Goldstar

Trio Mediaeval performs Scandinavian folk music at the Herbst Theatre. Comprised of three sopranos from Sweden and Norway, Trio Mediaeval have had multiple Billboard Top-10 recordings. They're known for their pristine, ethereal harmonies. Learn more...

Sixties rock sensations Bobby Rydell and Lou Christie take the stage at the Herbst Theatre with A Rockin' and Rollin' Evening to Remember. Rydell scored numerous hits on the rock charts with "Wild One," "Volare," "Swingin' School" and "Forget Him." Christie charted with songs like "Lightnin' Strikes," "Rhapsody in the Rain" and "I'm Gonna Make You Mine." Learn more...

Since winning the coveted Andrés Segovia Competition in 1975, composer-performer Eduardo Fernández has actively performed on four continents as one of the world's leading guitarists, producing more than a dozen award-winning recordings in the process. He has a special affinity for 19th-century music, which he plays on an antique period instrument. Learn more...

The Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra presents A Classic Triple, a concert featuring works by Beethoven, Haydn, and Mozart. The Bay Area's acclaimed period-instrument orchestra presents Beethoven's dazzling Concerto for Violin, Violoncello and Fortepiano in C major, plus Haydn's Symphony no. 88 and Mozart's Symphony no. 35 "Haffner". Learn more...

The composer/performer pairing of Igor Stravinsky and violinist Samuel Dushkin was one of modern history's most celebrated. Their relationship is paralleled by this accomplished contemporary duo, Anthony Marwood and Thomas Adès, who bring Stravinsky and Dushkin's legacy to life. Adès returns following a triumphant San Francisco Performances debut in 2007 and Marwood makes his debut after great success performing Adès' Violin Concerto on tour in 2006. Learn more...

San Francisco Contemporary Music Players perform a concert with music from a variety of American composers, spanning a broad range of styles, backgrounds and generations. Elliott Carter celebrates his 100th birthday this year; Mario Diaz de León is just establishing his reputation at age 29. In between these two extremes of age is a treasury of American music. Learn more...

The Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra presents Bach Reconstructed, an all-Bach program at the Herbst Theatre. The orchestra will be performing selections ranging from the familiar (Brandenburg Concerto No. 1) to the mostly unknown (Suite of Sinfonias). Learn more...

New music ensemble Earplay presents a program of music by American composers. the evening includes the world premieres of Eric Zivian's Trio For Clarinet, Cello And Piano and Pablo Furman's Sureña for violin and electronics. The program also includes works by Elliott Carter, William Graft, and Jennifer Higdon. Learn more...

Classical music and grand opera once again go to the dogs -- and the cats -- as some of classical music's A-list takes the stage for this benefit concert. Proceeds from this family-friendly benefit support Pets Unlimited's critical needs shelter and charity veterinary programs. There will be performances by Jennifer Holloway, Kristin Clayton, Bojan Knezevic, Marc Shapiro and many other outstanding artists. Learn more...

One of San Francisco's favorite jazz singers, Paula West will dip into the Great American Songbook as well as perform interpretations of pop classics. The George Mesterhazy Quartet will accompany the vocalist in a program bound for New York City's Algonquin Hotel. Learn more...

Isabel Bayrakdarian is one of the fastest-rising stars in opera; Time magazine says she "combines lyricism with remarkable dramatic instincts." Inspired by a recent visit to her ancestral home of Armenia, the Canadian soprano presents a concert highlighted by the works of Armenian composer Gomidas Vartabed. With the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra, pianist Serouj Kradjian, and duduk player Hampic Djabourian. Learn more...

Lucy Lawless, New Zealand actress and singer, is well known to audiences for her appearances in movies, television and musical theatre. She is best known for playing the title character of the television series Xena: Warrior Princess and for her role as Number Three on the series Battlestar Galactica. Now she's demonstrating her singing prowess with a new show, Come to Mama, at the Herbst Theatre. Learn more...

This program from the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra includes Arne's work Comus, quintessential 18th-century English music with the timeless themes of chaos and order, based on a masque by English poet John Milton; and Rameau's Pygmalion (the source of which is Ovid's Pygmalion myth), a classic French piece. Nicholas McGegan conducts the concert, featuring three guest soloists, the PBO and the Philharmonia Chorale. Learn more...

