At 81, American composer Philip Glass deserves to be called a living legend. For five decades the prolific writer has been at the forefront of music.

Last month Elton John announced that he would be retiring from touring. His three-year farewell concert tour is sure to be one of the biggest events in pop-music history.

The worldwide celebration of Leonard Bernstein's birth centennial continued last week as SFJAZZ and innovative Opera Parallele re-teamed to create a double bill that meshed two works into one.

Lucie Arnaz, who returns to Feinstein's at the Nikko on February 23 and 24, was destined for show business.

Like a favorite relative who visits only once a year, Herbert Blomstedt, Conductor Laureate of the San Francisco Symphony and SFS Music Director for a decade (1985-95), returned to the podium at Davies Symphony Hall recently to start a two-week stay.

Back when the word bombshell still held meaning beyond "today's news," Robert Craft used it in his book "Stravinsky: Discoveries and Memories."

The incomparable Mary Wilson, a founding member of Diana Ross and The Supremes, makes her debut at Feinstein's at the Nikko on February 16. The chanteuse will be singing familiar Supremes classics and tunes from the Great American Songbook.

If you listened to pop radio or watched MTV during the 1980s, it was pretty much impossible to avoid the London-based trio, which plays the Warfield on February 21.

In the wake of artistic director and principal conductor Charles Dutoit's departure due to allegations of sexual misconduct, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra still managed to embark on a planned six-concert West Coast tour of the United States last month.

Fans of Cris Williamson have two opportunities to see the legendary lesbian folk and rock singer at Berkeley's Freight and Salvage.

Lamplighters Music Theatre entered the 2018 side of their 65th season last weekend with an exuberant production of Gilbert & Sullivan's "The Gondoliers, or, The King of Barataria" at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts.

"Edward II" is a powerful piece of musical theater whose uninterrupted 90 minutes I'd eagerly travel for.

The songs of composer-lyricist Stephen Sondheim have long been fertile ground for reinterpretation by cabaret artists, Broadway babies, and vocalists of all stripes.

The San Francisco Symphony's recent concert performances of Leonard Bernstein's comic operetta "Candide," conducted by Michael Tilson Thomas, should have been the icing on the cake in the season-long celebration of the composer's birth centennial.