{"id":78208,"date":"2025-12-02T14:10:11","date_gmt":"2025-12-02T14:10:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/78208\/"},"modified":"2025-12-02T14:10:11","modified_gmt":"2025-12-02T14:10:11","slug":"these-classical-concerts-to-bring-joy-to-the-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/78208\/","title":{"rendered":"These classical concerts to bring joy to the season"},"content":{"rendered":"

With loads of events on the holiday calendar, music that celebrates the season might be the best gift to give. The following classical events and concerts, listed in order of appearance, promise to bring winter warmth and musical thrills. (The Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir is also offering holiday concerts<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

San Francisco Symphony: Davies Symphony Hall is a one-stop shop for holiday cheer, with concerts, films with live orchestra, and special events galore. The season includes Handel\u2019s \u201cMessiah\u201d (Dec. 5-6), a \u201cDeck the Hall\u201d concert (Dec. 7), \u201cPeter and the Wolf\u201d with Nickelodeon \u201c\u201dBlues Clues and You!\u201d star Joshua Dela Cruz as narrator (Dec. 14), \u201cHoliday Gaiety with Peaches Christ\u201d (Dec. 17), \u201cA Charlie Brown Christmas\u201d (Dec. 21-22), and more.<\/p>\n

Details: Dec. 5-22, $24.50-up; sfsymphony.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cHoliday Spectacular\u201d:\u00a0Symphony San Jose is offering this special event with the orchestra, SSJ Chorale, the Cantabile Youth Singers, New Ballet, and other guests. The program includes carols, popular songs, and the show\u2019s tribute sing-along, \u201cThe 12 Days of Silicon Valley.\u201d<\/p>\n

Details: 7:30 p.m. Dec. 6, 2:30 p.m. Dec. 7; California Theatre, San Jose; $35-$115; symphonysanjose.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Kitka: Now in its 45th season, the Bay Area\u2019s revered all-woman vocal ensemble\u2019s annual winter concert tour is spotlighting a new album titled \u201cKolo,\u201d a root word from Balkan, Baltic, and Slavic cultures meaning circle, wheel, or a communal line dance. With the group\u2019s lustrous vocal blend, it\u2019s bound to be captivating \u2014\u00a0 and an excellent learning experience for families.<\/p>\n

Details: Dec. 6 in Belvedere, Dec. 13 in Santa Cruz, Dec. 14 in Menlo Park, Oakland Dec. 18 and San Francisco Dec. 21; $27.50-$55; kitka.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cIrish Christmas in America\u201d: The touring musical group presents songs, dances, and storytelling with a love for all things Irish; the one-of-a-kind program includes a Gaelic \u201cSilent Night\u201d and more. The tour includes one night only in downtown Livermore. All ages are welcome.<\/p>\n

Details: 7:30 p.m. Dec. 8, Bankhead Theater, $25-$55; Livermorearts.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cMessiah\u201d:\u00a0Handel\u2019s oratorio is a holiday favorite; there may be no greater music to experience this time of year. Many companies perform it, but under conductor Jeffrey Thomas, the American Bach Soloists and Choir have risen to the top with a tradition of excellence in the Bay Area. This year, they return to Grace Cathedral in San Francisco for two performances.<\/p>\n

Details: 7:30 p.m. Dec. 11-12; $25-$135; americanbach.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn Winter\u2019s Glow\u201d:\u00a0The San Francisco Girls Chorus joins forces with the New Century Chamber Orchestra for a holiday concert featuring the ethereal vocal sound of the chorus under conductor Val\u00e9rie Sainte-Agathe, and the vibrant playing of the New Century players led by Daniel Hope.<\/p>\n

Details: 7:30 p.m. Dec. 11, 1st Church UCC Berkeley; 7:30 p.m. Dec. 12, St. Stephen\u2019s Episcopal Church, Tiburon; and 2 p.m. St. Marks Lutheran, San Francisco; $35-$80; ncco.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe San Jose Nutcracker\u201d:\u00a0For a dance-infused new look at the time-honored \u201cNutcracker,\u201d New Ballet and Symphony San Jose are teaming up to present the holiday classic with choreography by Dalia Rawson and choreography by the Mexican folk dance company Los Lupenos de San Jose. It\u2019s a \u201cNutcracker\u201d with new spirit.<\/p>\n

Details: Dec. 13-23, with performances at 2 and 7 p.m., California Theater, San Jose; $26.50-$31.50; symphonysanjose.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Musica Pacifica: The Bay Area-based quartet Musica Pacifica has a great program in store at Kohl Mansion in Burlingame. This isn\u2019t your usual quartet \u2014 the core ensemble is recorder, violin, cello\/gamba, and harpsichord; it expands to add oboe, percussion and more. Joining the group is soprano Chea Kang to sing holiday favorites and classics.<\/p>\n

Details: 7 p.m. Dec. 14; $62 adult, $60 senior, $30 age 30 and under; musicatkohl.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeace\u201d:\u00a0The Soweto Gospel Choir returns to Cal Performances to sing its uplifting holiday concert featuring gospel songs and spirituals, along with contemporary songs by Peter Gabriel, Kate Bush, and others.<\/p>\n

Details: 3 p.m. Dec. 14, Zellerbach Hall, UC Berkeley; $15-$120; calperformances.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet Us Break Bread Together\u201d:\u00a0The Oakland Symphony\u2019s annual holiday concert always yields a celebration; this year\u2019s program features music director Kedrick Armstrong leading the orchestra and Bay Area guest artists in holiday songs and a tribute to the late, great Whitney Houston.<\/p>\n

Details: 4 p.m. Dec. 14, Paramount Theatre, Oakland; $25-$92; oaklandsymphony.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cHoliday Spectacular 2025!\u201d:\u00a0The San Francisco Gay Men\u2019s Chorus, one of the Bay Area\u2019s most beloved vocal ensembles, performs \u201cHoliday Spectacular: Home for the Holidays,\u201d a traditional, always-uplifting event filled with holiday cheer and vocal splendor, with performances in Berkeley and San Francisco.<\/p>\n

Details: 2 and 8 p.m. Dec. 20 at Zellerbach Hall, UC Berkeley; calperformances.org; and 4 and 7 p.m. Dec. 24 at Davies Symphony Hall, San Francisco; $30-$105; Cityboxoffice.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With loads of events on the holiday calendar, music that celebrates the season might be the best gift…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":78209,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[7,2644,967,88,90,89,420],"class_list":{"0":"post-78208","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-jose","8":"tag-california","9":"tag-concerts","10":"tag-entertainment","11":"tag-san-jose","12":"tag-san-jose-headlines","13":"tag-san-jose-news","14":"tag-things-to-do"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78208","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=78208"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78208\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/78209"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=78208"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=78208"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=78208"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}