Symphony

When Esa-Pekka Salonen announced recently that he would step down as music director of the San Francisco Symphony next year, he did not say it was to spend more time with his family. He told the truth. In his statement, which Salonen circulated the same day that the San Francisco Symphony unveiled its 2024-25 season, the orchestra’s music director came right out and said: “I do not share the same goals for the future of the institution as the Board of Governors does.” It was for that vision that a couple of days earlier,…

It was a cold and wet afternoon as I strolled down forlorn Telegraph Avenue in Berkeley. A countercultural thoroughfare in the late 1960s, the street retained next to nothing of its once colorful flower power. But all of sudden, I smelled incense and heard a recording of Messiaen’s psychedelic “Turangalila-Symphonie.” Annapurna, the head shop that opened in 1969 at the same time as the historic demonstrations at the now boarded-up People’s Park, has survived.The combination of this specific smell and music, so familiar…

Symphony coolers are renowned for their innovative technology and sleek designs, making these coolers among the top preferred choice for new buyers in the Indian market. Whether you want compact personal coolers for intimate spaces or high-end cooling solutions for big spaces, Symphony offers a diverse range to suit every need and preference.  With a steadfast commitment to quality and innovation, Symphony coolers are trusted by millions in India to provide reliable long-term…

Thanks to her keen eye, Atlanta singer-songwriter Faye Webster first made waves as a hip-hop photographer. Being school buddies with local rap luminaries helped too. The petal-voiced Webster is now five albums into a body of delicate, powerful work that always captures more than first appears. This album’s pithy trailer, But Not Kiss, describes a stymied relationship with someone out of reach. Alongside Webster’s wounded, barely-there vocal, the song’s multiple tempos bear witness to the stop-start of the pair’s…

Faye Webster measures love by what is lost. She loses track of time from endless daydreaming, she loses her sense of self when reminiscing over an ex. On 2019’s “What Used To Be Mine,” she doesn’t just miss a former lover, but the places that defined their relationship. The Atlanta singer-songwriter has always captured romance in this way: as a force that shapes our ambient mode of existence. It’s fitting that her music favors a lounging-around easiness; her blend of soft rock and indie country is an ideal soundtrack…

From food and film to art, music and nature, here’s an epic sampling of ways to have some Bay Area fun this spring and beyond. Cirque du Soleil presents ‘KOOZA’: Now through March 10, 24 Willie Mays Plaza, San Francisco. This cirque show combines acrobatic performance with the art of clowning while exploring fear, identity, recognition and power. Sit back and watch as The Innocent’s journey brings him into contact with comic characters from an electrifying world full of surprises. Tickets starting at $72.…

The unhappy union between the composer Pyotr Tchaikovsky (Odin Biron) and his wife, Antonina Miliukova (Alyona Mikhailova), is the jumping-off point for the latest film from the Russian director Kirill Serebrennikov (Petrov’s Flu). But like Ken Russell’s The Music Lovers, which explored the same story back in 1971, this film has only a passing acquaintance with the historical facts of Tchaikovsky’s turbulent life. While Russell’s film took the (admittedly entertaining) route of vulgar excess, Serebrennikov’s exploration…

From food and film to art, music and nature, here’s an epic sampling of ways to have some Bay Area fun in 2024. SF Tape Music Festival: Jan. 5-7, Victoria Theatre, 2961 16th St., San Francisco. America’s only festival devoted to the performance of audio works projected in three-dimensional space, SFTMF features four concerts of classic audio art and new fixed media compositions projected over a pristine surround system to an audience seated in complete darkness. $10-$50. sfsound.org/tape/ BritBeat – A Tribute to The…

Apple Music Classical has had a bigger impact on my listening habits than any other app, song, playlist or streaming service this year — and it'd be nearly perfect aside from a few small issues holding it back.But first, a little background. There’s a little-known fact about the music I listen to — a bunch of it comes from soundtracks, and this all stems from a love of the music of the Back to the Future trilogy.Back in the 90s, the adventures of Marty McFly amazed my 7-year-old self. I was lucky enough to go to…

The Current13:00Turning deep space data into musicMusic can often transport you to another time and place. But now a Montreal composer is bringing listeners far out into the cosmos with a piece of music created from NASA's data on the Milky Way."At the end of the piece, especially … I'm focusing in on the black hole that's at the centre of the galaxy. And you get this feeling of stars spiralling toward the centre," said Sophie Kastner, composer of Where Parallel Lines Converge."I wanted to have all of these pingy, like,…