(Mostly) Bay Area Classical Music

Some of the artists and organizations represented here have sometimes been broadcast on Mixed Up Class radio show. Most of the others may be of interest to classical music listeners in the Bay Area. No apologies for the hodge-podge disorganization of this list! (But any suggestions will be gratefully acknowledged).

Other links pertaining to classical music can be found at:

• San Francisco Classical Voice Links and Resources.
• Yahoo's server as well as their pages for Bay Area music links.

Artists and Organizations

• Stanford Based Concerns
  • Lively Arts at Stanford, with calendar.
  • The Stanford University Music Department, including departmental events and ensembles.
  • The Stanford Symphony Orchestra.
  • The Stanford Savoyards, a community group which produces Gilbert & and Sullivan operettas twice a year.
  • Stanford's CCRMA, the Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics.
  • Stanford Archive of Recorded Sound - not a performing group, but too cool to pass up.
• Choral/Vocal Music
  • The Aurora Singers, Palo Alto.
  • Bay Area Classical Harmonies, Berkeley.
  • ba-acappella page and link collection (includes other musical genres).
  • Bella Musica Chorus and Orchestra, Berkeley.
  • The Berkeley Community Chorus and Orchestra.
  • The California Bach Society (San Francisco).
  • Cantabile Chorale and Youth Singers, Palo Alto. (Formerly Baroque Choral Guild and Cantabile Children's Chorus of the Peninsula).
  • The Cantare Con Vivo, Oakland.
  • Cantiamo Sonoma.
  • Chalice Consort.
  • Chanticleer.
  • Chora Nova, Berkeley.
  • Contra Costa Children's Chorus.
  • Contra Costa Chorale, in the East Bay; rehearses in El Cerrito.
  • Coro Hispano de San Francisco.
  • Creative Voices (San Francisco).
  • Ensemble Vocalis, Colma.
  • The Golden Gate Boys Choir and Bellringers, San Francisco.
  • The Golden Gate Men's Chorus, San Francisco.
  • The Haydn Singers, San Francisco.
  • The Marin Baroque Chamber Choir.
  • The Masterworks Chorale, based at the College of San Mateo.
  • The New Choir, San Jose.
  • The Menlo Park Chorus.
  • Mostly Motets, sacred music primarily from the Renaissance and earlier. Santa Rosa and San Francisco.
  • The Oakland Symphony Chorus.
  • The Ohlone Chamber Singers, Ohlone College, Fremont.
  • The Pacific Collegium (Oakland).
  • The Pacific Boychoir Academy, (Oakland).
  • Pacific Edge Voices (Berkeley), formerly Pacific Mozart Ensemble.
  • The Peninsula Cantare, based in Redwood City.
  • The Peninsula Girls Chorus, Burlingame.
  • The Peninsula Women's Chorus, Palo Alto.
  • Quire Quodlibet, Sonoma (formerly the Grainger Singers).
  • Ragazzi boys chorus [San Mateo].
  • The California Redwood Chorale [Marin County].
  • Sacred and Profane, a chamber chorus based in the East Bay.
  • The San Francisco Bach Choir.
  • The San Francisco Bay Area Chamber Choir.
  • The San Francisco Boys Chorus.
  • The San Francisco Choral Artists, a chamber chorus.
  • The San Francisco Choral Society.
  • The San Francisco City Chorus.
  • The San Francisco Concert Chorale.
  • The San Francisco Girls Chorus.
  • San Francisco Lyric Chorus.
  • San Francisco Renaissance Voices.
  • The San José Choral Project.
  • San Jose Peace Chorale.
  • San Jose Symphonic Choir.
  • The Santa Clara Chorale, more than a hundred voices congregating at Santa Clara University.
  • Schola Cantorum, based in Mountain View.
  • Silicon Valley Boychoir.
  • Singers Marin (aka The Choral Singers of Marin).
  • Slavyanka Men's Russian Chorus, San Francisco.
  • Soli Deo Gloria (formerly known as the Bay Area Lutheran Chorale).
