Koutaiba Al Rahmoon tap-dances across the stage in cut-off trousers and a kitsch Christmas jumper. The Syrian drama student had never performed before coming to Europe. Four years later, he’s ...

THIS, as the admen might tell you, is a chamber-music year. The Lener Quartet arrives from Hungary and gets as much attention as a new dramatic soprano at the Metropolitan. More, I should add, because ...

For the past 35 years of attending classical music concerts in Vacaville and the greater Bay Area, I’ve heard a lot of music, particularly German Romantic-era music from the early to late 19th century ...