The New Century Chamber Orchestra presents Nadja Plays Piazzolla: The Sounds of Brazil & Argentina. The inaugural program in renowned violinist Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg's tenure as Music Director of the prestigious ensemble features South American music by Piazzolla, Villa-Lobos, Ginastera, and a world premiere by NCCO's featured composer for this season, Clarice Assad. Learn more...

One of the most anticipated annual dance showcases in the Bay Area -- and one of Goldstar's highest-rated events of last year -- returns. Stepology presents Bay Area Rhythm Exchange, a celebration of tap dancing. This two-night performance features the nation's best tap dancers, whose credits range from Bring in 'da Noise, Bring in 'da Funk to Riverdance. Learn more...

The Bay Area's famous Midsummer Mozart Festival welcomes renowned pianist Nikolai Demidenko, who joins the festival orchestra for Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 24 in C Minor. Known for his impassioned playing, Demidenko is in demand as a featured soloist and recital player across the globe. Also featured: the Serenade for Woodwinds and Contrabass in B-flat Major, "Gran Partitta". Learn more...

The Midsummer Mozart Festival, the long-running and critically acclaimed series of summer concerts, presents an all-Mozart concert. The program includes Mozart's Symphony No. 38 "Prague", Oboe Concerto in C Major, Piano Concerto No. 23, and Divertimento in C Major. The accomplished ensemble is joined by Jon Nakamura, Gold Medalist at the 1997 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, and Laura Griffiths, Principal Oboe for the SF Ballet and SF Opera. Learn more...

The ageless Charo keeps the "cuchi, cuchi" flame burning! Charo and Her Las Vegas Show returns to San Francisco following her 2005 sold-out Herbst show. The concert will be a Las Vegas-style show, complete with a backup band, Las Vegas dancers, and Charo taking to the stage for a solo flamenco guitar performance. The night is guaranteed to sizzle! Learn more...

Violinist and guest concertmaster Rachel Barton Pine will perform with the New Century Chamber Orchestra at Herbst Theatre. The program includes Saint-Georges' Violin Concerto in A Major; George Walker's Lyric for Strings; Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson's Sinfonietta No. 2, Generations; and Brahms' Sextet in B-flat Major, Op. 18. Learn more...

Earplayers, an outstanding Bay Area sextet, will perform Peter Maxwell Davies' tour de force Ave Maris Stella, paired with works by three composers who have strong connections to musical modernism, but have imbued their music with a sense of playful invention. Also featured is the 2007 Earplay Donald Aird Memorial Composition Competition winner with the U.S. premiere of Trio Wortschatten (Trio Word shadows) by Hector Parra (Spain). Learn more...

The New York Times has described Dianne Reeves as ""The only jazz singer with a voice big enough to rival Sarah Vaughan's". She's used that voice to earn a worldwide following and four Grammy Awards -- most recently for the Good Night and Good Luck soundtrack. In this concert, she'll perform works from an upcoming CD featuring original compositions. Learn more...

In a special two-night series, pianist Garrick Ohlsson and scholar Robert Greenberg explore the landscape of three giants of Russian music: Alexander Scriabin, Sergei Rachmaninoff and Sergei Prokofiev. They'll play two separate programs, with Ohlsson's renowned playing and Greenberg's insightful commentary charting the course of Russian music from Romanticism into the twentieth century. Learn more...

San Francisco Performances welcomes baritone Matthias Goerne to the Herbst Theatre for a program featuring the last songs written by three composers. The program includes Shostakovich's Suite on Verses by Michelangelo, Hugo Wolf's Michelangelo Lieder, and Brahms' Four Serious Songs, all of which grapple with issues of mortality and the artistic legacy. Learn more...

San Francisco Performances presents the latest concert in its Saturday morning "Inspirations" series: a world-class performance from its resident ensemble, the Alexander String Quartet, combined with an educational and entertaining lecture from music historian Robert Greenberg. This program features Franz Schubert's String Quartet No. 14, Death and the Maiden, and George Crumb's Black Angels (Images I) for electric string quartet. Learn more...

