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Berkeley Opera has always been known for its adventurous spirit. While it has never enjoyed the large subscriber base — or extravagant budgets — of its high-profile counterparts, the company has given audiences a wide range of productions in the last three decades, offering forgotten masterpieces, English adaptations, and world premieres alongside standards of the repertoire.

Few artists have had the kind of impact on the world at large as violinist Midori’s. Almost 30 years after her famous debut with the New York Philharmonic at the age of 11, Midori champions music as the message of peace in her fight for social justice and environmental sustainability.

There is a rough protocol for establishing a name as a newish chamber ensemble. It involves, among other things, programming carefully so as to interest the people whose opinions might make your name, while not frightening the horses.

After all the passion of Mozart’s Requiem and the fire of Brahms’ violin concerto, the signature moment of Sunday’s Marin Symphony concert arrived during the encore, Gluck’s Dance of the Blessed Spirits. Violin soloist Vadim Gluzman played the brief interlude to perfection, barely raising his volume above a whisper, the better to demonstrate his absolute command of dynamics and phrasing.

The Bay Area is blessed with a cornucopia of chamber music series, most of which seem to be invisible to all but the most serious classical fans.

Last Tuesday’s performance by Yo-Yo Ma and Emanuel Ax at Davies Symphony Hall was designed to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the birth of two of the most iconic Romantic era musicians, Frédéric Chopin and Robert Schumann. Piano works are the foundation of both composers’ oeuvre, but

For its “Call & Response” program this year, San Francisco’s Cypress String Quartet is returning to a composer friend whom they’d commissioned earlier in the program’s 11-year history. That’s Elena Ruehr, who came out from Boston last month to work with the ensemble on her String Quartet No. 5, premiering at the end of February at Herbst Theatre.