From fun science with giant robot insects in San Francisco to a West Coast premiere by acclaimed composer/musician Nathalie Joachim, there is a lot to see and do in the Bay Area this weekend.
Here’s a partial rundown.
Buggin’ out at GG Park
If you’re looking for a fun San Francisco outing with your kids, the words “super-sized animatronic insects” might just be magic to your ears.
And that’s just part of what’s in the offing in the new “Spring in the Garden” attraction at the California Academy of Sciences. Opening on Saturday, the indoor/outdoor exhibit meant to turn folks of all ages onto the magic and wonderful strangeness of the natural world, offers a wide variety of cool objects and activities. These include:
Bugtopia: A collection of enormous, friendly animatronic insects that move and make noises, including a curious meadow grasshopper, a fuzzy red-tailed bumblebee and a giant spicebush swallowtail caterpillar.
Riveropolis: A large water play space, where you can build a boat do other fun activities.
“Arthropod Opera”: A fun puppet music show about, well, anthropods (and don’t worry, it’s not too opera-y for kids).
There’s also an interactive “Nature Bingo,” and lots of other games, arts projects and interactive activities. Plus did we mention huge friendly insects?
Details: Saturday through April 28; California Academy of Sciences at Golden Gate Park; hours are 10 a.m.-4 p.m. daily; advance tickets $34.95-$44.85; www.calacademy.org.
— Randy McMullen, Staff
Classical picks: Nathalie Joachim, NCCO. SF Girls Chorus
Music looks back this week, in a West Coast premiere by composer Nathalie Joachim and performances by the New Century Chamber Orchestra and San Francisco Girls Chorus.
Joachim Journeys Home: Composers have always found inspiration in the events and places of the past, and Nathalie Joachim is no exception. This week, the composer, flutist, and vocalist comes to Cal Performances to perform the West Coast premiere of “Ki moun ou ye” (Who are you?), an homage to the remote Caribbean farmland of her ancestors. Drawn from field recordings, and performed by a seven-member ensemble of winds, strings, and percussion, Joachim performs the work in English and Haitian kreyòl.
Details: 7:30 p.m. today; Zellerbach Playhouse, UC Berkeley; $43-$48; calperformances.org.
“Playing with Structure”: That’s the title of the New Century Chamber Orchestra’s March program, honoring musical architect Joseph Haydn and the classical era. Daniel Hope, now in his sixth season as music director and concertmaster, welcomes cellist Sterling Elliott as soloist in Haydn’s First Cello Concerto. Stravinsky’s “Suite Italienne” from “Pulcinella,” along with works by Gluck and Ernest Bloch, complete the program.
Details: 7:30 p.m. Friday and 3 p.m. Saturday at Presidio Theatre, San Francisco; 2:30 p.m. Sunday at Bing Concert Hall, Stanford University; $30-$70; ncco.org.
Venetian splendor: “Juditha Triumphans,” composed in 1716, occupies a special place in music history. Vivaldi’s only surviving oratorio was composed for the women of the Venetian girls’ orphanage Ospedale della Pieta, where the composer served as music director. Now the San Francisco Girls Chorus is presenting two performances of this historic work, conducted by Valérie Sainte-Agathe with stage direction by Celine Ricci.
Details: 7:30 Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday; Z Space, San Francisco; $20-$50; sfgirlschorus.org.
— Georgia Rowe, Correspondent
Mingwei opens up his art at the de Young
“Immersive” is the byword for many new museum exhibits, luring visitors into often-flashy art environments. But Taiwanese American artist Lee Mingwei is more thoughtful and thought-provoking in his exhibit at the de Young Museum, subtitled “Rituals of Care.”
MIngwei attended high school in San Francisco and earned his Master of Fine Arts degree from the California College of the Arts, then located in Oakland. He delves into his own and his family history for intriguing installations created from 1995 to the present day.
“The Letter Writing Project,” conceived after the death of his maternal grandmother, invites museum visitors into sleek wood-and-glass booths to write messages to absent loved ones. They can be left unsealed for others to read, or sealed and mailed by museum staff if the subject is still alive. “The Mending Project” offers volunteers to mend or patch clothing that visitors provide for a kind of communal healing.