Funny Girlz, a comedy show celebrating women comedians, presents their tenth anniversary show at the Herbst Theatre. Scheduled performers include Gina Yashere, the British-Nigerian comic who was recently a finalist on Last Comic Standing; popular comic folksinger Phranc; Diane "The Pine Sol Lady" Amos; local comics Samantha Chanse and Lisa Geduldig; and drag personality extraordinaire Matthew "Peggy Lee" Martin. Proceeds benefit the Bay Area Women's and Children's Center. Learn more...

Vivacious playing, technical finesse and lyrical talent combine to make Mihaela Ursuleasa one of the most remarkable young pianists of our time, whose performances regularly force audiences to the edge of their seats. Her blend of power, technique, and restraint has drawn comparisons to the great Martha Argerich. See her perform works by Rachmaninoff, Chopin, and Kernis at the Herbst Theatre. Learn more...

Don't miss this extraordinary evening with the world-renowned composer/pianist, Marc-André Hamelin. The first half of the program features a documentary film of the artist in dialogue about and in performance of the works of great (and unknown) composer-performers. The second half will be a glorious mini-concert. Learn more...

Acclaimed new music ensemble eighth blackbird presents The Only Moving Thing. They'll be performing Steve Reich's Double Sextet, a work which will see them performing simultaneously live and recorded; they'll also present Lang, Gordon, and Wolfe's singing in the dead of night a combination of music and motion choreographed by Susan Marshall. Learn more...

Pianist Joe Sample, best known for his three decades as a founding member of the Crusaders, presents History of Jazz Piano. A keyboardist with a deep sense of groove, Sample brings jazz history to life with an acclaimed overview of the myriad piano styles employed throughout the century. Learn more...

Renowned pianist and conductor Leon Fleisher, a native of San Francisco, takes the stage at the Herbst Theatre for an evening of solo piano works and four-hand repertoire with his wife, Katherine Jacobson Fleisher. The program will include Schubert's Sonata in B-flat major along with other works. Learn more...

A Memory, a Monologue, a Rant and a Prayer is groundbreaking collection of monologues by world-renowned authors and playwrights, edited by Eve Ensler and Mollie Doyle and commissioned by V-Day. These diverse voices have come together in a collective roar contributing original pieces and bringing their particular vision, talent and take on violence against women and girls. Learn more...

When Handel composed his setting of Zadok the Priest for the coronation of King George II in 1727, he had no idea that it would end up being performed at every English coronation since. PBO features the Philharmonia Chorale in this work, Handel's Dettingen Te Deum (written to commemorate a 1743 battle), as well as in beloved anthems written for the English Chapel Royal by Henry Purcell. Learn more...

Multiple Grammy-nominated composer and vocalist Luciana Souza doesn't just make jazz, she redefines it. Souza devotes the first half of this evening to her own intimate settings for voice and piano, of poems by the great Chilean Pablo Neruda. In the second half Souza changes direction toward her native Brazil, with her inimitable interpretation of the "New Bossa Nova." Learn more...

This dashing Danish violinist's star is rapidly rising. Nikolaj Znaider is a soloist and chamber musician of choice for such renowned talents as Daniel Barenboim and Zubin Mehta. His compelling artistry is electrified by physical power, technical boldness and a sense of style that make him a talent to watch. Learn more...

A tribute to remarkable 19th-century singer and composer Pauline Viardot, this "musical salon" features renowned mezzo-soprano Frederica von Stade, soprano Melody Moore and baritone Vladimir Chernov. Legendary American mezzo-soprano Marilyn Horne, who has a special affinity to Viardot, serves as hostess/narrator. Learn more...

More than thirty recordings attest to this elegant Canadian keyboard artist's prowess, and the fresh perspective he brings to a broad range of music. A noted specialist in technically demanding, sonically lush Romantic works, there is seemingly nothing too complex for his technique and depth of emotional understanding. Critics have praised his "fiery dexterity" (Guardian, UK) and ability to play even the most knuckle-busting works. Learn more...

Manuel Barrueco has risen to the top of the classical guitar world with more than a dozen recordings and virtually open invitations from the world's leading concert halls. Mesmerizing audiences with agile fingering and gorgeous tone, Barrueco's repertoire extends from classical show-stoppers to music of his native Cuba, to crossover duos with artists like Al Di Meola and Steve Morse of Deep Purple. Learn more...

