festival’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.sterngrove.org/galotterytickets\">relatively recent ticket lottery system\u003c/a> for just one show, make it the man behind “Tired of Being Alone,” “Love and Happiness” “How Can You Mend a Broken Heart” and “Let’s Stay Together.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13989608\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/Deke_Dickerson_1_photo_credit_Susie_Delaney.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13989608\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/Deke_Dickerson_1_photo_credit_Susie_Delaney.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/Deke_Dickerson_1_photo_credit_Susie_Delaney-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/Deke_Dickerson_1_photo_credit_Susie_Delaney-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/Deke_Dickerson_1_photo_credit_Susie_Delaney-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Deke Dickerson appears as part of the KRSH-FM free backyard concert series. \u003ccite>(Susie Delaney)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://www.krsh.com/backyard-concerts-2026/\">Deke Dickerson\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>Aug. 20 \u003c/i>\u003cbr>\n\u003ci>KRSH Studios Backyard, Santa Rosa \u003c/i>\u003ci>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For lovers of country pickin’, Telecaster twangin’ and B-string bendin’, there are few finer guitarists than Deke Dickerson. Raised on rockabilly and not immune to novelty (he performed in the Go-Nuts, a “snack rock” band that once showered the Bottom of the Hill in a hailstorm of donuts), Dickerson is serious about guitars, even once penning a biography of country guitar icon Merle Travis. In the humble backyard of Americana radio station KRSH — its studios are located inside a passenger train car — this should be an afternoon of free music to remember. \u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "vikingur-olafsson-interview-bach-beethoven-schubert-iceland-piano",
"title": "Víkingur Ólafsson Talks Bach, Nature and the Bay Area",
"publishDate": 1777307890,
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"headTitle": "Víkingur Ólafsson Talks Bach, Nature and the Bay Area | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>The Icelandic pianist Víkingur Ólafsson is one of the world’s most engrossing live performers of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/classical-music\">classical piano music\u003c/a> right now. Dazzling yet nuanced, he visited the Bay Area twice last year: to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13970454/john-adams-piano-concerto-vikingur-olafsson-san-francisco-symphony-review\">premiere an exciting new John Adams concerto\u003c/a> and to pull off \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13972538/review-vikingur-olafsson-goldberg-variations-davies-yuja-wang-canceled\">Bach’s Goldberg Variations from memory in a last-minute program switcheroo\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Goldberg Variations, in particular, rewired Ólafsson’s consciousness after performing them for more than a year in concert halls around the world: “Slowly, the work takes over your perception of reality, forcing you to notice how, really, everything can be viewed as a set of variations,” he says. “Places, events, people. Trees, leaves, houses, streets. Thoughts and ideas. Cells and DNA.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, on a recent album on Deutsche Grammophon and \u003ca href=\"https://calperformances.org/events/2025-26/recital/vikingur-olafsson-piano-opus-109/\">in a concert this week presented by Cal Performances at Berkeley’s Zellerbach Hall\u003c/a>, the widely lauded 42-year-old pianist directs his attention to Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 30, adding context of Bach and Schubert to show the threads of imagination among three composers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ólafsson spoke with KQED about the Bay Area, his process and his home country of Iceland.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Interview has been edited for length and clarity.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13988880\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1637px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13988880\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/VO-2-c-Markus-Jans.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1637\" height=\"2000\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/VO-2-c-Markus-Jans.jpg 1637w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/VO-2-c-Markus-Jans-160x195.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/VO-2-c-Markus-Jans-768x938.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/VO-2-c-Markus-Jans-1257x1536.jpg 1257w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1637px) 100vw, 1637px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Víkingur Ólafsson. \u003ccite>(Markus Jans)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>KQED: You keep coming back to the Bay Area. What are your general impressions of the region?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Víkingur Ólafsson\u003c/strong>: I love it so much. I could live there if it wasn’t so far away from home. It’s a perfect place. It has some of the most interesting people. And of course, it has one of the people who is dearest to me in the whole music world, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/john-adams\">John Adams\u003c/a>. When I come to the Bay Area, I’m looking forward to it every time. I know I’ll have good conversations, excellent food and, hopefully, good performances.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I like Japantown — I very much like the restaurants there, and the vibe. The time before last when I was there, I went hiking, and it was just so wonderful. The coffee in the Bay Area is so excellent that you can almost go into any coffee shop, and this is unusual for the United States, but you can really get fabulous coffee everywhere.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>You premiered John Adams’ newest concerto here. What is it like working with John Adams?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He’s the kind of composer that reinvents himself in every piece. You never know what you’re gonna get, except that it’s gonna be beautiful and fantastic, because he’s such an incredible creator in that sense. I was so excited by that, him writing a piece for me — the honor of my musical life, really. I have such high regard for this man on all levels. As a composer, but also just a musical thinker in general. It’s fantastic to talk with him about Debussy, or Bach or Beethoven.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID='arts_13970454']It helps that I have a very good relationship with him and consider him a dear friend, and an ally. We’ve known each other now for five years and spent time together in different parts of the world. And so it feels very personal, him writing me a concerto, and of course in the manner he did: a three-movement work, but in one connected structure, with that incredible Bach fantasia taking over the third movement. It’s such a stroke of genius, but it also felt very much like he was sort of tailor-making it for me. He created a world for me to inhabit very freely.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>You have a new album, \u003cem>Opus 109\u003c/em>, which you’ll play in Berkeley. It seems very inspired by your time touring with the Goldberg Variations.\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Once you spend a year with the Goldberg Variations, you start to see traces of it in so much of music that came after Bach. And nowhere, I believe, more than in the late works of Ludwig van Beethoven, when he comes back from that five-year silence and goes into what we now have come to call his third period. Beethoven’s revolution with the third period, this music of the future — I realized it was very much fueled by Bach.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Beethoven’s last three sonatas, Opus 109, 110, 111, these three sisters, they’re always played together. And I was actually gonna try to do that, to be a good boy for once, and do something like everybody does it. But I failed with that. I just didn’t like it. Opus 109 is such a perfect sonata, it really deserves to be the center of the program. I looked around and I saw very strong connections, especially with the second movement of Beethoven’s E minor sonata, Opus 90, written six years before the Opus 109.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://youtu.be/DJs9AYlvSiM?si=RRNOtVBB8GrvMgKq\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then in the middle of those two sonatas, young Schubert, living in the same city as Beethoven, writes this E minor sonata that’s basically forgotten today. And it’s an absolute masterpiece of work. Later-time musicologists added a terrible scherzo, in A-flat major, found in the same sketchbook, but it’s just a rough draft. And then someone else found another E major movement, a rondo, which also is quite terrible, which was written two years before the other parts of that sonata. They put that as a fourth movement. I just looked at it and was like, “Well, the sonata is already complete in two movements.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I also decided to put a little Bach into the mix. And I wasn’t sure if I could do it, but I wanted to test if I could actually do an entire album in E — just in one tonality, E major, E minor — and get away with it. And at least for me personally, I think you don’t really get tired of that tonality. I haven’t heard anyone complain yet.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID='arts_13972538']\u003cstrong>You said in your post-concert comments, last time you were here, that “One should never apologize for Johann Sebastian Bach.” Do you find yourself having to defend Bach against people who say that Bach is too mathematical, or architectural?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I mean, that’s like someone telling me that nature isn’t beautiful. I don’t have anything to say to them. I feel bad for them if they see no beauty, if they hear no beauty. There’s nothing to be said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Is there anything about growing up in Iceland that has influenced your playing or your studies?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You could say the instability of Iceland, in every sense. The fact that it’s very much still being born as an island, with all the earthquakes, with all of the volcanoes, with the glaciers, with that fact that the nature there and the weather changes constantly. It’s an incredibly dynamic country.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13988881\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13988881\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/VO-4-c-Markus-Jans.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1500\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/VO-4-c-Markus-Jans.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/VO-4-c-Markus-Jans-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/VO-4-c-Markus-Jans-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/VO-4-c-Markus-Jans-1536x1152.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Víkingur Ólafsson. \u003ccite>(Markus Jans)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>And the fact that I come from a country where I had a much longer path than I might have had if I came from a different culture with more connections to the music industry. I became world-famous inside Iceland, and was completely unknown outside of Iceland. I was filling the house every night as a 21-year-old, but no one had heard of me! That gave me a lot of creative time in my youth and my formative years to experiment more than if I’d had an international career pushed upon me when I was 22 or 24.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There are so many other factors that are more subconscious than that. But I think the slowness of my path, although I wasn’t grateful for it at the time, helped me in that sense.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Víkingur Olafsson performs selections for solo piano by Beethoven, Bach and Schubert on Wednesday, April 29, presented by Cal Performances at Zellerbach Hall in Berkeley. \u003ca href=\"https://calperformances.org/events/2025-26/recital/vikingur-olafsson-piano-opus-109/\">More information and tickets here\u003c/a>. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>The Icelandic pianist Víkingur Ólafsson is one of the world’s most engrossing live performers of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/classical-music\">classical piano music\u003c/a> right now. Dazzling yet nuanced, he visited the Bay Area twice last year: to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13970454/john-adams-piano-concerto-vikingur-olafsson-san-francisco-symphony-review\">premiere an exciting new John Adams concerto\u003c/a> and to pull off \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13972538/review-vikingur-olafsson-goldberg-variations-davies-yuja-wang-canceled\">Bach’s Goldberg Variations from memory in a last-minute program switcheroo\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Goldberg Variations, in particular, rewired Ólafsson’s consciousness after performing them for more than a year in concert halls around the world: “Slowly, the work takes over your perception of reality, forcing you to notice how, really, everything can be viewed as a set of variations,” he says. “Places, events, people. Trees, leaves, houses, streets. Thoughts and ideas. Cells and DNA.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, on a recent album on Deutsche Grammophon and \u003ca href=\"https://calperformances.org/events/2025-26/recital/vikingur-olafsson-piano-opus-109/\">in a concert this week presented by Cal Performances at Berkeley’s Zellerbach Hall\u003c/a>, the widely lauded 42-year-old pianist directs his attention to Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 30, adding context of Bach and Schubert to show the threads of imagination among three composers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ólafsson spoke with KQED about the Bay Area, his process and his home country of Iceland.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Interview has been edited for length and clarity.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13988880\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1637px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13988880\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/VO-2-c-Markus-Jans.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1637\" height=\"2000\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/VO-2-c-Markus-Jans.jpg 1637w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/VO-2-c-Markus-Jans-160x195.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/VO-2-c-Markus-Jans-768x938.