One gallery is filled with 40 contemporary versions of Quaker minister Edward Hicks’ 19th-century folk-art painting series, “Peaceable Kingdom.” Visitors are invited to imagine their own.
Details: Through July 7; de Young Museum, San Francisco, hours are 9:30 a.m.-5:15 p.m. Tuesday-Sunday; $11-$20; deyoungmuseum.org.
— Robert Taylor, Correspondent
3 cool shows for music fans
Here are three upcoming Bay Area concerts that should be on your radar.
Lyle Lovett: The phenomenally talented country music troubadour brings his great vocal work and wonderful wit — as well as his Acoustic Band — to the Fox Theatre in Redwood City on March 13. Lovett is touring in support of 2022’s “12th of June,” which is his first full-length studio outing since 2012’s “Release Me.”
Details: 8 p.m.; tickets start at $67; foxrwc.com.
The Tubes: We had the chance to see these legendary Bay Area art/glam rockers in late 2022, when they opened for the B-52’s at the Masonic in San Francisco, and they were superb. In particular, the guitar work of Roger Steen was absolutely phenomenal. See and hear for yourself when the Tubes perform March 7 at the Guild Theatre in Menlo Park.
Details: 8 p.m.; $58; guildtheatre.com.
Lil Tecca: The rising-star rapper, who hails from Queens and (later) Long Island, has had three albums and one mixtape make it into the top 20 of the Billboard 200. He’s known for such hit songs as “Love Me,” “Did It Again” and “Ransom.” Lil Tecca performs March 13 at the Warfield in San Francisco.
Details: 8 p.m.; $39.50-$75; axs.com.
— Jim Harrington, Staff
Free jazz in Danville
The connection between religious worship and jazz might not be as well known as, say, church services and gospel or hymnal music, but it is definitely there. The tradition of Jazz Vespers – religious services using jazz – developed along the East Coast and the South, and an outgrowth of sorts can be found in Danville. The Peace Lutheran Church there has a history of serving up jazz concerts, many of them for free. The Jazz at Peace series often offers free music with inspiration usually on the first Sunday of each month; and also hosts a series of free concerts, including one this Sunday featuring Akiko Tsuruga, a New York-based rising star on the B3 Hammond Organ. The Japan native will be performing with her high-caliber Trio, featuring guitarist Bruce Forman and drummer Akira Tana. Future shows in the series include the wonderful singer Clairdee (April 7), the wildly creative trio Charged Particles (May 5) and percussionist Silvestre Martinez (June 2). You can also catch Tsuruga 8 p.m. Friday at the San Jose Jazz Break Room ($28; sanjosejazz.org) and 5:30 p.m. Saturday at Piedmont Piano Company in Oakland ($25; piedmontpiano.com)
Details: 5:30 p.m. March 10; 3201 Camino Tassajara, Danville; free; peacejourney.org.
— Bay City News Foundation
‘Queen’ for a day
Bees get a bad rap. The are beautifully complex creatures who have a role in such life-affirming practices as pollination, species diversification and what-all, yet what they are mainly known for is ruining a perfectly wonderful sunny day by showing up out of nowhere and leaving a painful welt on you for no other reason, apparently, than because they can. So, yeah, many of us hate or fear bees, but they all died suddenly, we humans would be in serious you-know-what. And they are dying, Like, a lot. The condition is called Colony Collapse Disorder and it plays a part in a play by San Jose native Madhuri Shekar getting a new staging beginning this week at TheatreWorks Silicon Valley.
The play centers on science, gender politics in academia and ethics as it follows two two women scientists in the U.S. studying why bee populations are dwindling. A variety of ethical and personal issues come into play that pit their academic goals and life ambitions against the accuracy of their study, in which only the ecological future of the planet is at stake. For Shekar, it marks the second play produced in the Bay Area. Her historical-themed “House of Joy” played at California Shakespeare Theater in Orinda in 2019.
Details: “Queen” plays March 6-31; Lucie Stern Theatre, Palo Alto; $27-$100; www.theatreworks.org.
— Bay City News Foundation
