Donne Virtuose - Music By Remarkable Women

Turns out women wrote classical music too. (RIGHT? Come on, I can't be the only who wants to throw a geek parade with french horns over this.) Featuring female composers who bucked social restrictions to write arias and instrumental sonatas, the program is performed by soprano Jennifer Ellis Kampani and violinists Rob Diggins and Jolianne von Einem. Composers in question are: Francesca Caccini from the Medici Court, Venetian intellectual Barbara Strozzi, Isabella Leonarda from a Novarese convent, and Elisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre of the Parisian aristocracy. There probably won't be a parade. (BUT THERE SHOULD BE.) 

February 6. St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, 1755 Clay Street. Tickets are $12 to $35 at (800) 595-4849.

Ton Koopman Conducts at San Francisco Symphony

Famous conductor and Bach expert Ton Koopman is taking the stage February 9th for his hotly anticipated San Francisco debut. He'll be heading up the San Francisco Symphony as they perform Bach’s Orchestral Suite No. 3 (think: infamous Air on the G String) and Franz Schubert’s Fifth Symphony. Schubert's Classical predecessors - who greatly influenced his stately Fifth - will also be represented with works by Haydn and C.P.E. Bach, the most prominent of J.S. Bach’s musical sons. 

February 9-12. Davies Symphony Hall, 201 Van Ness Avenue. Tickets are $15-135 at (415) 864-6000. 

San Francisco Contemporary Music Players: Tradition, Influence, Evolution

Donato Cabrera (assistant conductor for the SF Symphony) mans two world premieres performed by the ensemble, along with a hectic amalgamation of modern and traditional sounds from the East and the West by Chinese-American composer Du Yun. György Ligeti’s masterpiece for violin, French horn, and piano is also on the docket.

February 28. Herbst Theatre, 401 Van Ness Avenue. Tickets are $10-30 at cityboxoffice.com.