Concert halls San Francisco & Bay Area

In January 2013, San Francisco opened this center dedicated to jazz performance and education. The structure, a $60 million architectural project, was designed by Mark Cavagnero and houses a 700-seat auditorium, three rehearsal rooms, a digital music lab and a restaurant. The SFJAZZ season, in addition to the jazz festival and summer sessions, includes more than 400 performances a year in the San Francisco Bay Area. The concerts have gained international recognition, so it's best to book your tickets in advance.

The San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, founded in 1911 and resident since 1980 at Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall in the Hayes Valley neighborhood of the city, has a worldwide reputation. The programming is very varied and the acoustics are perfect. The orchestra's awards and honors include an Emmy Award and 15 Grammy Awards over the past 26 years. After 25 years of conducting the orchestra, Michael Tilson Thomas stepped down as conductor in 2020 to take over from Esa-Pekka Salonen of Finland.

One of San Francisco's great concert halls, from 1965 to 1968 it was the epicenter of creative music in the San Francisco Sound. During the 1967 Summer of Love , the venue produced some of the most innovative and provocative music in the Bay Area. The Grateful Dead, Santana, Jimi Hendrix, Captain Beefheart, The Who and Otis Redding were all heard there. Among the more recent stars to have trodden the Fillmore's stage are Prince, Lenny Kravitz, Radiohead, The Cure, The White Stripes, Ali Farka Toure...

San Francisco's premier theater, the American Conservatory Theatre is considered the best theater company in the region. It describes itself as a gathering place for artists and diverse communities in the San Francisco Bay Area. Its mission is to stimulate the artistic life of the region, activate sociological stories, and promote diversity. The company values inclusion, transformation through learning, participation and fun.

Experience an unforgettable experience. This show is a mixture of cabaret numbers, theatre scenes, circus arts, music and humour, all accompanying a gourmet dinner of 5 dishes. This is expensive, but it would be missing one of San Francisco's major attractions than not going there.

Audium is the place where sound, space and deep immersive experience meet. This "theater of sound" proposes to intensely explore music and the spatial dimension of sound, thanks to a multi diffusion installation. Today, Audium has become a true center for spatial art, which has set itself the goal of amplifying perceptual awareness of the space and sounds that surround our society. It is a canvas for artists, playing with technological and creative boundaries. The pieces proposed are however of uneven quality.

Founded in 1933, San Francisco Ballet is the oldest ballet company in the United States. Founded in 1933, the company staged the first full American productions of Coppélia (1938) and Swan Lake (1940). Led by Artistic Director and Principal Choreographer Helgi Tomasson, SF Ballet is accompanied by its own orchestra and operates one of the most prestigious ballet schools in the country. It combines classical and avant-garde programming, claiming to be the most adventurous company in America.

Saloon would be the oldest bar in San Francisco (1861). Nothing has changed for decades: the population is still predominantly male, beers are still drunk at the counter and folk and country bands play there every night. And every Monday it's the resident band The Bachelors that welcomes you, a most enjoyable blues-rockabilly ensemble! We love the picturesque interior and the atmosphere. The owner will be happy to serve you and tell you his best anecdotes.

Berkeley Repertory Theatre is a theater company located in Berkeley. It runs seven productions each season from its two stages in downtown Berkeley. Performances take place during the season, which runs from September to June. Winner of numerous Tony Awards for the best in American theater. A must-see for theater lovers in Berkeley. In addition to being a performance venue, it is a theater school.

This 1907 cabaret, a former brothel converted into a concert hall, is sumptuous with its tiers decorated with moldings. Throughout its history, it has hosted all the big names: from Van Morrison to Duke Ellington, including the mythical Grateful Dead, the emblematic group of San Francisco hippies. And, of course, many local rock bands. Be sure to check out the lineup beforehand, as many of the concerts are sold out!

This speakeasy opened in 1907, and has built a reputation throughout the last century as a must-see place for any night owl worth his salt in California. Renovated in 2015, it has a new look, while keeping a 1920's touch on the decoration side, thanks to a very nice dark wood bar, and decorations marked between the two wars. The eclectic program allows to gather a crowd of amateurs of soft music like jazz and folk. The dishes proposed on the restaurant's menu are classic and successful, enough to make a good dinner.

Located in the middle of nowhere, Bottom of the Hill is nonetheless a must for live music fans, who flock here every night to discover the new talent the owners have unearthed. In the past, the venue won the Readers' Poll Best of The Bay award for best rock venue for decades. Today, you'll hear everything from ska and hip-hop to rock and indie. Check out their website and you're sure to find music to your ears.

Founded in 1977, he is the oldest theatre troupe in the country to showcase gay and lesbian authors'pieces, addressing the problems of the LGBT community. This is how the— was the first American theatre to talk about the AIDS epidemic in the early 1980 s.

Brava for Women in the Arts: This is the full title of this arts centre that promotes the art of lesbian and colour women. In theatre, authors'pieces are staged and played by a troupe of women, whether homosexual or not.

This listed theater opened in 1926 and is part of the family of theaters designed by architect B. Marcus Priteca for the owner Alexander Pantages. The interior features a vaulted ceiling, while the façade is in the Spanish late Gothic style. It originally hosted vaudevilles. Then a $20 million renovation was completed in 1998 to allow it to host Broadway musicals in the best conditions. 2,197 spectators can be seated there.

Theatre known for its experimental parts and theatrical performances. Located in the Fort Mason Center, you will enjoy breathtaking views of the Bay, Alcatraz and the Golden Gate Bridge. Two Pulitzer prizes have crowned the Magic coins.

Founded in 1981, the Lorraine Hansberry Theatre company stages plays by African-American authors. The theater's programming includes shows that introduce African-American and African literature, as well as the great icons of black music. It has survived many crises, starting with the decline of the African-American community, which now represents only 6% of the population of San Francisco.

The Art Centre, which includes a gallery, a literary lounge and a jazz room, Intersection for the Arts is also a theatre. The resident troupe Campo Santo plays pieces that try to illustrate and respond to the problems of the local community, often Hispanic.

The Golden Gate Theatre is an entertainment venue located at 1 Taylor Street at the corner of Golden Gate Avenue. It opened in 1922 as a vaudeville house and later as a large movie theater. In the 1960s it had a Cinerama screen, but by the early 1970s it had declined and was only showing blaxploitation films. It was restored and reopened as a theater in 1979. Today, this charmingly old-fashioned building hosts spectacular musicals from Broadway.

Opened in 1922, the Curran Theatre is one of San Francisco's largest theaters, having been able to accommodate 1,600 patrons since renovations in 2017. It plays the best Broadway shows, and you have to book months in advance if you want to secure a seat. Right now, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is playing and it's a great show! Before each performance, you can also participate in the ticket lottery for US$ 29 - a certain quota is set aside for the lucky ones!