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/VO-2-c-Markus-Jans-1257x1536.jpg 1257w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1637px) 100vw, 1637px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Víkingur Ólafsson. \u003ccite>(Markus Jans)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>KQED: You keep coming back to the Bay Area. What are your general impressions of the region?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Víkingur Ólafsson\u003c/strong>: I love it so much. I could live there if it wasn’t so far away from home. It’s a perfect place. It has some of the most interesting people. And of course, it has one of the people who is dearest to me in the whole music world, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/john-adams\">John Adams\u003c/a>. When I come to the Bay Area, I’m looking forward to it every time. I know I’ll have good conversations, excellent food and, hopefully, good performances.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I like Japantown — I very much like the restaurants there, and the vibe. The time before last when I was there, I went hiking, and it was just so wonderful. The coffee in the Bay Area is so excellent that you can almost go into any coffee shop, and this is unusual for the United States, but you can really get fabulous coffee everywhere.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>You premiered John Adams’ newest concerto here. What is it like working with John Adams?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He’s the kind of composer that reinvents himself in every piece. You never know what you’re gonna get, except that it’s gonna be beautiful and fantastic, because he’s such an incredible creator in that sense. I was so excited by that, him writing a piece for me — the honor of my musical life, really. I have such high regard for this man on all levels. As a composer, but also just a musical thinker in general. It’s fantastic to talk with him about Debussy, or Bach or Beethoven.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>It helps that I have a very good relationship with him and consider him a dear friend, and an ally. We’ve known each other now for five years and spent time together in different parts of the world. And so it feels very personal, him writing me a concerto, and of course in the manner he did: a three-movement work, but in one connected structure, with that incredible Bach fantasia taking over the third movement. It’s such a stroke of genius, but it also felt very much like he was sort of tailor-making it for me. He created a world for me to inhabit very freely.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>You have a new album, \u003cem>Opus 109\u003c/em>, which you’ll play in Berkeley. It seems very inspired by your time touring with the Goldberg Variations.\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Once you spend a year with the Goldberg Variations, you start to see traces of it in so much of music that came after Bach. And nowhere, I believe, more than in the late works of Ludwig van Beethoven, when he comes back from that five-year silence and goes into what we now have come to call his third period. Beethoven’s revolution with the third period, this music of the future — I realized it was very much fueled by Bach.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Beethoven’s last three sonatas, Opus 109, 110, 111, these three sisters, they’re always played together. And I was actually gonna try to do that, to be a good boy for once, and do something like everybody does it. But I failed with that. I just didn’t like it. Opus 109 is such a perfect sonata, it really deserves to be the center of the program. I looked around and I saw very strong connections, especially with the second movement of Beethoven’s E minor sonata, Opus 90, written six years before the Opus 109.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/DJs9AYlvSiM'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/DJs9AYlvSiM'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>Then in the middle of those two sonatas, young Schubert, living in the same city as Beethoven, writes this E minor sonata that’s basically forgotten today. And it’s an absolute masterpiece of work. Later-time musicologists added a terrible scherzo, in A-flat major, found in the same sketchbook, but it’s just a rough draft. And then someone else found another E major movement, a rondo, which also is quite terrible, which was written two years before the other parts of that sonata. They put that as a fourth movement. I just looked at it and was like, “Well, the sonata is already complete in two movements.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I also decided to put a little Bach into the mix. And I wasn’t sure if I could do it, but I wanted to test if I could actually do an entire album in E — just in one tonality, E major, E minor — and get away with it. And at least for me personally, I think you don’t really get tired of that tonality. I haven’t heard anyone complain yet.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cstrong>You said in your post-concert comments, last time you were here, that “One should never apologize for Johann Sebastian Bach.” Do you find yourself having to defend Bach against people who say that Bach is too mathematical, or architectural?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I mean, that’s like someone telling me that nature isn’t beautiful. I don’t have anything to say to them. I feel bad for them if they see no beauty, if they hear no beauty. There’s nothing to be said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Is there anything about growing up in Iceland that has influenced your playing or your studies?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You could say the instability of Iceland, in every sense. The fact that it’s very much still being born as an island, with all the earthquakes, with all of the volcanoes, with the glaciers, with that fact that the nature there and the weather changes constantly. It’s an incredibly dynamic country.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13988881\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13988881\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/VO-4-c-Markus-Jans.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1500\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/VO-4-c-Markus-Jans.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/VO-4-c-Markus-Jans-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/VO-4-c-Markus-Jans-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/VO-4-c-Markus-Jans-1536x1152.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Víkingur Ólafsson. \u003ccite>(Markus Jans)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>And the fact that I come from a country where I had a much longer path than I might have had if I came from a different culture with more connections to the music industry. I became world-famous inside Iceland, and was completely unknown outside of Iceland. I was filling the house every night as a 21-year-old, but no one had heard of me! That gave me a lot of creative time in my youth and my formative years to experiment more than if I’d had an international career pushed upon me when I was 22 or 24.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There are so many other factors that are more subconscious than that. But I think the slowness of my path, although I wasn’t grateful for it at the time, helped me in that sense.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Víkingur Olafsson performs selections for solo piano by Beethoven, Bach and Schubert on Wednesday, April 29, presented by Cal Performances at Zellerbach Hall in Berkeley. \u003ca href=\"https://calperformances.org/events/2025-26/recital/vikingur-olafsson-piano-opus-109/\">More information and tickets here\u003c/a>. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>The last time I saw Michael Tilson Thomas, it wasn’t on stage at Davies Symphony Hall. It was at the Roxie Theater, at a screening of the 1932 film \u003cem>Merrily We Go To Hell\u003c/em>, in July of last year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He and his husband, Joshua Robison, stood smiling in the lobby after the film, out in the city they loved. I couldn’t help but give him a nod and a “Good to see you.” It was \u003cem>always\u003c/em> good to see him. When Thomas was around, you knew something exciting was likely to happen. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After one of the world’s most remarkable careers in classical music, Thomas \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13988770/michael-tilson-thomas-dead-at-81-san-francisco\">died Wednesday at age 81\u003c/a>, at his home. The phrase “surrounded by loved ones” usually means family around a bedside. I like to imagine the entire population of San Francisco surrounding him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Because, my goodness, he showed us how to love music, which is to say how to love the world, and each other. \u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13951059\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/2324concerts_012524mttmahler_stefancohen_022-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1708\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13951059\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/2324concerts_012524mttmahler_stefancohen_022-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/2324concerts_012524mttmahler_stefancohen_022-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/2324concerts_012524mttmahler_stefancohen_022-1020x681.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/2324concerts_012524mttmahler_stefancohen_022-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/2324concerts_012524mttmahler_stefancohen_022-768x513.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/2324concerts_012524mttmahler_stefancohen_022-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/2324concerts_012524mttmahler_stefancohen_022-2048x1367.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/2324concerts_012524mttmahler_stefancohen_022-1920x1281.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Michael Tilson Thomas embraces concertmaster Alexander Barantschik after the San Francisco Symphony’s performance of Mahler’s Symphony No. 5 on Thursday, Jan. 25, 2024, at Davies Symphony Hall. \u003ccite>(Stefan Cohen)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>I’ve seen others propose that Thomas “\u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/23/arts/music/michael-tilson-thomas-dead.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share\">demystified\u003c/a>” classical music, but I would argue that he did the opposite. He made it accessible, yes. But he also held it up with curiosity and wonder, and said, “Isn’t this so \u003cem>terrifically\u003c/em> mysterious, so beautiful, how all these different elements somehow work together, to create this incredible thing called music?” \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I know, because he had that effect on me. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I first encountered Michael Tilson Thomas in 1995, during his first season at the San Francisco Symphony as Music Director, conducting Stravinsky with the young violinist Midori. At age 19, I’d just gotten off tour with my punk band. I was invited by a friend I’d met at a warehouse show. Not the typical audience for classical music, in other words. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thomas took the podium, the music started, and I was transfixed. I’d taken piano lessons as a child and played in the school band, but had left formality behind for more ferocious, chaotic music that moved me, made by bands like D.R.I., Septic Death and Neurosis. That night in 1995, Michael Tilson Thomas pulled me back.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10217547\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1100px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/12/Soundbox.MTT_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1100\" height=\"733\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10217547\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/12/Soundbox.MTT_.jpg 1100w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/12/Soundbox.MTT_-400x266.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/12/Soundbox.MTT_-800x533.jpg 800w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1100px) 100vw, 1100px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Michael Tilson Thomas with members of the SF Symphony and Chorus. (Photo: Stefan Cohen)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>He did it again in 2001, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13875367/a-landmark-of-michael-tilson-thomas-career-revisited\">continuing undaunted with a scheduled performance of Mahler’s Symphony No. 6 just one day after 9/11\u003c/a>. Nicknamed the “Tragic” symphony, and inspired by death and loss, the piece’s finale utilized a giant hammer smashed upon a large drum. The whole thing was appropriately thundering, and turbulent. I walked out of Davies that night in a daze at the power of great art.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A recording of that performance won a Grammy award, one of many for Thomas. It also turned me into a Mahler devotee. “Get that Renaissance music out of here —\u003cem> we are a Mahler city!\u003c/em>” I sometimes like to joke. But it’s true: like his mentor Leonard Bernstein, Thomas made us all Mahler fans. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then in 2015, Thomas \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/10216961/live-review-soundbox-classical-goes-clubbing\">premiered SoundBox\u003c/a>, a series of classical concerts in the warehouse-like back hall of Davies. At Soundbox, you could stand instead of sit. You could use your phone. You could drink. You could be \u003cem>yourself\u003c/em> at a classical concert, basically, which meant everything for people like myself more accustomed to sweaty clubs than concert halls. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And it worked. That first season, I was exposed to \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sm06nqdG9wU\">Meredith Monk’s wildly pulsating \u003cem>Panda Chant II\u003c/em>\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://youtu.be/g_4-kt0LVdU?si=Vqs3MlGKzSTHDasW\">Lou Harrison’s fiery \u003cem>Pacifika Rondo\u003c/em> selection “A Hatred of the Filthy Bomb”\u003c/a> — two classical pieces that are, frankly, punk as hell. More than a decade later, \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfsymphony.org/Discover-the-Music/SoundBox\">Soundbox is still running\u003c/a>, and producing classical converts. \u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10217079\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1200px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/12/SoundBox.Hed_.jpg\" alt=\"Michael Tilson Thomas surveys the crowd before introducing the premiere of SoundBox in 2014.\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10217079\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/12/SoundBox.Hed_.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/12/SoundBox.Hed_-400x225.