19 unique classical concert events you won’t want to miss this summer

The Bay Area is a creative hotbed, and this summer’s live music offerings are proving that a few years of being cooped up didn’t diminish but actually fueled a healthy crop of classical and new music series that have something edifying to offer to every lover of creative, musical performing arts. 

Check out the Chronicle’s guide to noteworthy live music series, with events happening through August that you won’t want to miss:

Each summer a fresh group of pre-professional opera students get an opportunity to participate in San Francisco Opera’s well-established training program. This year’s performances are scheduled to include two showcase concerts with full orchestral accompaniment, a production of Mozart’s “Don Giovanni” and a grand finale.

Schwabacher Summer Concert: 7:30 p.m. Thursday, July 11; 2 p.m. Saturday, July 13. $10-$35, reservations recommended. “Don Giovanni”: Aug. 1-3. $10-$65, reservations recommended. San Francisco Conservatory of Music, 50 Oak St., S.F.

S.F. Merola Grand Finale: 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 17. War Memorial Opera House, 301 Van Ness Ave., S.F. $10-$85, reservations recommended. 415-864-3330. https://merola.org

The super earnest, small-scale opera troupe — founded by Donald Pippin over 45 years ago — has been under the inherited reins of Director Nicolas Aliaga Garcia since Pippin’s death at 95 in 2021. Catch one of the final performances in this year’s summer season, Puccini’s “La Boheme.” 

2:30 p.m. Sunday, July 14, at Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts, 500 Castro St., Mountain View. 2 p.m. Sunday, July 21, at Hillside Club, 2286 Cedar St., Berkeley. 2 p.m. Sunday, July 28, at Legion of Honor, 100 34th Ave., S.F. 415-972-8934.  https://pocketopera.org

The East Bay series is scheduled to include performances from cellist Isaac Pastor-Chermak performing the complete Bach Cello Suites. In addition, San Francisco Opera Adler graduates tenor Christopher Oglesby and pianist Kseniia Polstiankina Barrad will present music of Ralph Vaughn Williams, Strauss and Britten. Brazilian guitarist Alessandro Penezzi joins the Berkeley Choro Ensemble — with flautist Jane Lenoir, multi-instrumentalist Harvey Wainapel, guitarist Ricardo Peixoto and pandeiro player Brian Rice — in a program of Brazilian choro music.

4 p.m. Sunday, July 14, 28, Aug. 18 and Sept. 15. $15-$45, reservations recommended. St. Alban’s Episcopal Church, 1501 Washington Ave., Berkeley. https://www.calliope-ebma.org/

New Performance Traditions and sfSound present a weekly new music and experimental sound series. Upcoming concerts include Nathan Clevenger’s Astrolabe, David Leikam, Daniel James Burke and Friends and the Sticklerphonics.

7 p.m. Sunday, July 14, 21, Aug. 4 and 11. $20, reservations recommended. Dresher Ensemble Studio, 2201 Poplar St., Oakland. http://sfsound.org 

Wyldflower Arts hosts a weekly live performance series with an emphasis on Indian classical music. Upcoming performances include percussionist Rohan Krishnamurthy, Sameer Gupta’s Jupiter Project, Joanna Mack with Bruce Hamm, Erika Oba and others.

7-10 p.m. Thursday, July 18, 25, Aug. 1, 8, 15, 22 and 29. Ongoing. $10-$20, reservations recommended. Wyldflower Music and Arts Space, 809 37th St., Oakland. 510-842-5055. https://wyldflowrarts.com

Take a deep dive into the world of French chamber music, uncovering the history and innovations of French composers and their global counterparts with world-class artists set to perform as part of a nearly monthlong series. Programming will include a variety of concert formats with featured musicians, collaborative programming with rising artists, master classes, lectures and more. 

Program starts on July 19 and continues through Aug. 10. Menlo School, 50 Valparaiso Ave., Atherton. 650-330-2030. https://musicatmenlo.org 

This year the local concert series housed in a cozy Sunset district venue celebrates its 10-year anniversary. Upcoming performances scheduled include violinist Nato with a program of solo works by Bartók, Bacewicz, Prokofiev and Ysaÿe, along with pianist Tomasz Kamieniak performing works by Chopin-Liszt, Beethoven, Walter Niemann and others.

