George Papajohn

Bassist Orion Miller plays Heartwood in SF Symphony's Soundbox: "Urban Forests." | Credit: Brandon Patoc In the San Francisco Symphony’s second SoundBox program of the year, the concert begins well before the music, as curator Gabriella Smith collapses the boundary between performance and environment. The Berkeley-born composer is known for weaving the natural world into her music, but in her two-night engagement of “Urban Forest,” she takes that mission a step further.

The JACK Quartet performed at the Hertz Hall on March 15 | Photo Credit: Shervin Lainez The music of the late composer Wolfgang Rihm — as tender as it is abrasive — is rarely heard in Bay Area concert halls. For those lucky enough to experience it at the JACK Quartet’s Cal Performances debut this past Sunday, March 15 in Hertz Hall, the encounter was nothing short of electrifying.

Conductor Nicole Paiement, soprano Katie Ivie, and SFCM’s New Music Ensemble perform composer Jake Heggie’s From the Book of Nightmares on Feb. 27, 2026. | Credit: Courtesy of Mark Taylor/SF Conservatory of Music Jake Heggie has long been recognized as a dominant figure in contemporary opera and art song.