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/12/SoundBox.Hed_-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/12/SoundBox.Hed_-1180x663.jpg 1180w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Michael Tilson Thomas surveys the crowd before introducing the premiere of SoundBox in 2014. \u003ccite>(Gabe Meline/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Naturally, the past four years have brought a poignance to each Thomas appearance, knowing his diagnosis with an aggressive form of brain cancer. Not that he ever wanted anybody to be sad about it. When he made his \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13951043/review-michael-tilson-thomas-mahler-5-san-francisco-symphony\">final series appearance to conduct a soaring Mahler’s Fifth Symphony in 2024\u003c/a> — using no sheet music — he smiled and joked around during his entrance, setting an upbeat mood. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the end, the applause was so long and sustained that he finally quieted the crowd by \u003ca href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@horsesweremylife/video/7329402685969698094\">miming that it was time for him to have a nightcap and go to bed\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The mood was even more upbeat, even jovial, at his 80th birthday concert last year. As if to spite the news that his cancer had returned, Thomas happily conducted Britten and Respighi; an all-star cast sang Thomas’ favorite songs; and a giant balloon drop capped the evening. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He sat on stage, singing along, holding Robison’s hand. Commemorative blue bandanas draped on every seat bore a quote from Thomas, reading, in part, “To be an artist is to have the courage for rebirth and growth. It’s neverending.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13975353\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/2425concerts_042625_mttbirthday_stefancohen_080.jpg\" alt=\"A man in a blue shirt clasps his hands in appreciation next to a door as smiling friends stand close by\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13975353\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/2425concerts_042625_mttbirthday_stefancohen_080.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/2425concerts_042625_mttbirthday_stefancohen_080-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/2425concerts_042625_mttbirthday_stefancohen_080-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/2425concerts_042625_mttbirthday_stefancohen_080-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/2425concerts_042625_mttbirthday_stefancohen_080-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/2425concerts_042625_mttbirthday_stefancohen_080-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/2425concerts_042625_mttbirthday_stefancohen_080-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Michael Tilson Thomas leaves the stage for the last time with Joshua Robison, Edwin Outwater and Teddy Abrams at the end of his 80th birthday celebration at Davies Symphony Hall, April 26, 2025. \u003ccite>(Stefan Cohen / San Francisco Symphony)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Thomas cared deeply about music. “When we first met during my job interview, we spent the entire conversation on a single piece of music — Ligeti’s Violin Concerto,” said San Francisco Symphony CEO Matthew Spivey. “That was how he came to know people, and came to know the world.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He also often insisted that the true measure of his life’s work was not the many, many accolades and awards for his music, but its lasting effect on the audience.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I love this music that I make,” he once \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/201506031000/michael-tilson-thomas-on-beethoven-innovation-and-20-years-with-the-san-francisco-symphony\">told KQED’s Michael Krasny in 2015\u003c/a>. “But I’ve always said that for me, the most important moment in music was what happens when the music ends. When the symphony stops, what is left then?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now that the music has ended, I can tell you what’s left: a whole lot of love. \u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>The last time I saw Michael Tilson Thomas, it wasn’t on stage at Davies Symphony Hall. It was at the Roxie Theater, at a screening of the 1932 film \u003cem>Merrily We Go To Hell\u003c/em>, in July of last year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He and his husband, Joshua Robison, stood smiling in the lobby after the film, out in the city they loved. I couldn’t help but give him a nod and a “Good to see you.” It was \u003cem>always\u003c/em> good to see him. When Thomas was around, you knew something exciting was likely to happen. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After one of the world’s most remarkable careers in classical music, Thomas \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13988770/michael-tilson-thomas-dead-at-81-san-francisco\">died Wednesday at age 81\u003c/a>, at his home. The phrase “surrounded by loved ones” usually means family around a bedside. I like to imagine the entire population of San Francisco surrounding him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Because, my goodness, he showed us how to love music, which is to say how to love the world, and each other. \u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13951059\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/2324concerts_012524mttmahler_stefancohen_022-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1708\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13951059\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/2324concerts_012524mttmahler_stefancohen_022-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/2324concerts_012524mttmahler_stefancohen_022-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/2324concerts_012524mttmahler_stefancohen_022-1020x681.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/2324concerts_012524mttmahler_stefancohen_022-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/2324concerts_012524mttmahler_stefancohen_022-768x513.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/2324concerts_012524mttmahler_stefancohen_022-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/2324concerts_012524mttmahler_stefancohen_022-2048x1367.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/2324concerts_012524mttmahler_stefancohen_022-1920x1281.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Michael Tilson Thomas embraces concertmaster Alexander Barantschik after the San Francisco Symphony’s performance of Mahler’s Symphony No. 5 on Thursday, Jan. 25, 2024, at Davies Symphony Hall. \u003ccite>(Stefan Cohen)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>I’ve seen others propose that Thomas “\u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/23/arts/music/michael-tilson-thomas-dead.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share\">demystified\u003c/a>” classical music, but I would argue that he did the opposite. He made it accessible, yes. But he also held it up with curiosity and wonder, and said, “Isn’t this so \u003cem>terrifically\u003c/em> mysterious, so beautiful, how all these different elements somehow work together, to create this incredible thing called music?” \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I know, because he had that effect on me. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I first encountered Michael Tilson Thomas in 1995, during his first season at the San Francisco Symphony as Music Director, conducting Stravinsky with the young violinist Midori. At age 19, I’d just gotten off tour with my punk band. I was invited by a friend I’d met at a warehouse show. Not the typical audience for classical music, in other words. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thomas took the podium, the music started, and I was transfixed. I’d taken piano lessons as a child and played in the school band, but had left formality behind for more ferocious, chaotic music that moved me, made by bands like D.R.I., Septic Death and Neurosis. That night in 1995, Michael Tilson Thomas pulled me back.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10217547\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1100px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/12/Soundbox.MTT_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1100\" height=\"733\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10217547\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/12/Soundbox.MTT_.jpg 1100w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/12/Soundbox.MTT_-400x266.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/12/Soundbox.MTT_-800x533.jpg 800w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1100px) 100vw, 1100px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Michael Tilson Thomas with members of the SF Symphony and Chorus. (Photo: Stefan Cohen)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>He did it again in 2001, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13875367/a-landmark-of-michael-tilson-thomas-career-revisited\">continuing undaunted with a scheduled performance of Mahler’s Symphony No. 6 just one day after 9/11\u003c/a>. Nicknamed the “Tragic” symphony, and inspired by death and loss, the piece’s finale utilized a giant hammer smashed upon a large drum. The whole thing was appropriately thundering, and turbulent. I walked out of Davies that night in a daze at the power of great art.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A recording of that performance won a Grammy award, one of many for Thomas. It also turned me into a Mahler devotee. “Get that Renaissance music out of here —\u003cem> we are a Mahler city!\u003c/em>” I sometimes like to joke. But it’s true: like his mentor Leonard Bernstein, Thomas made us all Mahler fans. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then in 2015, Thomas \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/10216961/live-review-soundbox-classical-goes-clubbing\">premiered SoundBox\u003c/a>, a series of classical concerts in the warehouse-like back hall of Davies. At Soundbox, you could stand instead of sit. You could use your phone. You could drink. You could be \u003cem>yourself\u003c/em> at a classical concert, basically, which meant everything for people like myself more accustomed to sweaty clubs than concert halls. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And it worked. That first season, I was exposed to \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sm06nqdG9wU\">Meredith Monk’s wildly pulsating \u003cem>Panda Chant II\u003c/em>\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://youtu.be/g_4-kt0LVdU?si=Vqs3MlGKzSTHDasW\">Lou Harrison’s fiery \u003cem>Pacifika Rondo\u003c/em> selection “A Hatred of the Filthy Bomb”\u003c/a> — two classical pieces that are, frankly, punk as hell. More than a decade later, \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfsymphony.org/Discover-the-Music/SoundBox\">Soundbox is still running\u003c/a>, and producing classical converts. \u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10217079\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1200px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/12/SoundBox.Hed_.jpg\" alt=\"Michael Tilson Thomas surveys the crowd before introducing the premiere of SoundBox in 2014.\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10217079\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/12/SoundBox.Hed_.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/12/SoundBox.Hed_-400x225.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/12/SoundBox.Hed_-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/12/SoundBox.Hed_-1180x663.jpg 1180w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Michael Tilson Thomas surveys the crowd before introducing the premiere of SoundBox in 2014. \u003ccite>(Gabe Meline/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Naturally, the past four years have brought a poignance to each Thomas appearance, knowing his diagnosis with an aggressive form of brain cancer. Not that he ever wanted anybody to be sad about it. When he made his \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13951043/review-michael-tilson-thomas-mahler-5-san-francisco-symphony\">final series appearance to conduct a soaring Mahler’s Fifth Symphony in 2024\u003c/a> — using no sheet music — he smiled and joked around during his entrance, setting an upbeat mood. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the end, the applause was so long and sustained that he finally quieted the crowd by \u003ca href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@horsesweremylife/video/7329402685969698094\">miming that it was time for him to have a nightcap and go to bed\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The mood was even more upbeat, even jovial, at his 80th birthday concert last year. As if to spite the news that his cancer had returned, Thomas happily conducted Britten and Respighi; an all-star cast sang Thomas’ favorite songs; and a giant balloon drop capped the evening. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He sat on stage, singing along, holding Robison’s hand. Commemorative blue bandanas draped on every seat bore a quote from Thomas, reading, in part, “To be an artist is to have the courage for rebirth and growth. It’s neverending.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13975353\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/2425concerts_042625_mttbirthday_stefancohen_080.jpg\" alt=\"A man in a blue shirt clasps his hands in appreciation next to a door as smiling friends stand close by\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13975353\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/2425concerts_042625_mttbirthday_stefancohen_080.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/2425concerts_042625_mttbirthday_stefancohen_080-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/2425concerts_042625_mttbirthday_stefancohen_080-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/2425concerts_042625_mttbirthday_stefancohen_080-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/2425concerts_042625_mttbirthday_stefancohen_080-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/2425concerts_042625_mttbirthday_stefancohen_080-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/2425concerts_042625_mttbirthday_stefancohen_080-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Michael Tilson Thomas leaves the stage for the last time with Joshua Robison, Edwin Outwater and Teddy Abrams at the end of his 80th birthday celebration at Davies Symphony Hall, April 26, 2025. \u003ccite>(Stefan Cohen / San Francisco Symphony)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Thomas cared deeply about music. “When we first met during my job interview, we spent the entire conversation on a single piece of music — Ligeti’s Violin Concerto,” said San Francisco Symphony CEO Matthew Spivey. “That was how he came to know people, and came to know the world.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He also often insisted that the true measure of his life’s work was not the many, many accolades and awards for his music, but its lasting effect on the audience.