Bay Area arts: 8 cool shows and fairs to hit this weekend

There is a lot to see and do this weekend in the Bay Area as — ready or not! — the holiday arts season begins to awaken. Here is a partial rundown. The classical music scene continues to innovate and engage – here are just a few of the Bay Area events coming our way.

This weekend’s San Francisco Symphony contributions to the statewide California Festival begins with “From the Edge,” with music director Esa-Pekka Salonen leading the Symphony’s first performances of Gabriella Smith’s climate-inspired “Breathing Forests. ” Two Stravinsky works, the “Octet for Winds and Brass,” and “Les Noces,” featuring vocal soloists Lauren Snouffer, Kayleigh Decker and Paul Appleby, complete the program. 7:30 p.

m. Nov. 18-19; Davies Symphony Hall; $25-$75; sfsymphony.

org. Under conductor Harry Bicket, the English Concert’s 2021 recording of “Rodelinda” earned rave reviews. Now Bicket and company return to UC Berkeley with a live concert performance of Handel’s opera, featuring Lucy Crowe in the title role; the cast also includes countertenors Iestyn Davies and Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen, along with tenor Eric Ferring, mezzo-soprano Christine Rice, and bass-baritone Brandon Cedel.

3 p. m. Nov.

19, Zellerbach Hall, UC Berkeley; $39-$142; . The Other Minds Festival returns in its 27 installment this week, with a full lineup of new and experimental music, including appearances by innovators Morton Subotnick, Sarah Cahill, Paul Dresher, and others. Through Nov.

18, Taube Atrium Theater, Nov. 19, Gray Area, San Francisco; $15-$50 events, $50-$160 season passes; . Beginning with “The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs” and wowing audiences with this month’s “Omar,” it’s been an outstanding fall season at San Francisco Opera, and the company is capping it off with “The Elixir of Love.

” Donizetti’s delectable comedy opens Sunday with tenor Pene Pati as the lovestruck Nemorino; conductor Ramón Tebar makes his company debut. Nov. 19 through Dec.

9; War Memorial Opera House, San Francisco; in person $26-$414; livestream $27. 50; sfopera. com.

Music at Kohl Mansion, now in its 21st season, welcomes the acclaimed Jupiter String Quartet this Sunday in a program of works by Beethoven, Elizabeth Maconchy, Nathan Shields and Carlos Simon. 7 p. m.

Nov. 19; Kohl Mansion, Burlingame; $58 adult, $55 seniors, $25 30 and under; musicatkohl. org.

San Francisco Playhouse isn’t whisking audiences off to the North Pole or Bedford Falls for the holidays. Instead, the company is offering a ticket to 20th-century New York, where some hard-boiled gangsters, gamblers and entertainers of the night prove they, too, can carry a tune. Yes, the company is presenting “Guys and Dolls,” the iconic musical by Frank Loesser, Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows, which has been a popular stage staple since it debuted on Broadway in 1950.

Many know the story from the 1955 film version starring Marlon Brando and Frank Sinatra. Now S. F.

Playhouse is reviving the musical, which centers a high-rolling gambler wooing an uptight missionary in hopes of winning a bet, and a burlesque performer trying to get her beau to settle down. Yes, it’s an old tale often told, but when you have songs like “Luck Be a Lady,” “Sit Down, You’re Rocking the Boat,” and “I’ve Never Been in Love Before,” setting the pace, it’s hard to go wrong. Helmed by company artistic director Bill English, “Guys and Dolls” begins in previews this week and runs through Jan.

13. Performances at 450 Post St. , $15-$125; www.

sfplayhouse. org. .