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.

"Billy Budd," Herman Melville's unfinished allegory of innocence and guilt upon a British war ship, deeply examined by composer Benjamin Britten and librettists E.M. Forster and Eric Crozier, is the second offering in San Francisco Opera's fall line-up.

B-52s lead male vocalist Fred Schneider was kind enough to answer a few questions before the band embarked on a multi-city concert tour.

The 32-year-old Igor Levit, three of whose four commercial releases for Sony have included Beethoven, has just seen the release of "Beethoven: The Complete Sonatas," all 32 of them.

With a booming announcer citing his achievements and the orchestra blaring the theme from "Masterpiece Theatre," San Francisco Symphony Music Director Michael Tilson Thomas made his final Opening Night walk to the podium at Davies Symphony Hall last week.

The San Francisco Opera's 97th season opened last week with a sturdy, often stirring performance of Gounod's elegant version of Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet."

Security was unusually tight for the San Francisco Symphony season opening gala this year. We couldn't understand why we needed a "Press" wristband until we witnessed the concert's closing ovations.

Well-Strung, the adorably hot gay string quartet from New York City, returns to Feinstein's at the Nikko for three shows Sept. 13-15. The group will be celebrating some of the biggest songs from the Silver Screen.

If you were lucky enough to attend a performance of the first national tour of the Tony-winning musical "Kinky Boots," you probably saw out actor-singer Kyle Taylor Parker filling the distinctive thigh-high red boots worn by Billy Porter on Broadway.

The great gold curtain of the War Memorial Opera House rises on the San Francisco Opera's Opening Night Gala celebrating its 97th season this week.

It's best to get this out of the way first. Comparing Alex Lahey to fellow queer Aussie Courtney Barnett is almost unavoidable.

In this, our second week of the Fall Arts Preview, we offer surveys of what's coming up in Bay Area Theatre, Art Galleries, the San Francisco Opera, Film, and lesbian-created Pop Music this fall.

Ben Platt may wind up becoming the gay Barbara Streisand, meaning a multiplatform superstar. He is one of only a handful of male Broadway musical stars this century to branch out into TV and movies.

The San Francisco Symphony knows how to throw a classy party. Opening night 2019-20 approaches, and expectations, not to mention ticket sales, are running high for the celebration of Michael Tilson Thomas' 25th and final season as Music Director.