4 p.m. Saturday, July 20, and Aug. 9. $20-$25, reservations recommended. Episcopal Church of the Incarnation, 1750 29th Ave., S.F. 415-564-2324. https://sunsetarts.wordpress.com

Learn to sing choral masterworks by Fauré, Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, Orff, Ralph Vaughan Williams and more in a series of summer choir workshops set to be led by local conductors including S.F. Bach Choir director Magen Solomon, Stanford Summer Chorus director Rafael Ornes, Oakland Symphony Chorus and Pacific Edge Voices director Ash Walker, Oakland Symphony Music Director Kedrick Armstrong and others.

Schola Cantorum Summer Sings: 7:30 p.m. Monday July 15, 22, 29, Aug. 5 and 12. $20, reservations recommended. Los Altos United Methodist Church, 655 Magdalena Ave., Los Altos. 650-254-1700. https://scholacantorum.org

Oakland Symphony Chorus Summer Sing-Ins: 7-9:30 p.m. Wednesday, July 31, Aug. 7 and 14. $20, reservations recommended. First Presbyterian Church, 2619 Broadway, Oakland. 510-444-0801. www.oaklandsymphony.org

A summer performance series spotlights the talents of the Community Music Center’s faculty. Upcoming performers scheduled include vocalist Clif Payne, violinist Ava Gehlen-Williams and percussionist Deszon X. Claiborne.

7 p.m. Thursday, July 25, Aug. 8 and 15. Free, reservations recommended. Community Music Center, 544 Capp St., S.F. 415-647-6015. https://sfcmc.org 

Kick off American Bach’s upcoming 36th season by mingling with the artists at a party celebrating musical director Jeffrey Thomas that’s set to include live performances, cocktails, sweet and savory hors d’oeuvres and more. 

Two music programs will follow in July, “Viva Vivaldi” with an interpretation of the “Four Seasons” featuring violinists Jacob Ashworth, Tatiana Chulochnikova, Tomà Iliev and YuEun Gemma Kim. On July 28, “Theater of Fate” will include Handel’s Italian melodramatic “Agrippina” cantata, Vivaldi’s “Cessate, omai cessate” and “Amor hai vinto” as well as Corelli’s “Concerto Grosso” featuring soprano Maya Kherani and mezzo-soprano Sarah Coit.

Gala: 5:30 p.m. Friday, July 26. $250-$500, reservations required. Green Room, War Memorial Building, 401 Van Ness Ave., S.F. • 7:30 p.m. Saturday-Sunday, July 27-28. $49-$111, reservations recommended. St. Mark’s Lutheran Church, 1111 O’Farrell St., S.F. 415-621 7900. https://americanbach.org

The creation of experimental music, avant garde musical composition and improvisation are the focus of a four-day, new music event that’s set to include musique concrete, invented instruments, genre-bending music, field recordings and intermedia works. 

Performances scheduled include queer goth punk duet Bat Noise, electro-acoustic music by Sharkiface and Tanukispidercat. The second night offers a set by the Normal duo, featuring guitarist Fred Frith and instrument inventor Suduh Tewari. 

Also on the bill will be the Moe Staiano Ensemble featuring 15 guitarists performing original works, bassist/composer Safa Shokrai, experimental soul with Pateka, vibraphonist Mark Pascucci-Clifford’s Dirty Snacks Ensemble. Closing the festival is a convergence of cinema and sound from Matt Robidoux and visual performance and noise/drone art from Lori Varga.

7 p.m. Friday-Saturday and Monday, July 26-27 and 29; 6 p.m. Sunday, July 28. $17-$25, reservations recommended. Finnish Hall, 1970 Chestnut St., Berkeley. 510-845-5352. https://outsound.org

Bay Area composer Brett Carson presents the world premiere of a new experimental, multimedia chamber opera. 

The dreamlike narrative follows the protagonist through a series of vignettes exploring the double life of amphibians as beings existing both on land and in the water. 

Live musical accompaniment features vocalists Daniel Cilli and Melinda Martinez Becker, the Friction Quartet and drummer/percussionist Jordan Glenn.

8 p.m. Saturday, July 27; 3 p.m. Sunday, July 28. $20, reservations recommended. Dresher Ensemble Studio, 2201 Poplar St., Oakland. www.brettcarsonmusic.com

Check out an upcoming performance from this popular, long-running concert series. Upcoming concerts include Le Due Muse cello and piano duo, Duo Penseur, the Zēlos Saxophone Quartet and pianist/composer Motoko Honda’s Simple Excesses Quartet. Livestream viewing options available on the Old First Concerts YouTube channel.