  • Sonoma County Choral Society.
  • Sonoma County Chamber Singers.
  • Sopianos, San Jose.
  • The Sunnyvale Singers.
  • San Francisco Bay Area Choral Archive.
  • San Francisco, North and East Bay choral concert information.
  • University of California Choral Ensembles, Berkeley.
  • The Valley Concert Chorale, Livermore (formerly Valley Choral Society).
  • Vivace Youth Chorus of San Jose.
  • Viva la Musica singers, San Mateo.
  • VOCI Women's Choral Ensemble, Oakland.
  • Voices of the Valley, San Jose.
  • Volti, San Francisco (formerly San Francisco Chamber Singers).
  • Vox Populi Vocal Ensemble, Berkeley.
  • WomenSing, Orinda.
  • WAVE, the Women's Antique Vocal Ensemble (Berkeley).
  • The World Harmony Chorus, a community chorus in Mountain View and Oakland.
• Orchestras
  • American Recorder Orchestre of the West (northern California).
  • Asiatic Philharmonia Society (Peninsula/South Bay).
  • The Bay Area Chamber Symphony.
  • The Bay Area Little Symphony.
  • The Bay Area Rainbow Symphony (San Francisco).
  • The Berkeley Symphony Orchestra.
  • The California Symphony, Pleasanton.
  • Castro Valley Chamber Orchestra (also known as the Castro Valley Adult School Chamber Orchestra).
  • The California Youth Symphony, Palo Alto.
  • The City Concert Opera Orchestra, San Francisco.
  • The Coastside Community Orchestra, Half Moon Bay.
  • The Community Women's Orchestra, Oakland.
  • The Contra Costa Chamber Orchestra.
  • The DeAnza College Orchestra, Cupertino.
  • The El Camino Youth Symphony, Palo Alto.
  • The Foothill Orchestra, Los Altos Hills.
  • The Fremont Symphony Orchestra.
  • The Golden Gate Philharmonic, a youth orchestra based in San Francisco.
  • The Golden Gate Radio Orchestra, San Mateo.
  • The Golden Gate Symphony, formerly the San Francisco Sinfonietta.
  • The Livermore-Amador Symphony Orchestra.
  • The conductorless New Century Chamber Orchestra.
  • The Master Sinfonia, Los Altos.
  • The Mission Chamber Orchestra, San Jose.
  • The Mission College Symphony, Santa Clara.
  • The Nova Vista Symphony, Sunnyvale.
  • The Oakland Civic Orchestra.
  • The Oakland East Bay Symphony.
  • The Oakland Youth Orchestra.
  • The Palo Alto Chamber Orchestra.
  • The Palo Alto Philharmonic.
  • The Peninsula Symphony Orchestra, San Mateo.
  • The Peninsula Youth Orchestras, San Carlos.
  • Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, San Francisco.
  • The Prometheus Symphony, Oakland.
  • The Redwood Symphony, at Cañada College, Redwood City.
  • The San Francisco Symphony and its affiliated Youth Orchestra.
  • The San Jose Chamber Orchestra.
  • The San Jose Youth Symphony.
  • The Saratoga Symphony.
  • The St. Peter's Chamber Symphony, Redwood City.
  • The South Bay Philharmonic, formerly the Hewlett-Packard Symphony Orchestra.
  • Symphony Parnassus, San Francisco.
  • Symphony Silicon Valley and Chorus (San Jose).
  • The Terrible Adult Chamber Orchestra, Los Altos.
  • The Winchester Orchestra of San Jose.
  • The Young People's Chamber Orchestra, Berkeley.
  • The Young People's Symphony Orchestra, Berkeley.
• Other instrumental ensembles
  • Amici Brass Quintet.
  • The Bay Brass, cooperative of leading ensemble players in the area.
  • The Cupertino Symphonic Band.
  • The Cypress String Quartet.
  • The Del Sol String Quartet.
  • The Divisa Ensemble.
  • Earplay, San Francisco-based ensemble devoted to the performance of new American chamber music.
