From a musical \u201cReflection on America\u201d to the start of one of the Bay Area\u2019s best concert series, there are a lot of great shows and concerts to catch in the Bay Area this weekend for this weekend and beyond.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s a partial roundup.<\/p>\n
Classical picks: Lara Downs, Cal Symph, Symphony San Jose<\/p>\n
Classical music offers a wide range of old and new this week, with a look back by Lara Downes at UC Berkeley and two symphony orchestras covering programs with impressive stylistic spans.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis Land: Reflections on America\u201d: Pianist Lara Downes and Friends \u2014 a group that includes vocalists Judy Collins, Tarriona \u2018Tank\u2019 Ball and the Invoke Quartet backed by the Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir \u2014 comes to Berkeley to present a rousing program that, as organizers put it, \u201cexplores the richness and complexity of the American experience.\u201d<\/p>\n
Details: 8 p.m. May 9; Zellerbach Hall, UC Berkeley; tickets $38-up; CalPerformances.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n Russian classic and a new work:\u00a0The California Symphony closes its 2025-26 season with two performances this weekend featuring Music Director Donato Cabrera conducting Rachmaninoff\u2019s Piano Concerto No. 3, with award-winning pianist Sofya Gulyak as soloist. Also of note: Saad Haddad, the Symphony\u2019s composer-in-residence, introduces his third and final new work written for the orchestra; Borodin\u2019s Symphony No. 2 completes the program.<\/p>\n Details: 7:30 p.m. May 9 and 4 p.m. May 10; Lesher Center, Walnut Creek; $25-$115; californiasymphony.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n Celebrating Spring:\u00a0Beethoven\u2019s \u201cPastorale\u201d is just one of three featured works on Symphony San Jose\u2019s spring concert, a program that also includes Dvorak\u2019s \u201cCarnival Overture\u201d and Mason Bates\u2019 \u201cPhilharmonia Fantastique.\u201d Vinay Parameswaran conducts the program, which opens with a pre-show hour of talks with featured guests.<\/p>\n Details: 7:30 p.m. May 9 and 2:30 p.m. May 10; California Theatre, San Jose; $24-$121.50; SymphonySanJose.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u2014 Georgia Rowe, Correspondent<\/p>\n Pleasanton band has a big birthday<\/p>\n Batch22 is celebrating its 20th anniversary.<\/p>\n The members of this pop-rock cover band hail from different areas of the \u201cday job\u201d work world \u2014 a surgeon, financial planner, therapist, etc. \u2014 but their shared passion for music brought them together back in 2006.<\/p>\n The band handles a wide range of material, with setlists that can include such tunes as \u201cJust Like Heaven\u201d by The Cure, \u201cPink Pony Club\u201d by Chappell Roan, \u201cYou Shook Me All Night Long\u201d by AC\/DC, \u201cKiss This\u201d by The Struts,\u201d \u201cHeart of Glass\u201d by Blondie, \u201cSave Me, San Francisco\u201d by Train, and, best of all, \u201cBohemian Like You\u201d by The Dandy Warhols.<\/p>\n The band members are Kris Bergmann on vocals, John Murphy on vocals and keyboards, Andrew Sage on vocals and guitar, Michael Schomaker on guitar, Dave Bell on bass and Mike Racer on drums.<\/p>\n Details: Music fans can catch Batch22 on May 9 at McKay\u2019s Taphouse & Beer Garden in Pleasanton; showtime is 7 p.m.; no cover charge; mckaysbeergarden.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u2014 Jim Harrington, Staff<\/p>\n Here\u2019s your freebie of the week<\/p>\n One of San Francisco\u2019s best concert\/performance series kicks off this week with what is sure to be a high-energy and rousing performance that will have folks of all types and ages busting moves in a glorious setting on Mission Street. We\u2019re talking about the annual Yerba Buena Gardens Festival, which each year presents more than 100 performances on the Yerba Buena Gardens Great Lawn, on Mission Street, between 3rd and 4th streets in San Francisco.<\/p>\n The new season officially launches on May 9 with a concert featuring the great New York City salsa singer Herman Olivera and his Orquesta Taino. Make no mistake, this is salsa royalty we are talking about. Olivera, a leading figure in Afro-Caribbean music since the 1970s, has been dubbed \u201cEl Senoro Mayor\u201d and, as International Salsa Magazine refers to him, \u201cthe Sonero of the 21st Century.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s not just his superior voice that makes fans swoon; Olivera is also revered for his passionate delivery and his unparalleled improvisational talents. The performance runs from 2 to 4:30 p.m. May 9 at the Yerba Buena Gardens, and you make sure to get there early enough to catch the opening set from Batey Tambo, an all-female Bay Area Latin ensemble led by Denise Solis and Julia Caridad Cepeda. The festival runs through mid-October with a wide variety of music, dance and theater performances, most of which are family-friendly. More information and a complete schedule is available at ybgfestival.org.<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Bay City News Foundation<\/p>\n Craters, technology and more at ICA<\/p>\n It was some 66 million years ago that an asteroid slammed into what is now known as the Yucat\u00e1n Peninsula, creating a massive crater and, according to some, killing all the dinosaurs, who were probably thinking at the time that Earth was a pretty sweet gig.