From a pair of exhibits by the reigning “Queen of Hip-Hop Soul” to a pack of animatronic dinosaurs and a tribute to a San Francisco legend, there’s a lot to see and do within the Bay Space this weekend.
Right here’s a partial rundown.
Bay Space getting a lot a-Bliged
Prepare for Mary J. Blige.
The reigning Queen of Hip-Hop Soul — who has gained 9 Grammy Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, 4 American Music Awards, 12 NAACP Picture Awards and 12 Billboard Music Awards whereas promoting hundreds of thousands upon hundreds of thousands of information throughout her phenomenal profession — has two exhibits scheduled for Northern California.
Mary J. Blige hits San Francisco first, bringing her For My Followers Tour with Ne-Yo and Mario to Chase Heart on March 7. One night time later, she units up store on the Golden 1 Heart in Sacramento.
And we’d completely perceive why followers is likely to be tempted to truly see each exhibits, on condition that Mary J. Blige has lengthy ranked as one of many style’s strongest performers.
Plus, we count on nice setlists on each nights, stuffed with such basic Mary J. Blige cuts as “Family Affair,” “Real Love,” “You Remind Me,” “Not Gon’ Cry,” “Just Fine,” “Everything,” “Be Without You” and, better of all, “No More Drama.”
And, in fact, we totally count on the largest crowd sing-alongs to happen when Blige steps up for “I’m Goin’ Down.”
Particulars: Showtime is 7 p.m. for each live shows; tickets begin at $94 (topic to alter); ticketmaster.com.
— Jim Harrington, Employees
Classical picks: Opera Parallele premiere; ‘Don Giovanni’
A world premiere opera in San Francisco and a basic work in Livermore spotlight our classical music alternatives for the week.
Opera Parallele’s world premiere: The opera world continues so as to add new works to the repertoire, and Bay Space-based Opera Parallele is bringing one to the stage this weekend. “The Pigeon Keeper,” composed by David Hanlon with a libretto by Stephanie Fleischmann, begins when younger Orsia and her fisherman father discover a refugee boy adrift at sea. Support comes from the mysterious title character; because the three navigate the best way house and uncover the transformative energy of the kindness of strangers. The manufacturing stars soprano Angela Yam as Orsia and tenor Bernard Holcomb as The Pigeon Keeper.
Particulars: 7:30 p.m. March 7-8; 3 p.m. March 9; Fort Mason, San Francisco; $40-$160; operaparallele.org
The return of ‘Don G’: Livermore Valley Opera returns to the music of Mozart with its newest manufacturing, a brand new manufacturing of “Don Giovanni.” Sung in Italian with English supertitles, it stars Titus Muzi III within the title function. Come one hour early for the corporate’s pre-opera discuss. The manufacturing performs by way of the weekend.
Particulars: 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, Bankhead Theater, Livermore; $25-$110; 925-373-6800; Livermorearts.org.
Vienna Philharmonic’s run: the acclaimed Vienna Philharmonic’s mini-run at UC Berkeley continues tonight, that includes Dvořák’s Symphony No. 9, “From the New World,” and Schubert’s Symphony No. 4, “Tragic.” Pianist Yefim Bronfman joins Nézet-Séguin and the orchestra on Friday to play Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 3; Richard Strauss’s “Ein Heldenleben” completes this system.
Particulars: 7:30 p.m. March 6; 7 p.m. March 7; $120-$275; calperformances.org.
— Georgia Rowe, Correspondent
Dinosaurs on the prowl at Cal Academy
If you happen to’ve ever watched that scene in “Jurassic Park” the place the T-Rex surprises a man in a porta-potty and chomps him like a Tic Tac, and thought: “I need more of THAT” — properly, right here’s the exhibit for you. “Dino Days,” working till Sept. 1, brings 13 animatronic dinosaurs to the outside gardens of San Francisco’s California Academy of Sciences. Tyrannosaurus rex, Deinonychus, Parasaurolophus and Pachyrhinosaurus — all of your greatest scaly buddies are right here. Heck, there are even dino eggs with cute little infants hatching from them, as in the event that they gained’t develop as much as be scary 5-ton beasts.
