The award-winning San Francisco Symphony Orchestra plays at ultra-modern Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall. Its music director and principal conductor is the charismatic Michael Tilson Thomas, who recently won a slew of Grammys. Touring soloists and symphonies play at Davies, Masonic Auditorium, Bill Graham Civic Auditorium, and other venues throughout town. In the summertime, the natural amphitheater at Stern Grove (on Sloat Boulevard in the Sunset District) features outdoor concerts by the Symphony, the Opera, and other performers.

While in recent years the failure of Keystone Korner and Kimball’s West have left the city without a regular venue for jazz (the best jazz club in the Bay Area, Yoshi’s, is across the Bay in Oakland), jazz fans delight in the annual San Francisco Jazz Festival. It features legends like Elvin Jones and Sonny Rollins, as well as lesser-known, more experimental performers.

San Francisco is inextricably linked with the history of rock n’ roll. The return of the Fillmore Auditorium (of Hendrix fame) has been a boon for rock fans. The Bill Graham Civic Auditorium is another venue for big shows, and the new Pacific Bell Park will likely be used for outdoor concerts as well as major league baseball. The Maritime Hall has become popular for mid-sized shows. Slim’s and the Great American Music Hall are good settings for performances on a smaller–but no less intense–scale.

There are nightclubs all over the city, but locals favor North Beach, and especially SoMa. Most clubs have disc-jockeyed music, but live bands are common. Bimbo’s 365 Club (a sexy, must-see retro fantasy spot that puts on more blues and jazz than it does rock n’ roll), the Justice League, and the Transmission Theater have all hosted well-known acts that have packed the hall.

Next door to Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall, at the beaux-arts Opera House, the San Francisco Opera has an even more devoted following than the Symphony. They mix classic operas with modern ones, including the recent premiere of “A Streetcar Named Desire” scored by Andre Previn.

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