4 p.m. Sunday, July 28; 8 p.m. Friday, Aug. 2, and Aug. 16-17. Free-$30, reservations recommended. Old First Concerts, 1751 Sacramento St., S.F. 415-474-1608. www.oldfirstconcerts.org

The four-day festival features live chamber music, a film screening, wine tasting lunches at Freeman Vineyards and Three Sticks Winery and a gala dinner. The program includes performances from pianist Olga Kern, world-renowned violinist Pinchas Zukerman, acclaimed tenor Joseph Calleja and others. 

The final program offers a screening of “The Way of the Rain: Hope for Earth” from filmmaker Sibylle Szaggars Redford, featuring narration by Academy Award-winning actor Robert Redford, who is set to join the event as a special guest. A gala fundraiser at Buena Vista Winery is scheduled to follow the film screening.  

7:30 p.m. Thursday-Saturday, Aug. 1-4; 7 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 4. $45-$500, reservations recommended. Weill Hall, Green Music Center, 1801 E. Cotati Ave., Rohnert Park. 707-664-4246. https://festivaldelsolearts.com

A three-week live classical music series set in vineyard and winery locations around Napa will kick off at the Frog’s Leap Winery with a program featuring works by Beethoven, Vivaldi and Aaron Copland. 

The Miró, Pacifica and Isidore string quartets will be featured artists with weekly Wednesday evening performances. An interactive play-along “Concert for the Community” will feature music by Vivaldi, Mozart and more. And a “Not-So-Silent Cinema” event returns to the Jarvis Conservatory, with classic films set to newly composed music played by festival musicians.

Folk Yeah and the Presidio Theatre present a two-day outdoor music festival featuring performances from three bands each day, including the inimitable Salami Rose Joe Louis, Orchestra Gold and others. With food trucks, arts and crafts, complimentary beer and wine tastings from Fort Point Beer and Cultivar Wines, concessions from Cow Hollow Catering and Presidio Pop-Up food trucks.

5:30-9:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 3; 2:30-6:30 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 4. $8-$17, reservations recommended. Presidio Theatre, 99 Moraga Ave., S.F. 415-960-3949. www.presidiotheatre.org 

Spend an hour enjoying a performance on the cathedral’s historic Aeolian-Skinner pipe organ. Concerts scheduled include Eugene Lavery performing works by Massenet, Jessica French, Joseph Jongen and German organist Raphael Attila Vogl offering a program of Late Romantic works by Max Reger and Bruckner.  

4 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 4 and Sept. 1. Reservations required for free admission. Grace Cathedral, 1100 California St., S.F. 415-749-6300. https://gracecathedral.org 

The historic San Francisco cathedral hosts an ongoing weekly series of free, live chamber music performances. Upcoming performances include duos featuring cellist Evan Kahn with pianist Amy Zanrosso performing works by Beethoven, Britten and Glazunov, and cellist Angela Lee with pianist Elizabeth Schumann performing works by Chopin and Frank Bridge.

12:30 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 13, 20 and 27. Free, donations encouraged. Online viewing options available at the Noontime Concerts Youtube channel. Old St. Mary’s Cathedral, 660 California St., S.F. 415-777-3211. https://noontimeconcerts.org

This year the annual chamber music fest, featuring magnificent pianistic virtuosity, has a distinctly French angle, as it celebrates the life and music of Gabriel Fauré. Featuring hidden gems and better-known works from the composer and his contemporaries, it is set to include six concerts with performances from artistic director Jeffrey LaDeur and pianists Gwendolyn Mok, Stephen Prutsman, Sarah Yuan, Munan Cheng and Asiya Korepanova. The program offers solo piano works as well as small ensemble performances — with the Telegraph String Quartet, mezzo-soprano Kindra Scharich, baritone Simon Barrad and violinist Ariel Pawlik-Zwiebel — over the festival’s 10 days. 

Additionally, piano master classes from acclaimed pianists Mok, Paul Sánchez and Sharon Mann are scheduled at the S.F. Conservatory of Music’s grand 11th floor recital hall atop its new Bowes Center building.   

Performances: 7 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 22. $75, reservations recommended. Maybeck Studio, 1537 Euclid Ave., Berkeley. 8 p.m. Friday, Aug. 23 and 30; 4 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 25 and Sept. 1. Free-$30, reservations recommended. Old First Concerts, 1751 Sacramento St., S.F. 12:30 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 27. Free. Old St. Mary’s Cathedral, 660 California St., S.F. 

Master Classes: 3 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 27; , 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 29. Free, reservations required. Barbro Osher Recital Hall, Bowes Center, 200 Van Ness Ave., S.F. 877-497-4266. https://sfpiano.org

Reach Anne Schrager: aschrager@sfchronicle.com