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I love this music that I make,” he once \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/201506031000/michael-tilson-thomas-on-beethoven-innovation-and-20-years-with-the-san-francisco-symphony\">told KQED’s Michael Krasny in 2015\u003c/a>. “But I’ve always said that for me, the most important moment in music was what happens when the music ends. When the symphony stops, what is left then?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now that the music has ended, I can tell you what’s left: a whole lot of love. \u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/san-francisco-symphony\">San Francisco Symphony\u003c/a>’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfsymphony.org/Calendar/Season-Overview\">115th season\u003c/a> kicks off on Sept. 8, 2026, and today the orchestra announced a slate of multifaceted programming that includes several premieres and fresh collaborations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nov. 19–21, 2026, Alonzo King LINES Ballet debuts two new works set to Debussy’s \u003cem>Prélude à L’Après-midi d’un faune\u003c/em> and Copland’s suite from \u003cem>Appalachian Spring\u003c/em>, conducted by James Gaffigan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>June 3–5, 2027, the Symphony presents Janni Younge’s production of Stravinsky’s \u003cem>The Firebird\u003c/em> with puppetry and South African dance. Photographer and video artist Deborah O’Grady adds visuals from California’s dramatic landscapes to \u003cem>The Dharma at Big Sur\u003c/em> by Bay Area composer \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/john-adams\">John Adams\u003c/a> on June 17 and 18, 2027.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID='arts_13980628']On Feb. 11–13, 2027 San Francisco Symphony premieres a new work by Kyle Rivera, the winner of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13980628/emerging-black-composers-project-san-francisco-symphony-conservatory-of-music\">Emerging Black Composers Project\u003c/a>. Rivera’s piece dramatizes how dead whales sustain hidden ecosystems of deep-sea organisms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On April 22–24, 2027 former San Francisco Symphony Director Esa-Pekka Salonen returns to Davies Symphony Hall (\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13954764/sf-symphony-leadership-esa-pekka-salonen-musicians-protest\">he left in 2025\u003c/a> due to disagreements with the board about budget cuts and programming). For the 2026–27 season, Salonen conducts the world premiere of a new concerto for harp and percussion by composer Rene Orth, a San Francisco Symphony commission.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Joe Hisaishi, the Japanese composer who has worked extensively with director Hayao Miyazaki, returns to the San Francisco Symphony stage on Oct. 22, 2026 for the West Coast premiere of his original Concerto for Orchestra, which he will conduct himself. (Studio Ghibli fans bought up tickets quickly when Hisaishi \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13963803/review-joe-hisaishi-studio-ghibli-san-francisco-symphony\">performed with the orchestra in 2024\u003c/a>.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID='arts_13987039']The San Francisco Symphony will continue popular series including Films with Live Orchestra, which features classics such as \u003cem>Star Wars: Return of the Jedi\u003c/em> and \u003cem>The Ring\u003c/em>. Soundbox, a series of experimental performances in a relaxed, nightclub-like setting, comes back for a 13th season with two programs curated by violinist Vijay Gupta (Jan. 29–30) and conductor Edwin Outwater (April 1–2).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The new season also features collaborations with musicians such as Grammy-winning blues singer-songwriter Fantastic Negrito and Berkeley-born composer and environmentalist Gabriella Smith, who has come on as a creative partner.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The San Francisco Symphony’s new season gets underway on Sept. 8, and the \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfsymphony.org/Calendar/Season-Overview\">full program can be found here\u003c/a>. Single-concert tickets go on sale July 18, with subscriptions available now.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/san-francisco-symphony\">San Francisco Symphony\u003c/a>’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfsymphony.org/Calendar/Season-Overview\">115th season\u003c/a> kicks off on Sept. 8, 2026, and today the orchestra announced a slate of multifaceted programming that includes several premieres and fresh collaborations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nov. 19–21, 2026, Alonzo King LINES Ballet debuts two new works set to Debussy’s \u003cem>Prélude à L’Après-midi d’un faune\u003c/em> and Copland’s suite from \u003cem>Appalachian Spring\u003c/em>, conducted by James Gaffigan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>June 3–5, 2027, the Symphony presents Janni Younge’s production of Stravinsky’s \u003cem>The Firebird\u003c/em> with puppetry and South African dance. Photographer and video artist Deborah O’Grady adds visuals from California’s dramatic landscapes to \u003cem>The Dharma at Big Sur\u003c/em> by Bay Area composer \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/john-adams\">John Adams\u003c/a> on June 17 and 18, 2027.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>On Feb. 11–13, 2027 San Francisco Symphony premieres a new work by Kyle Rivera, the winner of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13980628/emerging-black-composers-project-san-francisco-symphony-conservatory-of-music\">Emerging Black Composers Project\u003c/a>. Rivera’s piece dramatizes how dead whales sustain hidden ecosystems of deep-sea organisms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On April 22–24, 2027 former San Francisco Symphony Director Esa-Pekka Salonen returns to Davies Symphony Hall (\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13954764/sf-symphony-leadership-esa-pekka-salonen-musicians-protest\">he left in 2025\u003c/a> due to disagreements with the board about budget cuts and programming). For the 2026–27 season, Salonen conducts the world premiere of a new concerto for harp and percussion by composer Rene Orth, a San Francisco Symphony commission.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "Joshua Robison, Husband to Michael Tilson Thomas, Dies at 79",
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"content": "\u003cp>Joshua Robison, the husband of conductor and music director \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/michael-tilson-thomas\">Michael Tilson Thomas\u003c/a>, died in his sleep Sunday night at his apartment in San Francisco. He was 79. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>News of Robison’s passing was confirmed by a San Francisco Symphony spokesperson. No cause of death was given. Robison had been in a long period of recovery from a spinal cord injury after suffering a fall at home last August. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Robison, full of energy and quick with a smile, was a constant presence at the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/san-francisco-symphony\">San Francisco Symphony\u003c/a>, and at civic and arts events in and around San Francisco. To Thomas, he served as a creative partner and source of support.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13987052\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/2324concerts_121523mttway_002.jpg\" alt=\"A group of people sit in chairs, many dressed in blue, on the sidewalk\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1335\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13987052\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/2324concerts_121523mttway_002.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/2324concerts_121523mttway_002-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/2324concerts_121523mttway_002-768x513.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/2324concerts_121523mttway_002-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Joshua Robison, second from left, sits with Michael Tilson Thomas, Mayor London Breed, Speaker Nancy Pelosi and San Francisco Symphony Executive Director Matthew Spivey at a dedication ceremony for ‘MTT Way’ outside Davies Symphony Hall in San Francisco in Dec. 15, 2023. \u003ccite>(Courtesy San Francisco Symphony)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>While Thomas was the music director and public face of the San Francisco Symphony from 1995–2020, “Joshua was the steady and indispensable force behind the scenes who helped make it all work,” said the Symphony’s board chair Priscilla Geeslin.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Their partnership was extraordinary: Michael’s expansive artistic vision paired with Joshua’s insight, advocacy, and unwavering dedication. Joshua ensured that bold ideas became realities, that relationships were nurtured, and that the Symphony’s work resonated far beyond the stage,” Geeslin added. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Robison and Thomas met as musicians in their junior high orchestra. “We have very strong memories of making music together when we were 12 or 13 years old,” Thomas \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/article/38-years-together-Tilson-Thomas-and-Robison-marry-5867303.php\">once told\u003c/a> the \u003cem>San Francisco Chronicle\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13975353\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/2425concerts_042625_mttbirthday_stefancohen_080.jpg\" alt=\"A man in a blue shirt clasps his hands in appreciation next to a door as smiling friends stand close by\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13975353\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/2425concerts_042625_mttbirthday_stefancohen_080.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/2425concerts_042625_mttbirthday_stefancohen_080-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/2425concerts_042625_mttbirthday_stefancohen_080-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/2425concerts_042625_mttbirthday_stefancohen_080-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/2425concerts_042625_mttbirthday_stefancohen_080-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/2425concerts_042625_mttbirthday_stefancohen_080-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/2425concerts_042625_mttbirthday_stefancohen_080-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Joshua Robison, second from left, leaves the stage with Michael Tilson Thomas, Edwin Outwater and Teddy Abrams at the end of Thomas’ 80th birthday celebration at Davies Symphony Hall, April 26, 2025. \u003ccite>(Stefan Cohen / San Francisco Symphony)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In high school and at UC Berkeley, while Thomas continued to study music, Robison became a champion gymnast. In the 1970s, the two reunited in New York state, and were inseparable ever since.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2014, 38 years after first meeting, the two were married. In 2021, after Thomas was \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13909978/michael-tilson-thomas-goes-public-about-cancer-steps-back-from-some-engagements\">diagnosed with a brain tumor\u003c/a>, Robison provided constant care and support. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last year, Robison produced an \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13975328/michael-tilson-thomas-80th-birthday-concert-symphony-review\">80th birthday concert\u003c/a> for Thomas at Davies Symphony Hall, and sat by Thomas’ side onstage for the duration of the celebration. At the concert’s end, Thomas sang along to the song “Some Other Time,” gesturing toward Robison on the lines: “There’s so much more embracing / Still to be done / But time is racing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A memorial for Robison has not yet been announced. \u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Joshua Robison, the husband of conductor and music director \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/michael-tilson-thomas\">Michael Tilson Thomas\u003c/a>, died in his sleep Sunday night at his apartment in San Francisco. He was 79. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>News of Robison’s passing was confirmed by a San Francisco Symphony spokesperson. No cause of death was given. Robison had been in a long period of recovery from a spinal cord injury after suffering a fall at home last August. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Robison, full of energy and quick with a smile, was a constant presence at the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/san-francisco-symphony\">San Francisco Symphony\u003c/a>, and at civic and arts events in and around San Francisco. To Thomas, he served as a creative partner and source of support.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13987052\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/2324concerts_121523mttway_002.jpg\" alt=\"A group of people sit in chairs, many dressed in blue, on the sidewalk\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1335\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13987052\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/2324concerts_121523mttway_002.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/2324concerts_121523mttway_002-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/2324concerts_121523mttway_002-768x513.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/2324concerts_121523mttway_002-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Joshua Robison, second from left, sits with Michael Tilson Thomas, Mayor London Breed, Speaker Nancy Pelosi and San Francisco Symphony Executive Director Matthew Spivey at a dedication ceremony for ‘MTT Way’ outside Davies Symphony Hall in San Francisco in Dec. 15, 2023. \u003ccite>(Courtesy San Francisco Symphony)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>While Thomas was the music director and public face of the San Francisco Symphony from 1995–2020, “Joshua was the steady and indispensable force behind the scenes who helped make it all work,” said the Symphony’s board chair Priscilla Geeslin.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Their partnership was extraordinary: Michael’s expansive artistic vision paired with Joshua’s insight, advocacy, and unwavering dedication. Joshua ensured that bold ideas became realities, that relationships were nurtured, and that the Symphony’s work resonated far beyond the stage,” Geeslin added. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Robison and Thomas met as musicians in their junior high orchestra. “We have very strong memories of making music together when we were 12 or 13 years old,” Thomas \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/article/38-years-together-Tilson-Thomas-and-Robison-marry-5867303.php\">once told\u003c/a> the \u003cem>San Francisco Chronicle\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13975353\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/2425concerts_042625_mttbirthday_stefancohen_080.jpg\" alt=\"A man in a blue shirt clasps his hands in appreciation next to a door as smiling friends stand close by\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13975353\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/2425concerts_042625_mttbirthday_stefancohen_080.