Michael Zwiebach

There are lots of big music events going on in the Bay Area this week, but let's not forget about Ojai North! In two concerts soprano Dawn Upshaw performs Winds of Destiny, her collaborative work with director Peter Sellars.

There are a lot of great ways to take advantage of the longest day of the year, otherwise known as the summer solstice. For music fans and, increasingly, for many families in the Bay Area, there's a clear winner: the Garden of Memory Day of Music at Oakland's Chapel of the Chimes.

The opening program of the Carmel Bach Festival is a performance of Joseph Haydn's magnificent oratorio, The Creation. With an impressive lineup of soloists it is this year's main event.

Elliott Sharp brings his interest in modified instruments like "guitarbass," an instrument that was built especially for him, to Meridian Gallery

Young violinists, cellists, and even one violist from the United States' elite conservatories will once again be displaying their virtuosity at the Irving M. Klein String Competition finals at Knuth Hall on the SFSU campus this weekend.

Romance is on the minds of several Bay Area groups this weekend. Chanticleer's series of spring concerts kicks off this Friday, and love poetry forms the center of their program.

Elena Sharkova, who heads the 90-voice Symphony Silicon Valley Chorale, will use her intimate knowledge of works such as Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov's 1907 All-Night Vigil, in a concert that music lovers of all kinds should make an effort to see.

Concertmaster Laura Albers stakes out her space in the orchestra pit, then revs up to play Wagner’s long, intense operas.

The Rickshaw Stop is presenting Dustin O'Halloran this weekend with the Magik*Magik Orchestra's String Quartet and the Conspiracy of Venus women's vocal group. They'll be playing music off of O'Halloran's latest instrumental album, Lumiere.

It's a little off the beaten path, but if you think you'll be down on the boardwalk at Santa Cruz for part of the Memorial Day weekend, you might want to make time for a concert by the artists formerly known as the Santa Cruz Chamber Orchestra, now called Cadenza.