November finds the days getting ever shorter and the streaming calendars growing ever tighter as more and more musicians and organizations compete for the clicks and screen time of quarantined listeners.
Here's a selection of streams, series and on-demand concerts arriving online through November. Among them, a rising star starts her digital residency at the Library of Congress, two bel canto superstars sing from Switzerland, and a whole bunch of feathered hats and poofy pants need new homes.
Jennifer Koh
If you haven't already scrolled into installments of her "Alone Together" series of commissions posted through the pandemic, now is a perfect time to point an ear and your browser to violinist Jennifer Koh, who kicks off her digital residency at the Library of Congress on Nov. 19 along with pianist Thomas Sauer, performing a pair of new commissions from the Library's McKim Fund — Julia Wolfe's "Mink Stole" and George Lewis' "The Mangle of Practice" — as well as selections from "Alone Together."
92nd St. Y
Keep an eye on New York's 92nd St. Y, which in lieu of live gatherings is presenting a packed calendar of online artist workshops, classes, readings and performances. Among November's classical offerings are performances from the Emerson String Quartet covering Beethoven with pianist Yefim Bronfman, Schumann and Brahms (Nov. 19); and a recital pairing New York Philharmonic principal clarinet Anthony McGill with the NYPhil String Quartet for a pair of clarinet quintets — the fall colors of Brahms's Op. 115 in B minor and Samuel Coleridge-Taylor's enthralling Op. 10 in F-sharp Minor on Saturday. (And for you multitaskers, there's even a class on reading music on Nov. 18.) Tickets required. Visit 92y.org/events for a full calendar, tickets (prices vary) and streams.
Beethoven the Contemporary
Speaking of Beethoven, as we edge up on the composer's proper 250th, bookmark "Beethoven the Contemporary," an online festival hosted by NYU's Steinhardt School, co-curated by pianist/professors Eteri Z. Andjaparidze and Marilyn Nonken, and designed to celebrate the music of Ludwig van Beethoven in a fresh, contemporary light. The free, month-long series of master classes, discussions and performances will run online from Wednesday through Dec. 18 and include a talk with Peter Takács about his recording of the complete cycle of piano sonatas (Friday), four in-depth sessions with Beethoven scholar John Wilson live from Vienna, and Nonken and Jeffrey Swann performing the "Concord" and "Hammerklavier" sonatas (Dec. 8). Visit steinhardt.nyu.edu for a full calendar and streams.
A Far Cry
The intrepid, devoutly democratic Boston-based conductorless orchestra A Far Cry is one performance into its 14th (and first entirely virtual) season, and the launch of its Frequent Crier Program for online regulars suggest they're meeting the trials of the moment with characteristically high spirits. This goes double for the ensemble's Nov. 21 offering, "The Shape of Joy," which pairs two affirming duos by Akshaya Avril Tucker ("Breathing Sunlight") and Caroline Shaw ("Limestone & Felt") with Mozart's buoyant early String Quintet No. 1 in B-flat major (K. 174). Visit afarcry.org for more information.
San Francisco Opera
And last, it's never too early to start thinking about next year's Halloween costume — especially when San Francisco Opera is about to throw another one of its famous costume shop sales. With just a click you can own one (or a dozen) of more than 500 handmade adult costumes (and 40 for children) from past productions of shows including "The Merry Widow" and "Tannhäuser," as well as select items from "Dolores Claiborne" and "Don Giovanni."