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/2425concerts_042625_mttbirthday_stefancohen_080-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/2425concerts_042625_mttbirthday_stefancohen_080-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/2425concerts_042625_mttbirthday_stefancohen_080-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/2425concerts_042625_mttbirthday_stefancohen_080-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/2425concerts_042625_mttbirthday_stefancohen_080-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/2425concerts_042625_mttbirthday_stefancohen_080-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Joshua Robison, second from left, leaves the stage with Michael Tilson Thomas, Edwin Outwater and Teddy Abrams at the end of Thomas’ 80th birthday celebration at Davies Symphony Hall, April 26, 2025. \u003ccite>(Stefan Cohen / San Francisco Symphony)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In high school and at UC Berkeley, while Thomas continued to study music, Robison became a champion gymnast. In the 1970s, the two reunited in New York state, and were inseparable ever since.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2014, 38 years after first meeting, the two were married. In 2021, after Thomas was \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13909978/michael-tilson-thomas-goes-public-about-cancer-steps-back-from-some-engagements\">diagnosed with a brain tumor\u003c/a>, Robison provided constant care and support. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last year, Robison produced an \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13975328/michael-tilson-thomas-80th-birthday-concert-symphony-review\">80th birthday concert\u003c/a> for Thomas at Davies Symphony Hall, and sat by Thomas’ side onstage for the duration of the celebration. At the concert’s end, Thomas sang along to the song “Some Other Time,” gesturing toward Robison on the lines: “There’s so much more embracing / Still to be done / But time is racing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A memorial for Robison has not yet been announced. \u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>The impacts of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/ghost-ship\">Ghost Ship\u003c/a> fire on Dec. 2, 2016, when an East Oakland warehouse went up in flames during an electronic music show, continue to reverberate through the Bay Area’s creative scenes. The fire claimed the lives of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/ghostshipmemorial\">36 people, aged 20 to 61, most of whom were artists and musicians\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Alexandrea Archuleta was slated to perform that night. Working the door when the fire broke out, she managed to escape with her life. Now, she’s uplifting the memories of friends she lost and creating a space for healing with a new symphonic work, \u003cem>Symphony No. 1 …And No One Died, Thus We Began to See in the Dark\u003c/em>, which she’ll perform with a new ensemble called Ghost Ship Symphony on \u003ca href=\"https://www.eventbrite.com/e/art-in-movements-a-community-gathering-with-ghost-ship-symphony-rupture-tickets-1744402467739?aff=oddtdtcreator\">Nov. 15 at Bandaloop in West Oakland\u003c/a>. [aside postid='arts_13816362,arts_13908910']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Archuleta conceptualized the uplifting, cathartic piece as a love letter, not only to the 36 victims but to the many friends who worked together to support her and other survivors, whether through meals, medicinal herbs, fundraising or just some friendly company.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The radical love of people in the Bay Area is the other side of this,” she says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After the fire, the house she shared with roommate and fellow musician Sharmi Basu became a hub for mutual aid during the depths of the community’s mourning. “We needed to get people money because people were too sick from grief to work,” Basu says, noting that many artists also lost housing as the City of Oakland cracked down on unpermitted live-work warehouses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Basu is now the executive director of the organization for \u003ca href=\"https://www.vitalarts.org/\">Vital Arts\u003c/a>, an artist advocacy organization founded by Edwin Bernbaum, whose son, visual projection artist Jonathan, was killed in the fire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Building on the spirit of DIY mutual aid, Vital Arts leads several programs, including a paid fellowship and free legal cafes, that work to address artists’ material needs in the expensive Bay Area. As many advocates have pointed out over the years, the untenable cost of living and lack of available creative spaces is what pushed people to live and perform in unsafe venues like Ghost Ship.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the Ghost Ship Symphony concert, which includes a performance from dance collective RUPTURE, Vital Arts will announce its new cohort of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13977921/bay-area-artist-census-fellowship-vital-arts\">Bay Area Artist Census fellows\u003c/a>, who over the next 18 months will survey the creative community about its needs for housing, healthcare and fair wages, and advocate for solutions. The organization also just opened applications for the latest round of its \u003ca href=\"https://www.vitalarts.org/adpg\">Artist Displacement Prevention Grant\u003c/a>, which pays $3,000 to support artists facing housing insecurity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think as artists, our job is to remind each other of life and give each other hope,” Basu says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13983598\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13983598\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/CFTA-Regional-Conversation_Oakland_July-11-2025_Sharmi-Basu_Photo-by-Paul-Kuroda-2-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"A person speaks into a microphone at a conference. \" width=\"2560\" height=\"1545\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/CFTA-Regional-Conversation_Oakland_July-11-2025_Sharmi-Basu_Photo-by-Paul-Kuroda-2-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/CFTA-Regional-Conversation_Oakland_July-11-2025_Sharmi-Basu_Photo-by-Paul-Kuroda-2-2000x1207.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/CFTA-Regional-Conversation_Oakland_July-11-2025_Sharmi-Basu_Photo-by-Paul-Kuroda-2-160x97.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/CFTA-Regional-Conversation_Oakland_July-11-2025_Sharmi-Basu_Photo-by-Paul-Kuroda-2-768x463.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/CFTA-Regional-Conversation_Oakland_July-11-2025_Sharmi-Basu_Photo-by-Paul-Kuroda-2-1536x927.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/CFTA-Regional-Conversation_Oakland_July-11-2025_Sharmi-Basu_Photo-by-Paul-Kuroda-2-2048x1236.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sharmi Basu is the executive director of Vital Arts, an organization that supports artists with grants and legal advice. \u003ccite>(Paul Kuroda)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>To that end, Basu has been working with Archuleta to find classical musicians to complete the Ghost Ship Symphony ensemble. The Nov. 15 show will serve as a work-in-progress preview of a large-scale orchestral performance next year, to mark the 10th anniversary of the tragedy on Dec. 4, 2026 at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Archuleta came up as an electronic musician. As she processed her grief over the past nine years, the works of Italian film composer Ennio Morricone and minimalist Estonian composer Arvo Pärt became a balm and a guiding light. She’s collaborating with arranger Franklin Cole, who’s based in her hometown of Denver, Colorado, to translate her composition into a sweeping epic propelled by horns and timpani.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The piece is part of a growing canon of contemporary classical works dedicated to the Ghost Ship victims, including \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13845021/a-symphonic-requiem-for-ghost-ship-fire-victims\">Richard Marriott’s \u003cem>Ghost Ship Concerto\u003c/em>\u003c/a>, which debuted in 2018 with the Oakland Symphony, and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13922065/requiem-sinfonica-honors-ghost-ship-victims-with-music-and-hope\">Arturo Rodriguez’ \u003cem>Requiem Sinfónica\u003c/em>\u003c/a>, performed in full with members of Awesöme Orchestra in 2022.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Archuleta’s \u003cem>Symphony No. 1 …And No One Died and We Began to See in the Dark \u003c/em>will be the first time such a project has been led by a survivor. She envisions the music not as a “bummer or downer,” but as a greeting to her friends in the afterlife. Over the years, she says, she’s arrived at a more accepting attitude towards death.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s this long eternal forever, and it’s this beautiful place, and it’s this comforting place,” she says. “It’s not as heart-wrenching or as darksided as I think the West kind of tends to view it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Alexandrea Archuleta and Ghost Ship Symphony perform a \u003ca href=\"https://www.eventbrite.com/e/art-in-movements-a-community-gathering-with-ghost-ship-symphony-rupture-tickets-1744402467739?aff=oddtdtcreator\">preview of ‘Symphony No. 1 …And No One Died and We Began to See in the Dark’\u003c/a> at Bandaloop (1601 18th St., Oakland) on Nov. 15 at 7 p.m. The evening will feature a dance performance by the collective RUPTURE.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>The impacts of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/ghost-ship\">Ghost Ship\u003c/a> fire on Dec. 2, 2016, when an East Oakland warehouse went up in flames during an electronic music show, continue to reverberate through the Bay Area’s creative scenes. The fire claimed the lives of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/ghostshipmemorial\">36 people, aged 20 to 61, most of whom were artists and musicians\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Alexandrea Archuleta was slated to perform that night. Working the door when the fire broke out, she managed to escape with her life. Now, she’s uplifting the memories of friends she lost and creating a space for healing with a new symphonic work, \u003cem>Symphony No. 1 …And No One Died, Thus We Began to See in the Dark\u003c/em>, which she’ll perform with a new ensemble called Ghost Ship Symphony on \u003ca href=\"https://www.eventbrite.com/e/art-in-movements-a-community-gathering-with-ghost-ship-symphony-rupture-tickets-1744402467739?aff=oddtdtcreator\">Nov. 15 at Bandaloop in West Oakland\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Archuleta conceptualized the uplifting, cathartic piece as a love letter, not only to the 36 victims but to the many friends who worked together to support her and other survivors, whether through meals, medicinal herbs, fundraising or just some friendly company.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The radical love of people in the Bay Area is the other side of this,” she says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After the fire, the house she shared with roommate and fellow musician Sharmi Basu became a hub for mutual aid during the depths of the community’s mourning. “We needed to get people money because people were too sick from grief to work,” Basu says, noting that many artists also lost housing as the City of Oakland cracked down on unpermitted live-work warehouses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Basu is now the executive director of the organization for \u003ca href=\"https://www.vitalarts.org/\">Vital Arts\u003c/a>, an artist advocacy organization founded by Edwin Bernbaum, whose son, visual projection artist Jonathan, was killed in the fire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Building on the spirit of DIY mutual aid, Vital Arts leads several programs, including a paid fellowship and free legal cafes, that work to address artists’ material needs in the expensive Bay Area. As many advocates have pointed out over the years, the untenable cost of living and lack of available creative spaces is what pushed people to live and perform in unsafe venues like Ghost Ship.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the Ghost Ship Symphony concert, which includes a performance from dance collective RUPTURE, Vital Arts will announce its new cohort of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13977921/bay-area-artist-census-fellowship-vital-arts\">Bay Area Artist Census fellows\u003c/a>, who over the next 18 months will survey the creative community about its needs for housing, healthcare and fair wages, and advocate for solutions. The organization also just opened applications for the latest round of its \u003ca href=\"https://www.vitalarts.org/adpg\">Artist Displacement Prevention Grant\u003c/a>, which pays $3,000 to support artists facing housing insecurity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think as artists, our job is to remind each other of life and give each other hope,” Basu says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13983598\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13983598\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/CFTA-Regional-Conversation_Oakland_July-11-2025_Sharmi-Basu_Photo-by-Paul-Kuroda-2-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"A person speaks into a microphone at a conference. \" width=\"2560\" height=\"1545\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/CFTA-Regional-Conversation_Oakland_July-11-2025_Sharmi-Basu_Photo-by-Paul-Kuroda-2-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/CFTA-Regional-Conversation_Oakland_July-11-2025_Sharmi-Basu_Photo-by-Paul-Kuroda-2-2000x1207.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/CFTA-Regional-Conversation_Oakland_July-11-2025_Sharmi-Basu_Photo-by-Paul-Kuroda-2-160x97.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/CFTA-Regional-Conversation_Oakland_July-11-2025_Sharmi-Basu_Photo-by-Paul-Kuroda-2-768x463.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/CFTA-Regional-Conversation_Oakland_July-11-2025_Sharmi-Basu_Photo-by-Paul-Kuroda-2-1536x927.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/CFTA-Regional-Conversation_Oakland_July-11-2025_Sharmi-Basu_Photo-by-Paul-Kuroda-2-2048x1236.