These duplicate reptiles transfer and roar, and kids are inspired to climb atop a few of them. There’s a sand-filled fossil pit the place children can dig for solid dinosaur bones. However apart from all that, there may be particular programming occurring by way of the exhibit’s run, together with paleontologist seminars and a night the place you sip cocktails whereas listening to a reside efficiency of John Williams’ “Jurassic Park” rating. Plus, scavenger hunts, dino-trivia showdowns, a meet-and-greet with the T-Rex from the PBS present “Dinosaur Train,” and far roar – er, “more.”
Particulars: Present runs day by day till Sept. 1; 55 Music Concourse Drive, San Francisco; www.calacademy.org.
— John Metcalfe, employees
Feinstein does Bennett
Tony Bennett, who died in 2023, was the sort of singer and entertainer that comes alongside possibly as soon as a century. HIs singing voice, one of the crucial immediately recognizable tones in music historical past, was buoyed by his knack for impeccable interpretations of jazz and pop requirements. His gentlemanly, self-deprecating demeanor solely added to his general sense of sophistication.
Notably liked in San Francisco due to that music, Bennett’s passing left a large gap in music world — a lot in order that even paying tribute to the legend appears a frightening problem that the majority singers ought to deal with with warning.
Michael Feinstein, nevertheless, is the sort of revered Nice American Songbook singer and interpreter who may seemingly take a crack at it. And that’s simply what he’s doing together with his touring live performance “Because of You: My Tribute to Tony Bennett.” Backed by the Carnegie Corridor Ensemble, Feinstein’s tribute options such songs as “Because of You,” “The Best is Yet to Come” and, in fact, “I Left My Heart in San Francisco.”
Feinstein brings his live performance to the Bankhead Theater in Livermore on Friday.
Particulars: 8 p.m.; $95-$130; livermorearts.org.
— Randy McMullen, Employees
SFCO performs a love music — free of charge
The San Francisco Chamber Orchestra is presenting three free live shows this week, every of which is highlighted by a composition born out of affection and friendship. On the middle of all of it is Grammy-winning Bay Space composer and violinist Evan Worth, who in 2018 was approached by all-world mandolinists Mike Marshall and Caterina Lichtenberg about writing a bit for the pair, who’re companions in music and life. As Worth places it, the piece needed to mirror the complete scope of their relationship, from the plain affection they present for each other on and off the stage to the complimentary strategy they take to their performances. “What makes their performances so engaging is that we have the pleasure of watching two masters of the same instrument,” Worth says, “albeit from seemingly disparate cultures and musical traditions, inspiring and delighting in each other.”
The end result was a composition titled “A Game of Cat and Mike,” which bought its world premiere in San Jose final 12 months. You’ve three possibilities to listen to it this weekend, because the SFCO performs – with Marshall and Lichtenberg, in fact – at 7:30 p.m. Friday at St. Mark’s Lutheran Church, 1111 O’Farrell St., San Francisco; 7:30 p.m. Saturday at First United Methodist Church, 625 Hamilton Ave., Palo Alto; and three p.m. Sunday at First Congregational Church of Berkeley, 2345 Channing Manner. Additionally on this system is “Strum for String Orchestra” by Jessie Montgomery, and Tchaikovsky’s Serenade for Strings, Op. 48.
Particulars: There isn’t a admission however you may reserve seats at www.thesfco.org.
— Bay Metropolis Information Basis
yMusic again in Berkeley
The gifted and ever-adventuresome New York Metropolis sextet yMusic is headed again to the Bay Space this weekend to carry out a local weather change-themed new work created by Berkeley-born composer Gabriella Smith. The brand new music chamber outfit has a historical past of working with Smith, who has lengthy been drawn to the connection between nature, sound and music. Smith has additionally had works carried out by the San Francisco Symphony, Roomful of Enamel, Bang on a Can All Stars and Dover Quartet. For the brand new piece, titled “Aquatic Ecology,” Smith ventured along with her recording tools to coral reefs, tide swimming pools, freshwater marshes and open seashores to seize quite a lot of sonic segments. The work, described by NPR as “Magnificent and mind-blowingly original,” options a mixture of chamber music and pure and modified discovered sounds. Based in 2008, yMusic has launched 9 studio albums and contributed to a number of extra, whereas collaborating with such artistic forces as Bon Iver, Paul Simon, Ben Folds. The outfit performs the world premiere of “Aquatic Ecology” at 8 p.m. Saturday at UC Berkeley’s Zellerbach Playhouse, in a live performance introduced by Cal Performances.