Dance Brigade presents A Storm of Roses: Women Against War, both a protest against and acknowledgment of the 5th anniversary of the War on Iraq. An artistic, political and spiritual expression, the show brings musical artists Holly Near with Emma's Revolution, Ferron, Melanie DeMore and Mary Watkins together with dance companies Dance Brigade, Anne Bluethenthal and Dancers, Las Que Son Son and Al-Juthoor. Learn more...

Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt, has fascinated artists and audiences for centuries, and 18th-century composers were no exception. From England to Austria, Cleopatra appeared as a leading character in a number of operas, including Handel's magnificent "Giulio Cesare." In this Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra concert, soprano Isabel Bayrakdarian sings arias for Cleopatra by Handel, Hasse, Graun and Mattheson. Learn more...

The Herbst Theatre hosts An Evening with The Stars of Doo Wop & Rock N' Roll. This popular touring concert, as seen on PBS, features Sonny Turner's Platters ("The Great Pretender"), Jay Siegel and the Tokens ("The Lion Sleeps Tonight"), Shirley Alston Reeves (lead singer of the legendary Shirelles), Frankie Ford ("Sea Cruise"), and Matthew and Gunnar Nelson's tribute to their father Ricky. Learn more...

The famous Brentano Quartet presents a performance of chamber music, including the West Coast premiere of Gabriela Lena Frank's Quijotadas, based on Cervantes' Don Quixote and commissioned specifically for the quartet. Also on the program: Beethoven's String Quartet in E-flat Major, Op. 127, and Mendelssohn's String Quartet in F minor, Op. 80. Learn more...

International award-winning Chinese guitarist Xuefei Yang has been lauded for her dizzying, quicksilver technique and pure beauty of tone. She is "completely engaged and completely engaging," according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. To Yang, the guitar is a bridge between Chinese and Western music, and her repertoire sparkles with gems from both hemispheres. Learn more...

For the first time ever, popular singer/songwriters Amanda McBroom ("The Rose") and Melissa Manchester ("Don't Cry Out Loud", "Midnight Blue", "Whenever I Call you Friend") team up to perform their original songs, and those of the songwriters who influenced them. Learn more...

Soprano Hope Briggs returns to the Bay Area following rave reviews for starring roles in opera houses and recital halls throughout the U.S. and Europe. Joined by jazz vocalist Jamie Davis and his quartet, as well as 15-year-old singing sensation Holly Stell and virtuoso violinist Dawn Harms, Hope shares favorite opera arias, classic jazz renderings, popular show tunes, and much-loved spirituals. Learn more...

A genre-stretching innovator, pianist Uri Caine has re-imagined and rearranged the music of Bach, Mozart and Mahler. Now Caine and friends do the same for the Hungarian folk music that inspired Béla Bartók and other modern composers, making the songs and sounds totally new, forging fresh and forward jazz. Learn more...

A genre-stretching innovator, Uri Caine has re-imagined and rearranged the music of Bach, Mozart and Mahler. Now Caine and friends do the same for the Hungarian folk music that inspired Béla Bartók and other modern composers, making the songs and sounds totally new, forging fresh and forward jazz. Learn more...

How We First Met is back for its eighth smash year this Valentine's Day as couples reveal their stories and talented actors re-create them with hilarious sketches. In candid live interviews with lucky audience couples, you'll get a rare chance to peek inside their love lives and see them acted out right on the spot by an amazing team of improv actors. Learn more...

Beethoven's final piano concerto, the "Emperor," is widely considered one of his crowning achievements. The outstanding fortepianist Robert Levin will bring Beethoven's music to life. Nicholas McGegan will also lead the orchestra in the Third Symphony of Beethoven's younger contemporary, Schubert, and in the Overture in D by his Czech contemporary Reicha - which has a playful surprise to offer. Learn more...

Jazz piano giant Billy Childs presents the San Francisco debut of his Jazz-Chamber Ensemble in an evening of original compositions and fresh takes on familiar themes at Herbst Theatre. The ensemble will perform music from Childs' most recent CD, the Grammy Award-winning Lyric: Jazz-Chamber Music Vol. 1 and new arrangements of compositions from his 1996 recording The Child Within. Learn more...