Young Michael Tilson Thomas inherited a passion to popularize Gustav Mahler and Charles Ives from his legendary mentor Leonard Bernstein.

You've got to give Michael Longoria, Broadway performer in "Jersey Boys" and "Hairspray," credit for being ballsy.

SFS Principal Percussion Jacob Nissly is one of the orchestra's standout players, usually showing his skills from the rear of the stage.

The highlight of Out There's recent jaunt to New York City was an artistic encounter with the MacArthur "genius grant"-winning jazz pianist and bandleader Jason Moran.

As it turns out, Pete & Chasten Buttigieg aren't the only fascinating twosome to come from Indiana. Singing-songwriting sisters Lily & Madeline Jurkiewicz have been at it since high school in Indianapolis.

The 16-track "Wide Prairie" (MPL/Capitol), bowing on 180-gram audiophile black vinyl for the first time (remastered at Abbey Road Studios), is a cornucopia of sounds and styles.

Surviving war and political tyranny, the Polish composer and violin and piano virtuoso Grazyna Bacewicz wrote hundreds of scores, building a distinctive style influenced by everything from folk music to the avant-garde.

After more than 200 years, the perpetually hip writing team of Mozart and Da Ponte still has a hit on their hands. "The Marriage of Figaro" opened at the War Memorial Opera House last week, and it's funnier and timelier than ever.

Out There has famously thirsty ears, but here are three CDs that have lately quenched them.

Guest conductors, soloists, and the world premiere of a San Francisco Symphony Commission will keep the home fires burning.

Well-established Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra & Chorale (PBO) and youthfully ambitious Bard Music West (BMW) are ready to light some musical bonfires in October.

If San Francisco Opera's "Romeo and Juliette" left you with a sweet tooth for Gounod, a dessert buffet has just arrived.

One of the best things about the vinyl revival is that albums initially issued on CD only, during the mid-to-late 1990s and through the early part of the 2000s, are finally getting the chance to be heard in the beloved, "warm" classic format.

September concerts in Michael Tilson Thomas' 25th and final season as Music Director of the San Francisco Symphony are telling us what we may expect as he sets the seal on an historic legacy.