<\/p>\n The Chicxulub meteorite and its momentous aftermath are part of the inspiration for \u201cInframudo,\u201d a new exhibit at the Institute of Contemporary Art in San Jose featuring the explorative works and ideas of South Bay artist Miguel Novelo. But there\u2019s a lot more going on here than post-dinosaur musing; The exhibit sets the famed crater \u2014 or cenote, in Mayan terminology, referring to when a collapse of bedrock exposes groundwater \u2014 as a starting point for the artist\u2019s exploration into such concepts as Indigenous knowledge, ecology, technology, humans vs. machines, media and impermanence.<\/p>\n The exhibit \u2014 which marks the first solo show by Novelo, a lecturer at Stanford University and part of the CADRE art\/technology program at San Jos\u00e9 State University \u2014 employs technology, immersive aspects, AI, gaming engines, augmented reality, interactive sculpture and generative imagery. In other words, Novelo\u2019s work needs to be seen to be understood and appreciated.<\/p>\n Details: \u201cInframundo\u201d is on display through Aug. 23 at ICA, 560 S. 1st St., San Jose; hours are noon to 5 p.m. Thursday through Sunday; admission is free; www.icasanjose.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u2014 Randy McMullen, staff<\/p>\n CAAMFest is back with much to offer<\/p>\n CAAMFest remains a premier showplace for creative and inspiring Asian American storytelling and it\u2019s one that often spotlights Bay Area talent among the filmmakers, the actors, and the people profiled.\u00a0The fest celebrates its 44th year with an array of events from May 7-10.<\/p>\n HBO\u2019s incisive documentary \u201cThe A List: 15 Stories from Asian and Pacific Diasporas\u201d makes for an ideal opening night feature (6:45 p.m. May 7 at the AMC Kabuki in San Francisco). Director Eugene Yi zooms in on the stories, experiences and perspectives of a swath of people from the Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander community. Subjects include Sandra Oh, Bowen Yang, Connie Chung, Kumail Ali Nanjiani and more. Walnut Creek resident and photojournalist Manny Crisostomo earns the spotlight too. It\u2019s a relevant and inspiring film.<\/p>\n Another documentary that\u2019s a gold mine of Bay Area talent is Oakland director Nisha Balaram\u2019s \u201cMeals that Made Us\u201d (5:30 p.m. May 8, the Kabuki). The 60-minute presentation combines three parts of a new series on food and the critical role it plays in Bay Area Asian American communities. This collection alone features Soleil Ho (Berkeley\u2019s Coyote Media Collective), Jenn Lui, Alan Chen and Eman Garcia (co-founders of Oakland\u2019s 13 Orphans Restaurant), chef Yuji Ishikata (J-Sei in Emeryville) and Japjot Sethi (from San Jose\u2019s Free Meals on Wheels).<\/p>\n Details: For more information, a complete rundown of the packed schedule and to order tickets, caamfest.com\/2026.<\/a><\/p>\n \u2013 Randy Myers, Correspondent<\/p>\n A Scottish musical journey<\/p>\n Stravaig is a Scottish term that refers to the kind of experience that most of our journeys amount to \u2014 a blend of traveling, self-discovery and new insights into life. It\u2019s also the term by which the San Francisco Scottish Fiddlers refer to their annual Spring concert mini-tour, which takes place this weekend. The group was founded in 1986 by the now-legendary Scottish fiddler Alasdair Fraser and his wife Sally Ashcraft, and now features more than 200 members. Its touring concert group consists of 65 members \u2014 fiddlers, cellists, pianists, percussionists and guitarists\u00a0 \u2014 who tackle a wide range of Scottish and Celtic music, from stirring ballads to toe-tapping reels and representing traditional tunes from Brittany to Galicia to Scandinavia and Cape Breton. With musician Caroline McCaskey now serving as music director, the Fiddlers perform three concerts this weekend.<\/p>\n Details: Performances are 7 p.m. May 8 at the Veterans Memorial Theatre in Davis, 7 p.m. May 9 at The Freight (formerly Freight & Salvage) in Berkeley and 2 p.m. May 10 at the Crocker Theatre in Aptos. Tickets are $32-$35; free to kids 12 and younger. You can snag tickets and learn more information about the band and its music at sffiddles.org\/home.<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Bay City News Foundation<\/p>\n From A to Zainab<\/p>\n Those who have seen Zainab Johnson\u2019s comedy routine often remark how, like many of the best comedians, she is able to address her audience as if she were conversing one-on-one in a coffee shop. Her matter-of-fact tone, applied to everything from politics to romance to tragedy, is one of the things that make her a compelling performer who has developed a definite following in the standup world. And it\u2019s not like she doesn\u2019t have topics to cover besides the usual mix of current events and other topical matters. She was brought up in a fairly strict Muslim family, and wore a hijab as a child, often drawing taunts from other students. When she was 17, she and a friend were struck by a delivery truck and she spent the next 15 months recovering and re-learning how to walk.<\/p>\n Johnson began a career as a teacher but the death of her father in 2005 convinced her she should pursue her true passion \u2014 acting and entertaining. She has since developed a wide-ranging resume that includes everything from standup to starring in the Amazon Prime sci-fi\/comedy series \u201cUpload.\u201d It\u2019s the comedy side of things that Johnson is focusing on these days, as she brings her standup tour to Tommy T\u2019s in Pleasanton for a weekend stint.<\/p>\n