Particulars: Tickets begin at $48; go to calperformances.org.
— Bay Metropolis Information Basis
Dynamic Duo at SFJAZZ
Faye Carol – higher generally known as “The Dynamic Miss Faye Carol” – has been wowing music followers within the Bay Space since she moved from Mississippi to Pittsburg within the Sixties and commenced belting out blues numbers in native nightclubs. Her mastery of jazz and blues stays as spectacular as ever, and her efficiency schedule has hardly slowed a beat. This week, Carol co-stars in a live performance sequence that must be a thrill for jazz followers. She’ll be performing with the revered jazz/rock/fusion drummer Dennis Chambers, who has turned in memorable studio and reside classes with artists starting from Santana to John Scofield to Maceo Parker and Stanley Clarke. The pairing of Carol and Chambers was final seen throughout a memorable live performance sequence titled “Give the Drummer Some” that unfolded at SFJAZZ Heart through the 2022-23 season. On Thursday and Friday, Carol and Chambers will carry out with pianist Joe Warner and bassist Essiet Essiet.
Particulars: Present instances are 7 and eight:30 p.m. every night time; $25; www.sfjazz.org.
— Bay Metropolis Information Basis
Music to assist L.A. hearth victims
Tickets are going quick for a implausible fund-raising live performance the musicians of the San Francisco Symphony, becoming a member of forces with a few of their counterparts within the San Francisco Conservatory of Music Orchestra, are mounting this weekend as a way to deliver some a lot wanted reduction to the victims of the devastating fires within the Los Angeles space. They usually have enlisted assistance from each Edwin Outwater, former resident conductor of SFS and present music director of the Conservatory’s orchestra, and considered one of San Francisco’s favourite sons, the pianist Garrick Ohlsson. Below Outwater’s baton, Ohlsson would be the featured soloist for the ulta-popular Piano Concerto No. 2 by Sergei Rachmaninoff. Antonin Dvorak’s nice Symphony No. 9, “From the New World,” can be on this system, which is able to open with Aaron Copland’s “The Promise of Living,” a hymn from his opera “The Tender Land,” with vocals from the San Francisco Symphony Refrain. The live performance takes place at 7:30 p.m. Saturday in Davies Corridor. Tickets, $50-$100 can be found at 415-864-6000 or sfsymphony.org. Internet proceeds from all ticket gross sales can be evenly break up between two L.A. organizations, the Leisure Neighborhood Enjoyable and Habitat for Humanity of Higher Los Angeles.
— Bay Metropolis Information Basis
A sneak peek for Opera followers
Composer Héctor Armienta’s “Zorro,” an opera primarily based on the adventures of the swashbuckling masked man, will not be set to make its Northern California premiere till mid-April, however the presenting group, Opera San Jose, will deliver its star, Chilean-born tenor Xavier Prado, and a number of others from the solid to a particular preview on the historic Filoli property for performances March 11, 12 and 13. The previews will happen within the newly restored ballroom at Filoli, 86 Cañada Highway in Woodside. Different artists who can be singing embody Maria Brea, Melissa Sondhi, Deborah Martinez Rosengaus, Courtney Miller, Jesús Vicente Murillo, Eugene Brancoveanu (March 11 and 13) and Michael Jesse Kuo (March 12). Efficiency time is 7:30 p.m. on all three dates. Tickets, $75-$105, can be found at filoli.org and operasf.org. The opera will make its run from April19-Could 4 in San Jose’s California Theater.
— Bay Metropolis Information Basis