  • Formerly Known as Classical, a.k.a., The San Francisco Bay Area Teenage New Music Ensemble.
  • The Gold Coast Chamber Players.
  • The Ives Quartet.
  • The Menlo Brass Quintet.
  • The Paradigm Brass, San Francisco.
  • Quadre French horn ensemble.
  • The Royal Court Brass, Foster City.
  • The San Francisco Camerata, specializing in Latin American composers.
  • The San Jose Taiko.
  • The San Jose Wind Symphony.
  • The Sonos Handbell Ensemble, virtuosi with bells in hand.
  • Ventos Bay Area wind quintet.
• Opera
  • Diablo Light Opera Company (Walnut Creek).
  • Festival Opera (Walnut Creek).
  • Golden Gate Opera.
  • Opera San José.
  • The Livermore Valley Opera.
  • The Mission City Opera (Santa Clara).
  • Opera Glass web pages. Companies, composers, librettists, plots, singers, etc.
  • Peninsula Teen Opera
  • Donald Pippin's Pocket Opera.
  • The San Francisco Opera.
  • West Bay Opera, producing opera on the Peninsula, near Stanford.
  • The West Edge Opera (formerly the Berkeley Opera).
• Various Bay Area groups/coalitions
  • ADORNO Ensemble, chamber music.
  • The Albany Consort, early music performers.
  • The American Bach Soloists.
  • The American Guild of Organists chapters in Palo Alto, San Francisco, San José, (and for completeness, the national web site).
  • The Bach Dancing and Dynamite Society, eclectic music series.
  • Bay Area Classical Harmonies (BACH).
  • Camerata California, sacred and secular music from the medieval through the early Baroque periods [South Bay].
  • Bimbetta, "authenticity with an attitude" (managed from Oakland).
  • The Chamber Music Partnership, San Francisco (Clavion, Left Coast Ensemble, Onyx Quartet and others spontaneously generated!)
  • The East Bay Recorder Society.
  • Ensemble Harmonia Felice; "Early music from a contemporary perspective."
  • Latin American Chamber Music Society, Oakland.
  • Magnificat voices and instruments of the early Baroque (San Francisco).
  • The Mid-Peninsula Recorder Orchestra, Palo Alto.
  • Noe Valley Chamber Music in San Francisco.
  • The Nor-Cal Theatre Organ Society (chapter of American Theatre Organ Society (ATOS)).
  • Quadre horn quartet, Mountain View.
  • Renditions Music, teaching/performing studio in San Francisco.
  • Rhythmix Cultural Works, Alameda.
  • The San Francisco Early Music Society.
  • The San Jose Chamber Music Society.
  • Sorelle [aka fweeter], women's chamber ensemble (East Bay).
  • The South Bay Guitar Society, San Jose. Monthly classical guitar performances.
  • The South Bay Recorder Society, San Jose.
  • The Steinway Society of the Bay Area.
  • Topaz chamber music group.
  • Viola da Gamba Society-Pacifica.
  • Young Audiences of the Bay Area.
• Listings for Venues, Concert Series, and other calendars
  • ArtsSF.COM, dance, classical music, books, theater in the SF Bay Area.
  • Chamber Music San Francisco.
  • San Francisco Chronicle classical listings for Peninsula and South Bay
  • San Francisco Classical Voice listings for the San Jose and Silicon Valley (and other parts of the Bay Area) and Event Submission form.
  • In C Major calendar for SF South Bay and Peninsula + city of SF.
  • Dan Mitchell's Bay Area Concert Listings.
  • SJ Mercury classical music listings over the next 8 days within 25 miles of Stanford.
  • Avedis Concert Series, chamber music in San Francisco.
  • Cal Performances. Sponsors concerts at UC Berkeley and nearby.
  • City Arts of San Mateo.
  • Del Valle Fine Arts concert series, Livermore.
  • First Congregation Church of Palo Alto concert series.
  • Live at Mission Blue concert series, Brisbane.
  • Music@Menlo summer chamber music festival.