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sharmi Basu is the executive director of Vital Arts, an organization that supports artists with grants and legal advice. \u003ccite>(Paul Kuroda)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>To that end, Basu has been working with Archuleta to find classical musicians to complete the Ghost Ship Symphony ensemble. The Nov. 15 show will serve as a work-in-progress preview of a large-scale orchestral performance next year, to mark the 10th anniversary of the tragedy on Dec. 4, 2026 at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Archuleta came up as an electronic musician. As she processed her grief over the past nine years, the works of Italian film composer Ennio Morricone and minimalist Estonian composer Arvo Pärt became a balm and a guiding light. She’s collaborating with arranger Franklin Cole, who’s based in her hometown of Denver, Colorado, to translate her composition into a sweeping epic propelled by horns and timpani.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The piece is part of a growing canon of contemporary classical works dedicated to the Ghost Ship victims, including \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13845021/a-symphonic-requiem-for-ghost-ship-fire-victims\">Richard Marriott’s \u003cem>Ghost Ship Concerto\u003c/em>\u003c/a>, which debuted in 2018 with the Oakland Symphony, and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13922065/requiem-sinfonica-honors-ghost-ship-victims-with-music-and-hope\">Arturo Rodriguez’ \u003cem>Requiem Sinfónica\u003c/em>\u003c/a>, performed in full with members of Awesöme Orchestra in 2022.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Archuleta’s \u003cem>Symphony No. 1 …And No One Died and We Began to See in the Dark \u003c/em>will be the first time such a project has been led by a survivor. She envisions the music not as a “bummer or downer,” but as a greeting to her friends in the afterlife. Over the years, she says, she’s arrived at a more accepting attitude towards death.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s this long eternal forever, and it’s this beautiful place, and it’s this comforting place,” she says. “It’s not as heart-wrenching or as darksided as I think the West kind of tends to view it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Alexandrea Archuleta and Ghost Ship Symphony perform a \u003ca href=\"https://www.eventbrite.com/e/art-in-movements-a-community-gathering-with-ghost-ship-symphony-rupture-tickets-1744402467739?aff=oddtdtcreator\">preview of ‘Symphony No. 1 …And No One Died and We Began to See in the Dark’\u003c/a> at Bandaloop (1601 18th St., Oakland) on Nov. 15 at 7 p.m. The evening will feature a dance performance by the collective RUPTURE.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "The Emerging Black Composers Project Returns in San Francisco",
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"content": "\u003cp>After months of uncertainty, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13909289/emerging-black-composers-project-san-francisco-symphony-conservatory-music-trevor-weston\">Emerging Black Composers Project\u003c/a> (EBCP), launched in 2020 by the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and the San Francisco Symphony, is back on track.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID='arts_13977200,arts_13909289']In early March 2025, SFCM and the SF Symphony announced the program was paused, citing a memo from the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights that instructed schools to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion efforts or face the possibility of losing their federal funding.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Side-stepping that memo, the SF Symphony — not an educational institution — is now the sole administrator of the project, with the SFCM in a supporting role. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Created in the wake of the George Floyd protests, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13884821/a-new-grant-and-mentorship-program-seeks-to-elevate-black-composers\">EBCP was established\u003c/a> as a 10-year commissioning project meant to lower some of the barriers Black composers face in the field of classical music. The program awards $15,000 to early-career Black composers, gives them a premiere with the SF Symphony, and provides them with mentorship from music directors at local partner organizations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I am thrilled that the Emerging Black Composers Project will continue finding and funding some of the best musical talent in the country,” Daniel Bartholomew-Poyser, chair of the EBCP said in a \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfsymphony.org/About-SFS/Press-Room/Press-Releases/EBCP-August-2025-Update\">statement\u003c/a> released by the SF Symphony on Friday. “It’s been very gratifying to see our past laureates continue to create and enjoy success, which speaks to the importance of not only our program, but all that celebrate and support early-stage artists.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The winner of the fifth annual EBCP Michael Morgan Prize will be announced in the fall, and a call for the 2026 award will go out in November. (The prize was renamed in 2023 to honor the late Oakland Symphony conductor and co-founder of the EBCP, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13901635/michael-morgan-visionary-oakland-symphony-conductor-dies-at-age-63\">who died in 2021\u003c/a>.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So far, the program has commissioned 11 pieces. Past prize winners include Jens Ibsen, Xavier Muzik, Tyler Taylor and Trevor Weston, with additional monetary awards going to composers Jonathan Bingham, Shawn Okpebholo and Sumi Tonooka.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tyler Taylor, the winner of the 2024 Michael Morgan Prize, will have a premiere of his new work in May 2026, performed by the SF Symphony and conductor Cristian Măcelaru.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>In early March 2025, SFCM and the SF Symphony announced the program was paused, citing a memo from the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights that instructed schools to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion efforts or face the possibility of losing their federal funding.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Side-stepping that memo, the SF Symphony — not an educational institution — is now the sole administrator of the project, with the SFCM in a supporting role. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Created in the wake of the George Floyd protests, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13884821/a-new-grant-and-mentorship-program-seeks-to-elevate-black-composers\">EBCP was established\u003c/a> as a 10-year commissioning project meant to lower some of the barriers Black composers face in the field of classical music. The program awards $15,000 to early-career Black composers, gives them a premiere with the SF Symphony, and provides them with mentorship from music directors at local partner organizations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I am thrilled that the Emerging Black Composers Project will continue finding and funding some of the best musical talent in the country,” Daniel Bartholomew-Poyser, chair of the EBCP said in a \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfsymphony.org/About-SFS/Press-Room/Press-Releases/EBCP-August-2025-Update\">statement\u003c/a> released by the SF Symphony on Friday. “It’s been very gratifying to see our past laureates continue to create and enjoy success, which speaks to the importance of not only our program, but all that celebrate and support early-stage artists.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The winner of the fifth annual EBCP Michael Morgan Prize will be announced in the fall, and a call for the 2026 award will go out in November. (The prize was renamed in 2023 to honor the late Oakland Symphony conductor and co-founder of the EBCP, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13901635/michael-morgan-visionary-oakland-symphony-conductor-dies-at-age-63\">who died in 2021\u003c/a>.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So far, the program has commissioned 11 pieces. Past prize winners include Jens Ibsen, Xavier Muzik, Tyler Taylor and Trevor Weston, with additional monetary awards going to composers Jonathan Bingham, Shawn Okpebholo and Sumi Tonooka.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tyler Taylor, the winner of the 2024 Michael Morgan Prize, will have a premiere of his new work in May 2026, performed by the SF Symphony and conductor Cristian Măcelaru.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "jazz-classical-concerts-san-francisco-oakland-bay-area-2025",
"title": "8 Great Jazz and Classical Concerts in the Bay Area This Fall",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003cstrong>Be sure to check out our full \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/fall-guide-2025\">2025 Fall Arts Guide\u003c/a> to live music, movies, art, theater, festivals and more in the Bay Area.\u003c/strong>\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This fall, everything you know is wrong. Rock venues are selling out concerts by \u003ca href=\"https://apeconcerts.com/events/ludovico-einaudi-251022/\">quasi-classical relaxing piano guys\u003c/a>. Jazz clubs are home to \u003ca href=\"https://yoshis.com/events/buy-tickets/too-hort-with-live-band/detail\">Bay Area rappers\u003c/a>. Folk venues are \u003ca href=\"https://secure.thefreight.org/15095/15096-keyon-harrold-250925\">booking jazz artists\u003c/a>. Classical concert halls are \u003ca href=\"https://www.livenation.com/event/G5vYZbc1JtNxu/live-105-presents-queens-of-the-stone-age-the-catacombs-tour\">hosting rock bands\u003c/a>. It’s anarchy! \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The upshot of all this havoc: there’s a wealth of great jazz and classical performances in the Bay Area this fall. Here’s a small sampling.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10137118\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/Carter11.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10137118\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/Carter11.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/Carter11-400x225.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/Carter11-300x168.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ron Carter. \u003ccite>(Fortuna Sung)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://www.sfjazz.org/tickets/productions/25-26/ron-carter-quartet-matinee/\">Ron Carter Quartet\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Sept. 18–20, 2025\u003c/em>\u003cbr>\n\u003cem>SFJAZZ Center, San Francisco \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you think you’ve never heard Ron Carter, believe me: you’ve heard Ron Carter. The \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/10137113/ron-carter-and-the-low-end-theory\">most-recorded bassist of all time\u003c/a> has played on more than 2,200 albums. Still best-known for his years with Miles Davis, the bassist’s current group boasts drummer Payton Crossley, saxophonist Jimmy Green and the excellent pianist Renee Rosnes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13980482\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/Runnicles_CRED.ChrisLee-02-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13980482\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/Runnicles_CRED.ChrisLee-02-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/Runnicles_CRED.ChrisLee-02-2000x1333.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/Runnicles_CRED.ChrisLee-02-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/Runnicles_CRED.ChrisLee-02-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/Runnicles_CRED.ChrisLee-02-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/Runnicles_CRED.ChrisLee-02-2048x1365.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Donald Runnicles. \u003ccite>(Chris Lee)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://www.sfsymphony.org/Buy-Tickets/2025-26/RUNNICLES-CONDUCTS-MAHLER-1\">Donald Runnicles conducts Mahler 1\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Sept. 26–28, 2025\u003c/em>\u003cbr>\n\u003cem>Davies Symphony Hall, San Francisco\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The San Francisco Symphony’s upcoming season of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13973375/san-francisco-symphony-new-season-2025-2026\">tried-and-true classics\u003c/a> has a bright spot in this appearance by well-loved conductor Donald Runnicles, who for 17 years occupied the podium across the street from Davies at the Opera House. In San Francisco, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13951043/review-michael-tilson-thomas-mahler-5-san-francisco-symphony\">Mahler is its own hue of tried-and-true\u003c/a>, but expect Runnicles to pull surprising textures out of the composer’s first symphony, paired here with Berg’s \u003ci>Seven Early Songs\u003c/i>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13980483\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/SaulCarlos2025.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"501\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13980483\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/SaulCarlos2025.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/SaulCarlos2025-160x100.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/SaulCarlos2025-768x481.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Carlos Niño and Saul Williams. \u003ccite>(Artist photo)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://yoshis.com/events/buy-tickets/saul-williams/detail\">Saul Williams with Carlos Niño & Friends\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Sept. 30–Oct. 1, 2025\u003c/em>\u003cbr>\n\u003cem>Yoshi’s, Oakland \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The trend of rap artists performing at the venerable jazz club Yoshi’s started five or six years ago, with rappers like \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/B7sSGFTFuCm/\">Scarface\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/CgaEoJVFQBA/\">DJ Quik\u003c/a>, and has recently included Bay Area rappers Richie Rich, Mac Mall and, upcoming, B-Legit (Sept. 14). Semi-adjacent to all this is Saul Williams, the gifted poet, rapper and actor (seen in this year’s \u003ci>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13974810/ryan-coogler-sinners-grand-lake-theatre-interview\">Sinners\u003c/a>\u003c/i>), who performs at the club with Latin percussionist Carlos Niño and his combo.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13963175\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/mike.clark_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1331\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13963175\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/mike.clark_.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/mike.clark_-800x532.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/mike.clark_-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/mike.clark_-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/mike.clark_-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/mike.clark_-1536x1022.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/mike.clark_-1920x1278.