Previews

For classical music aficionados, the term early music generally brings to mind only works that they might hear in a Western concert hall. But Cançonièr adopts a much broader view for its upcoming concert (its debut as ensemble-in-residence at MusicSources), incorporating a Dufay motet, Turkish classical music, Italian and German dances, Balkan folk songs, and more.

Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra fans won’t be surprised that star opera mezzo-soprano Susan Graham is headlining the group’s coming performances of Henry Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas.

Mexico’s Día de los Muertos is hardly a day for mourning. A celebration of those who have died, it centers on offerings of food, flowers, and fanciful ceremonial altars for the departed.

“We make our offering to the dead at either the cemetery or home,” explains conductor Alondra de la Parra, who makes her much-anticipated San Francisco Symphony debut with a Nov.

One meaning of meridian is pinnacle, or the highest possible point. This denotation surely befits the Meridian Arts Ensemble, which is a brass quintet — two trumpets, horn, trombone, and tuba — plus a percussionist.

Certainly you’ve heard Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, both live and on recordings, over the years. But have you heard it played on a violin that inspired an Academy Award–winning movie?

That’s what’s in store at the Marin Symphony program coming up on Nov. 1 and 3.

Natasha Paremski, a fine pianist who captivated audiences in her debut recital here a year and a half ago, returns to the Bay Area to play Rachmaninov's beloved Piano Concerto No. 2 with the Peninsula Symphony. Mitchell Sardou-Klein's hardworking group are also presenting Shostakovich's whimsical Symphony No. 9 and Wagner's Overture to Rienzi.

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The San Francisco Symphony has an unabashedly populist side that is refreshing and possibly also remunerative — not a small consideration for an expensive institution. Celebrating the opening of the Walt Disney Family Museum with music from classic Disney films will make a pops concert of great variety, however.

Fantasy (or phantasie) and the unusual is the theme of the day when the Gold Coast Chamber Players perform at Noe Valley Chamber Music Se

Some people are born to pound their way through life. Take Loren Mach, for example.

If your kids are still too young for the traditional concert hall experience, they can certainly shake, rattle, and roll at The Crowden School’s free Community Music Day — the biggest classical jam session around for kids up through the age of 6, on Oct. 25 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.