  • Music at Kohl Mansion, Burlingame.
  • Music at the Mission, Fremont.
  • Pacifica Performances concert series.
  • Palo Alto's Fortnightly Music Club (chamber music).
  • Four Seasons Concerts recital series (San Francisco and Oakland, New York City, and summer music festival in Yachats, Oregon).
  • Le Petit Trianon, San Jose.
  • Midsummer Mozart Festival.
  • Schedules at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts.
  • Old First Concerts (San Francisco).
  • San Francisco Concerto Orchestra. Also performances at the Englander House.
  • San Francisco Performances.
  • Trinity Chamber Concerts, Berkeley.
  • Yahoo/SF Bay Guardian calendar
• Music education
  • California State University, East Bay Music Department and calendar [formerly CSU, Hayward].
  • Notre Dame de Namur University Music Department and concert calendar.
  • Music for Minors, volunteer music instructors for grades K through 4 in San Mateo and Santa Clara counties.
  • Music calendar for Mills College, home of the Center for Contemporary Music.
  • The San Francisco Conservatory of Music.
  • The San Francisco Institute of Music.
  • San Francisco State University Music Department.
  • The San Jose Music Study Club.
  • San Jose State University School of Music & Dance.
  • Santa Clara University.
  • University of California at Berkeley Music Department, with events calendar.
  • University of California at Santa Cruz Music Department.
  • The Community School of Music & Arts, Mountain View, and calendar
• Extended Bay Area, out of listening range
  • The Cabrillo Music Festival (runs late July to mid August) in Santa Cruz.
  • The Carmel Bach Festival, July through August.
  • West Marin Music Festival, August.
  • The Chamber Music Monterey Bay.
  • The Marin Symphony.
  • The Monterey Symphony.
  • The Morgan Hill Wind Symphony.
  • The Napa Valley Symphony.
  • Orchestra Sonoma.
  • The Pacific Brass (Gilroy).
  • The Santa Cruz Chorale.
  • The Santa Cruz Brass.
  • The San Francisco International Music Festival.
  • The Santa Rosa Symphony.
  • The South Valley Symphony (Gilroy).
  • University of California at Davis Music Department [concert schedule online, but periodically changes location]
• Individual artists
  • Karen Bentley, Palo Alto-raised violinist.
  • Nancy Bloomer Deussen, Palo Alto composer.
  • Mimi Dye, violist and afficionado of the Abbess Hildegard of Bingen.
  • Susan Jane Matthews, concert organist.
  • Jon Nakamatsu, pianist; Van Cliburn Competition 1997 winner and Stanford alumnus.
  • James Welch, organist.
  • Darla Wigginton, mezzo-soprano.
• Miscellaneous
  • Arts Council Silicon Valley.
  • City Arts of San Mateo.
  • San Francisco Classical Voice, concert reviews (published on Tuesdays).
  • Chamber Musicians of Northern California.
  • Chorus America member listing (with links to member sites).
  • The Peninsula Youth Ballet, Belmont.
  • The Music Teachers' Association of California.
  • The Musical Offering, classical record shop and cafe (Berkeley).
• Other information
  • A helpful pronunciation guide for classical music announcers.
  • The US Library of Congress Music for a Nation, American sheet music from 1870 to 1885.
  • Princeton University Music Department, including computer composer Paul Lansky. Also site of the Gregorian Chant Home Page.
  • Community Music Mailing List
  • The Princeton Singers.
  • The OperaGlass (bios, plots, and more).
  • The Music Library Association's list of types of compositions for use in music uniform titles.
  • The American Federation of Violin and Bow Makers.
  • Minutiae regarding Change Ringing in North America.
  • What are all those fancy-named organ stops?
• Classical Music Almanac
  • What happened today in classical music history? (Courtesy of WKAR, Lansing, Michigan).
  • Classical Composers Database and calendar.
  • Washington University -- St. Louis Music Library's Necrology of musical persons.

And don't forget that disastrous concerts are often more exciting than good ones.