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mike Clark. \u003ccite>(Artist Photo)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://www.sfjazz.org/tickets/productions/25-26/mike-clark-quintet/\">Mike Clark Quintet\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Oct. 4 and 5, 2025/em>\u003cbr>\n\u003cem>SFJAZZ Center, San Francisco\u003c/em>\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As if a performance by this \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13963945/wide-hive-records-berkeley-mike-clark-henry-franklin\">legendary drummer\u003c/a> from Herbie Hancock’s Headhunters band weren’t enough, check his cohort of heavyweights for these shows, which includes pianist Patrice Rushen, saxophonist Craig Handy and trumpeter Eddie Henderson. The fact that it’s in SFJAZZ’s tiny side room, the Joe Henderson Lab, seals these as shows for the history books. \u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13980485\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1440px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/Ledisi.Dinah_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1440\" height=\"810\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13980485\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/Ledisi.Dinah_.jpg 1440w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/Ledisi.Dinah_-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/Ledisi.Dinah_-768x432.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1440px) 100vw, 1440px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ledisi. \u003ccite>(Courtesy SFJAZZ)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://www.sfjazz.org/tickets/productions/25-26/ledisi/\">Ledisi sings Dinah Washington\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Oct. 6, 2025\u003c/em>\u003cbr>\n\u003cem>Davies Symphony Hall, San Francisco\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Is there a more invigorating jazz singer that crossed over into pop than Dinah Washington? While “What a Difference a Day Makes” paid her bills, Washington recorded dozens of extended sides with jazz greats; her seven-minute “\u003ca href=\"https://youtu.be/MT1t8XHAiVc?si=XuPNB7WKce6wOoO7\">Bye Bye Blues\u003c/a>” is a guaranteed depression cure. At Davies, the Bay Area’s own Ledisi pays special tribute to Washington and her natural exuberance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13980484\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 960px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/gala-performance-A-960.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"960\" height=\"576\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13980484\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/gala-performance-A-960.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/gala-performance-A-960-160x96.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/gala-performance-A-960-768x461.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 960px) 100vw, 960px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jeffrey and Gabriel Kahane. \u003ccite>(Courtesy San Francisco Performances)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://sfperformances.org/performances/2526/gala-performance.html\">Jeffrey Kahane and Gabriel Kahane\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Oct. 10, 2025\u003c/em>\u003cbr>\n\u003cem>Herbst Theatre, San Francisco\u003c/em> \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This father-and-son duo should be familiar to the Bay Area — Jeffrey Kahane conducted the Santa Rosa Symphony for 10 seasons, and Gabriel, now a musician of national renown, was raised here. The two have not often appeared onstage together, however. On this night at Herbst, they team up to perform \u003ci>Heirloom\u003c/i>, a concerto written by Gabriel for his father, along with other works for two pianos. \u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13980481\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/Brandee-Younger-CRED-Erin-Patrice-OBrien.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13980481\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/Brandee-Younger-CRED-Erin-Patrice-OBrien.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/Brandee-Younger-CRED-Erin-Patrice-OBrien-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/Brandee-Younger-CRED-Erin-Patrice-OBrien-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/Brandee-Younger-CRED-Erin-Patrice-OBrien-1536x864.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Brandee Younger. \u003ccite>(Erin Patrice O'Brien)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://secure.thefreight.org/15049/15050-brandee-younger-trio-251023\">Brandee Younger Trio\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Oct. 23, 2025\u003c/em>\u003cbr>\n\u003cem>The Freight, Berkeley\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The folk-and-fancy-fiddle featurin’ Freight & Salvage has slowly stepped into the 21st century with a new name (“The Freight”) and an expansion into the occasional rap show (Talib Kweli, recently, and KRS-One on Oct. 24). Jazz is in the mix too, with trumpeter Keyon Harrold (Sept. 25) and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13953845/review-brandee-younger-alice-coltrane-san-francisco-sfjazz\">the most prominent torchbearer of the music of Alice Coltrane, Brandee Younger\u003c/a>, who can virtually stop time whenever she wants.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13980480\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 970px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/2.-Huang-Ruo-and-David-Henry-Hwang-Photo-by-Matthew-Murphy.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"970\" height=\"546\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13980480\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/2.-Huang-Ruo-and-David-Henry-Hwang-Photo-by-Matthew-Murphy.jpg 970w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/2.-Huang-Ruo-and-David-Henry-Hwang-Photo-by-Matthew-Murphy-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/2.-Huang-Ruo-and-David-Henry-Hwang-Photo-by-Matthew-Murphy-768x432.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 970px) 100vw, 970px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Huang Ruo and David Henry Hwang. \u003ccite>(Matthew Murphy)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>‘\u003ca href=\"https://www.sfopera.com/operas/the-monkey-king/\">The Monkey King\u003c/a>’ \u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Nov. 14–30, 2025\u003c/em>\u003cbr>\n\u003cem>War Memorial Opera House, San Francisco\u003c/em> \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While the house is sure to be packed in September for San Francisco Opera’s revival of the modern classic \u003ci>\u003ca href=\"https://www.sfopera.com/operas/dead-man-walking/\">Dead Man Walking\u003c/a>\u003c/i> (which premiered here 25 years ago), this world premiere has its own frenzied anticipation. Huang Ruo and David Henry Hwang’s work, based on the 16th century Chinese novel \u003ci>Journey to the West\u003c/i>, is augmented with colorful costumes, choreography, Buddhist sutras and advanced puppetry. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Briefly Noted\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"https://blackcatsf.turntabletickets.com/r/caelan-cardello-trio-ft-jonathon-muir-cotton-domo-branch\">Caelean Cardello Trio\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003cbr>\n\u003cem>Sept. 18–20; Black Cat, San Francisco\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.laufeymusic.com/tour/\">Laufey\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003cbr>\n\u003cem>Sept. 29 (Oakland Arena, Oakland) and Sept. 30 (Chase Center, San Francisco)\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.paulcornishmusic.com/live/\">Paul Cornish\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003cbr>\n\u003cem>Oct. 3 (The Break Room, San Jose) and Oct. 4 (Piedmont Piano Co., Oakland)\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.symphonysanjose.org/attend/2025-2026-season/concerts/masquerade/\">Berlioz / Rachmaninoff / Clyne with Symphony San Jose\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003cbr>\n\u003cem>Oct. 4 and 5; California Theatre, San Jose\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"https://wl.eventim.us/event/makaya-mccraven/650319?afflky=GreatAmericanMusicHall\">Makaya McCraven\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003cbr>\n\u003cem>Oct. 21; Great American Music Hall, San Francisco\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.srsymphony.org/event/spanish-fiesta/\">Rodrigo / de Falla / Assad with the Santa Rosa Symphony\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003cbr>\n\u003cem>Nov. 8–10; Green Music Center, Rohnert Park\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.oaklandsymphony.org/25-26-season-subscription/\">Verdi’s Requiem with the Oakland Symphony\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003cbr>\n\u003cem>Nov. 14; Paramount Theatre, Oakland\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.californiasymphony.org/shows/beethovens-eroica/\">\u003cstrong>Montgomery / Mozart / Beethoven with the California Symphony\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003cem>Nov. 15 and 16; Lesher Center, Walnut Creek\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "Enriching musical experiences outside the confines of the jazz club or concert hall are abundant this fall.",
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"title": "Your Guide to Jazz and Classical Concerts This Fall | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003cstrong>Be sure to check out our full \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/fall-guide-2025\">2025 Fall Arts Guide\u003c/a> to live music, movies, art, theater, festivals and more in the Bay Area.\u003c/strong>\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This fall, everything you know is wrong. Rock venues are selling out concerts by \u003ca href=\"https://apeconcerts.com/events/ludovico-einaudi-251022/\">quasi-classical relaxing piano guys\u003c/a>. Jazz clubs are home to \u003ca href=\"https://yoshis.com/events/buy-tickets/too-hort-with-live-band/detail\">Bay Area rappers\u003c/a>. Folk venues are \u003ca href=\"https://secure.thefreight.org/15095/15096-keyon-harrold-250925\">booking jazz artists\u003c/a>. Classical concert halls are \u003ca href=\"https://www.livenation.com/event/G5vYZbc1JtNxu/live-105-presents-queens-of-the-stone-age-the-catacombs-tour\">hosting rock bands\u003c/a>. It’s anarchy! \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The upshot of all this havoc: there’s a wealth of great jazz and classical performances in the Bay Area this fall. Here’s a small sampling.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10137118\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/Carter11.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10137118\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/Carter11.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/Carter11-400x225.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/Carter11-300x168.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ron Carter. \u003ccite>(Fortuna Sung)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://www.sfjazz.org/tickets/productions/25-26/ron-carter-quartet-matinee/\">Ron Carter Quartet\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Sept. 18–20, 2025\u003c/em>\u003cbr>\n\u003cem>SFJAZZ Center, San Francisco \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you think you’ve never heard Ron Carter, believe me: you’ve heard Ron Carter. The \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/10137113/ron-carter-and-the-low-end-theory\">most-recorded bassist of all time\u003c/a> has played on more than 2,200 albums. Still best-known for his years with Miles Davis, the bassist’s current group boasts drummer Payton Crossley, saxophonist Jimmy Green and the excellent pianist Renee Rosnes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13980482\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/Runnicles_CRED.ChrisLee-02-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13980482\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/Runnicles_CRED.ChrisLee-02-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/Runnicles_CRED.ChrisLee-02-2000x1333.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/Runnicles_CRED.ChrisLee-02-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/Runnicles_CRED.ChrisLee-02-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/Runnicles_CRED.ChrisLee-02-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/Runnicles_CRED.ChrisLee-02-2048x1365.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Donald Runnicles. \u003ccite>(Chris Lee)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://www.sfsymphony.org/Buy-Tickets/2025-26/RUNNICLES-CONDUCTS-MAHLER-1\">Donald Runnicles conducts Mahler 1\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Sept. 26–28, 2025\u003c/em>\u003cbr>\n\u003cem>Davies Symphony Hall, San Francisco\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The San Francisco Symphony’s upcoming season of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13973375/san-francisco-symphony-new-season-2025-2026\">tried-and-true classics\u003c/a> has a bright spot in this appearance by well-loved conductor Donald Runnicles, who for 17 years occupied the podium across the street from Davies at the Opera House. In San Francisco, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13951043/review-michael-tilson-thomas-mahler-5-san-francisco-symphony\">Mahler is its own hue of tried-and-true\u003c/a>, but expect Runnicles to pull surprising textures out of the composer’s first symphony, paired here with Berg’s \u003ci>Seven Early Songs\u003c/i>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13980483\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/SaulCarlos2025.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"501\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13980483\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/SaulCarlos2025.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/SaulCarlos2025-160x100.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/SaulCarlos2025-768x481.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Carlos Niño and Saul Williams. \u003ccite>(Artist photo)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://yoshis.com/events/buy-tickets/saul-williams/detail\">Saul Williams with Carlos Niño & Friends\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Sept. 30–Oct. 1, 2025\u003c/em>\u003cbr>\n\u003cem>Yoshi’s, Oakland \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The trend of rap artists performing at the venerable jazz club Yoshi’s started five or six years ago, with rappers like \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/B7sSGFTFuCm/\">Scarface\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/CgaEoJVFQBA/\">DJ Quik\u003c/a>, and has recently included Bay Area rappers Richie Rich, Mac Mall and, upcoming, B-Legit (Sept. 14). Semi-adjacent to all this is Saul Williams, the gifted poet, rapper and actor (seen in this year’s \u003ci>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13974810/ryan-coogler-sinners-grand-lake-theatre-interview\">Sinners\u003c/a>\u003c/i>), who performs at the club with Latin percussionist Carlos Niño and his combo.