Jeff Kaliss

For the first time, visionary New York City vocalist Meredith Monk and the Oakland-based Kitka Women’s Vocal Ensemble will showcase four decades of Monk’s dramatic compositions.

High drama in the world of classical music radio, and not a little financial static, marks a transition for the Bay Area’s KDFC.

The musical and theatrical foods of love are both being well-served by the African-American Shakespeare Company’s resetting of Twelfth Night, continuing through this month.

After-hours at the Symphony, Joan Jeanrenaud and PC Munoz promise to stir up the joint with mashups for cello and percussion/beats.

Five Bay Area composers spent 15 months scaling down Stravinsky’s huge Rite of Spring for the S.F. Chamber Orchestra. Excitement promises to ensue in April performances.

Hugh Masekela is one of the most recognized, beloved figures in world music. In this story, which complements the new SFCV video, Masekela tells his story to Jeff Kaliss and talks about what’s important to him now.

Regina Carter, who achieved notoriety, and a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship, as a jazz violinist, spoke with SFCV prior to her presentation of a premiere by composer Billy Childs.

Mario Guarneri is no more a classical purist than he is a violinist. Instead, the Juilliard-trained trumpeter, who spent 15 years with the L.A. Philharmonic, is a proponent of both the jazz and classical repertoires, as he’ll demonstrate with his appearance for the Healdsburg Jazz Festival.

Six youth orchestras, 575 players, six charities, one incredible event: the BAYOF Hope festival returns to Davies Symphony Hall.

Like London, Vienna, and Venice in the Old World in times gone by, the San Francisco Bay Area is a treasure trove of creative music talent, as well as a favored destination for artists from elsewhere. Here’s some of what will be worth going outside classical conventions to get to, during the first half of 2011.