Bay Area arts: 9 great shows to see this weekend

The classical music scene serves up three can’t-miss events: Michael Tilson Thomas at San Francisco Symphony; a Symphony San Jose concert featuring AI, and new works featuring Gabriel Kahane in SF Performances’ annual Pivot festival.

MTT and SFS: Michael Tilson Thomas, music director laureate of the San Francisco Symphony, has been battling cancer for more than two years, but his musical passions remain undimmed. This week, he’ll return to conduct the orchestra in Mahler’s Fifth Symphony, in what the organization has announced will be his final appearance on a subscription program.

Details: 7:30 p.m. Jan. 25-27; Davies Symphony Hall, San Francisco; $25-$169; sfsymphony.org.

Battle ready: Symphony San Jose is presenting an unusual concert this weekend, one that pits the orchestra’s cello soloist, Yves Dhar, against an AI hologram. “Automation,” by composer Adam Schoenberg, features the orchestra, electronica, and projected visuals in an epic faceoff. Also on the program: John Adams’ “Short Ride in a Fast Machine,” Paul Dukas’ “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice,” and Richard Strauss’s “Also sprach Zarathustra.” Vinay Parameswaran conducts; come an hour early for an AI panel discussion.

Details: 7:30 p.m. Jan. 27, 2:30 p.m. Jan. 28; California Theatre, San Jose; $55-$115; symphonysanjose.org.

A musical “Pivot”: San Francisco Performances is set to present its annual new music series, with three concerts featuring Gabriel Kahane. The award-winning composer, pianist and vocalist headlines the event, with guest artists the Attacca Quartet and the sensational vocal ensemble Roomful of Teeth.

Details: 7:30 p.m. Jan. 25-26; Herbst Theatre, San Francisco; $45-$65; sfperformances.org.

— Georgia Rowe, Correspondent

Besides its storyline, “Mere Mortals,” with a 43-member cast, has additional boundary-pushing aspects, including gender-neutral principal dancer pairing, an eye-popping AI-influenced stage design, and live mixing of electronic and classical music as part of Shepherd’s score.

“Aszure Barton and Floating Points are two of the most invigorating artists working in their respective disciplines, unafraid to push the boundaries of genre to create something completely original,” says Tamara Rojo, S.F. Ballet artistic director, who adds that work “flips a classic story on its head for the modern age.”

Details: Six performances Jan. 26-Feb. 1; War Memorial Opera House, San Francisco, $29-$495; www.sfballet.org.

— Randy McMullen, Staff

When ballet is a drag

If you’re going to spoof a beloved institution in the arts world – be it music, art, theater, film or dance – it helps to have a technical mastery of that which you are spoofing. The revered performers of Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo, and their legions of devoted fans, definitely understand this. The New York-based all-male drag ballet company, now celebrating its 50th anniversary, is famous for performing parodies of well-known classic and romantic dance works. But this is no sloppy, bulldozing-through-the-classics spoof. The Trocks, as they are known, ply their satirical trade with style, grace and athleticism – and in to-die-for costumes – which makes their drag performances all the more silly and sublime. As organizers put it. “their irreverent, deeply informed romps through the glories and excesses of the dance world continue to offer laughs for aficionados and novices alike.”

The Trocks are back at UC Berkeley this weekend to perform a program including their classic take on “Swan Lake” (Act II) as well as such works as “Yes, Virginia, Another Piano Ballet” and “Paquita,” and a modern work to be announced later.

Details: Presented by Cal Performances; 8 p.m. Jan. 27, 3 p.m. Jan. 28; Zellerbach Hall, UC Berkeley; $37-$119; calperformances.org.

— Bay City News Foundation

Fans had an absolute blast during the first Bay Area stop on the Trilogy Tour, which brought Pitbull, Enrique Iglesias and Ricky Martin — three of the most popular Latin music acts of all time — to the SAP Center in San Jose in December.

Each of the multiplatinum-selling entertainers performed his own (roughly) hourlong set and delighted the 12,000 or so music lovers in attendance by playing hit after hit.

Pitbull took the stage first and grooved through such favorites as “Don’t Stop the Party,” “Timber,” “Fireball,” “Time of Our Lives” and, best of all, “Give Me Everything.” Iglesias was up next and the Spanish singer — known as “The King of Latin Pop” — filled his set with the likes of “Be With You,” “Bailamos,” “Tonight (I’m Lovin’ You)” and “Bailando.”

Martin closed the show with a high-energy performance that included “She Bangs,” “The Cup of Life” and, of course, “Livin’ La Vida Loca.” (Note: the performance order reportedly changes from show to show.)

Those who missed the fun SAP Center gig — or simply want to go another round with these three great entertainers — can catch the Trilogy Tour when it returns to the Bay Area for a show on Wednesday at Chase Center in San Francisco.

Details: 7 p.m.; tickets start at $59 (subject to change); chasecenter.com.

— Jim Harrington, Staff

Catch this Cantor show soon …

There’s never a bad time to visit Stanford University’s Cantor Arts Center, which offers world-class art exhibitions at a world-class price (admission is free). But this weekend marks a particularly good time to visit the museum, as an intriguing exhibit there closes after Jan. 28.

“Beyond Here: The Judy and Sidney Zuber Collection of Latin American Photography” features 34 works by noted photographers from 10 Latin American countries chronicling what organizers describe as “profound changes of the 20th century.” Photographs from Manuel Alvarez Bravo, Graciela Iturbide, Flor Garduno, Javier Silva Meinel and Marta Maria Perez Bravo among others are included in this compelling collection of images depicting revolution and political upheaval, urban unrest and decay, and the ever-present collision of modernization and cultural traditions. The Zuber Collection, a gift to the Art Center, represents the beginning of a museum development of a larger acquisition of Latin American photography, but this particular display is only on view through the weekend. Hours at the museum, located at 328 Lomita Drive in Stanford, are 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesdays. Also on display are Puerto Rican artist and filmmaker Sofia Gallisa Muriente’s “Celaje” (Cloudscape), a 41-minute video that juxtaposes images from her homeland’s recent natural disaster with scenes depicting its Colonial history and more current developments; as well as the permanent display “The Faces of Ruth Asawa,“ featuring famed masks from the San Francisco artist’s collection.

Details: More information is at museum.stanford.edu.

Pho show: There are some real hot-button topics at the center of San Francisco Playhouse’s new production of “My Home on the Moon “ – artificial intelligence, gentrification, the power of a good bowl of pho. Hmong-Vietnamese playwright and animator Minna Lee’s new sci-fi play centers on a struggling Vietnamese pho restaurant that appears on the brink of closing amid vast neighborhood changes. Then a mysterious marketing expert steps in and suddenly the restaurant is kicking butt and taking names. But looks, of course, can be deceiving, especially nowadays when artificial intelligence and doings in the metaverse can render reality as useless as a flimsy banh mi. So the restaurant’s owner embarks on an otherworldly adventure to see if she can make things right – or at least make sense. “Home on the Moon” is getting its world premiere after emerging as finalist for the 2024 Bay Area Playwrights Festival and semi-finalist for Ashland New Plays Festival. Directed by Mei Ann Teo, the play opens in previews Jan. 25.

Details: Main run is Jan. 31-Feb. 24; San Francisco Playhouse, 450 Post St.; $15-$100; www.sfplayhouse.org