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13963175\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/mike.clark_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1331\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13963175\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/mike.clark_.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/mike.clark_-800x532.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/mike.clark_-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/mike.clark_-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/mike.clark_-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/mike.clark_-1536x1022.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/mike.clark_-1920x1278.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mike Clark. \u003ccite>(Artist Photo)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://www.sfjazz.org/tickets/productions/25-26/mike-clark-quintet/\">Mike Clark Quintet\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Oct. 4 and 5, 2025/em>\u003cbr>\n\u003cem>SFJAZZ Center, San Francisco\u003c/em>\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As if a performance by this \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13963945/wide-hive-records-berkeley-mike-clark-henry-franklin\">legendary drummer\u003c/a> from Herbie Hancock’s Headhunters band weren’t enough, check his cohort of heavyweights for these shows, which includes pianist Patrice Rushen, saxophonist Craig Handy and trumpeter Eddie Henderson. The fact that it’s in SFJAZZ’s tiny side room, the Joe Henderson Lab, seals these as shows for the history books. \u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13980485\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1440px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/Ledisi.Dinah_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1440\" height=\"810\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13980485\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/Ledisi.Dinah_.jpg 1440w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/Ledisi.Dinah_-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/Ledisi.Dinah_-768x432.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1440px) 100vw, 1440px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ledisi. \u003ccite>(Courtesy SFJAZZ)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://www.sfjazz.org/tickets/productions/25-26/ledisi/\">Ledisi sings Dinah Washington\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Oct. 6, 2025\u003c/em>\u003cbr>\n\u003cem>Davies Symphony Hall, San Francisco\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Is there a more invigorating jazz singer that crossed over into pop than Dinah Washington? While “What a Difference a Day Makes” paid her bills, Washington recorded dozens of extended sides with jazz greats; her seven-minute “\u003ca href=\"https://youtu.be/MT1t8XHAiVc?si=XuPNB7WKce6wOoO7\">Bye Bye Blues\u003c/a>” is a guaranteed depression cure. At Davies, the Bay Area’s own Ledisi pays special tribute to Washington and her natural exuberance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13980484\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 960px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/gala-performance-A-960.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"960\" height=\"576\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13980484\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/gala-performance-A-960.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/gala-performance-A-960-160x96.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/gala-performance-A-960-768x461.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 960px) 100vw, 960px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jeffrey and Gabriel Kahane. \u003ccite>(Courtesy San Francisco Performances)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://sfperformances.org/performances/2526/gala-performance.html\">Jeffrey Kahane and Gabriel Kahane\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Oct. 10, 2025\u003c/em>\u003cbr>\n\u003cem>Herbst Theatre, San Francisco\u003c/em> \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This father-and-son duo should be familiar to the Bay Area — Jeffrey Kahane conducted the Santa Rosa Symphony for 10 seasons, and Gabriel, now a musician of national renown, was raised here. The two have not often appeared onstage together, however. On this night at Herbst, they team up to perform \u003ci>Heirloom\u003c/i>, a concerto written by Gabriel for his father, along with other works for two pianos. \u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13980481\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/Brandee-Younger-CRED-Erin-Patrice-OBrien.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13980481\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/Brandee-Younger-CRED-Erin-Patrice-OBrien.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/Brandee-Younger-CRED-Erin-Patrice-OBrien-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/Brandee-Younger-CRED-Erin-Patrice-OBrien-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/Brandee-Younger-CRED-Erin-Patrice-OBrien-1536x864.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Brandee Younger. \u003ccite>(Erin Patrice O'Brien)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://secure.thefreight.org/15049/15050-brandee-younger-trio-251023\">Brandee Younger Trio\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Oct. 23, 2025\u003c/em>\u003cbr>\n\u003cem>The Freight, Berkeley\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The folk-and-fancy-fiddle featurin’ Freight & Salvage has slowly stepped into the 21st century with a new name (“The Freight”) and an expansion into the occasional rap show (Talib Kweli, recently, and KRS-One on Oct. 24). Jazz is in the mix too, with trumpeter Keyon Harrold (Sept. 25) and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13953845/review-brandee-younger-alice-coltrane-san-francisco-sfjazz\">the most prominent torchbearer of the music of Alice Coltrane, Brandee Younger\u003c/a>, who can virtually stop time whenever she wants.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13980480\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 970px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/2.-Huang-Ruo-and-David-Henry-Hwang-Photo-by-Matthew-Murphy.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"970\" height=\"546\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13980480\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/2.-Huang-Ruo-and-David-Henry-Hwang-Photo-by-Matthew-Murphy.jpg 970w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/2.-Huang-Ruo-and-David-Henry-Hwang-Photo-by-Matthew-Murphy-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/2.-Huang-Ruo-and-David-Henry-Hwang-Photo-by-Matthew-Murphy-768x432.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 970px) 100vw, 970px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Huang Ruo and David Henry Hwang. \u003ccite>(Matthew Murphy)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>‘\u003ca href=\"https://www.sfopera.com/operas/the-monkey-king/\">The Monkey King\u003c/a>’ \u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Nov. 14–30, 2025\u003c/em>\u003cbr>\n\u003cem>War Memorial Opera House, San Francisco\u003c/em> \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While the house is sure to be packed in September for San Francisco Opera’s revival of the modern classic \u003ci>\u003ca href=\"https://www.sfopera.com/operas/dead-man-walking/\">Dead Man Walking\u003c/a>\u003c/i> (which premiered here 25 years ago), this world premiere has its own frenzied anticipation. Huang Ruo and David Henry Hwang’s work, based on the 16th century Chinese novel \u003ci>Journey to the West\u003c/i>, is augmented with colorful costumes, choreography, Buddhist sutras and advanced puppetry. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Briefly Noted\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"https://blackcatsf.turntabletickets.com/r/caelan-cardello-trio-ft-jonathon-muir-cotton-domo-branch\">Caelean Cardello Trio\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003cbr>\n\u003cem>Sept. 18–20; Black Cat, San Francisco\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.laufeymusic.com/tour/\">Laufey\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003cbr>\n\u003cem>Sept. 29 (Oakland Arena, Oakland) and Sept. 30 (Chase Center, San Francisco)\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.paulcornishmusic.com/live/\">Paul Cornish\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003cbr>\n\u003cem>Oct. 3 (The Break Room, San Jose) and Oct. 4 (Piedmont Piano Co., Oakland)\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.symphonysanjose.org/attend/2025-2026-season/concerts/masquerade/\">Berlioz / Rachmaninoff / Clyne with Symphony San Jose\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003cbr>\n\u003cem>Oct. 4 and 5; California Theatre, San Jose\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"https://wl.eventim.us/event/makaya-mccraven/650319?afflky=GreatAmericanMusicHall\">Makaya McCraven\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003cbr>\n\u003cem>Oct. 21; Great American Music Hall, San Francisco\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.srsymphony.org/event/spanish-fiesta/\">Rodrigo / de Falla / Assad with the Santa Rosa Symphony\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003cbr>\n\u003cem>Nov. 8–10; Green Music Center, Rohnert Park\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.oaklandsymphony.org/25-26-season-subscription/\">Verdi’s Requiem with the Oakland Symphony\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003cbr>\n\u003cem>Nov. 14; Paramount Theatre, Oakland\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.californiasymphony.org/shows/beethovens-eroica/\">\u003cstrong>Montgomery / Mozart / Beethoven with the California Symphony\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003cem>Nov. 15 and 16; Lesher Center, Walnut Creek\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"mindshift": {
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"info": "The MindShift podcast explores the innovations in education that are shaping how kids learn. Hosts Ki Sung and Katrina Schwartz introduce listeners to educators, researchers, parents and students who are developing effective ways to improve how kids learn. We cover topics like how fed-up administrators are developing surprising tactics to deal with classroom disruptions; how listening to podcasts are helping kids develop reading skills; the consequences of overparenting; and why interdisciplinary learning can engage students on all ends of the traditional achievement spectrum. This podcast is part of the MindShift education site, a division of KQED News. KQED is an NPR/PBS member station based in San Francisco. You can also visit the MindShift website for episodes and supplemental blog posts or tweet us \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/MindShiftKQED\">@MindShiftKQED\u003c/a> or visit us at \u003ca href=\"/mindshift\">MindShift.KQED.org\u003c/a>",
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"order": 12
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"info": "For decades, the process for how police police themselves has been inconsistent – if not opaque. In some states, like California, these proceedings were completely hidden. After a new police transparency law unsealed scores of internal affairs files, our reporters set out to examine these cases and the shadow world of police discipline. On Our Watch brings listeners into the rooms where officers are questioned and witnesses are interrogated to find out who this system is really protecting. Is it the officers, or the public they've sworn to serve?",
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"info": "Political Breakdown is a new series that explores the political intersection of California and the nation. Each week hosts Scott Shafer and Marisa Lagos are joined with a new special guest to unpack politics -- with personality — and offer an insider’s glimpse at how politics happens.",
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"possible": {
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"info": "Possible is hosted by entrepreneur Reid Hoffman and writer Aria Finger. Together in Possible, Hoffman and Finger lead enlightening discussions about building a brighter collective future. The show features interviews with visionary guests like Trevor Noah, Sam Altman and Janette Sadik-Khan. Possible paints an optimistic portrait of the world we can create through science, policy, business, art and our shared humanity. It asks: What if everything goes right for once? How can we get there? Each episode also includes a short fiction story generated by advanced AI GPT-4, serving as a thought-provoking springboard to speculate how humanity could leverage technology for good.",
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"pri-the-world": {
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"info": "Each weekday, host Marco Werman and his team of producers bring you the world's most interesting stories in an hour of radio that reminds us just how small our planet really is.",
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"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-World-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
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},
"radiolab": {
"id": "radiolab",
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"info": "A two-time Peabody Award-winner, Radiolab is an investigation told through sounds and stories, and centered around one big idea. In the Radiolab world, information sounds like music and science and culture collide. Hosted by Jad Abumrad and Robert Krulwich, the show is designed for listeners who demand skepticism, but appreciate wonder. WNYC Studios is the producer of other leading podcasts including Freakonomics Radio, Death, Sex & Money, On the Media and many more.",
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"reveal": {
"id": "reveal",
"title": "Reveal",
"info": "Created by The Center for Investigative Reporting and PRX, Reveal is public radios first one-hour weekly radio show and podcast dedicated to investigative reporting. Credible, fact based and without a partisan agenda, Reveal combines the power and artistry of driveway moment storytelling with data-rich reporting on critically important issues. The result is stories that inform and inspire, arming our listeners with information to right injustices, hold the powerful accountable and improve lives.Reveal is hosted by Al Letson and showcases the award-winning work of CIR and newsrooms large and small across the nation. In a radio and podcast market crowded with choices, Reveal focuses on important and often surprising stories that illuminate the world for our listeners.",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.revealnews.org/episodes/",
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},
"rightnowish": {
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