Freebie of the week: Oakland Museum of California’s free Friday night shows – sensibly titled Friday Nights at OMCA – are back for the 2026 season, and this week’s event should get you busting a move in no time. The headliner is Non Stop Bhangra, a Bay Area-based music collective and cultural institution. The group, founded in 2004, delivers a mix of drumming/percussion, music and dancing that presents a contemporary take on the traditional music and dance of the Punjab region of India. To say NSB is ingrained in the Bay Area culture/entertainment scene would be putting it mildly. The band has performed at Yerba Buena Gardens Festival, the Stern Grove Festival, the de Young Museum, Davies Symphony Hall, War Memorial Opera House and at previous editions of Friday Nights at OMCA. It’s also known for hosting and headlining the Bhangra & Beats Night Market, a music, shopping and culinary event that routinely draws more than 10,000 participants and returns this year on July 24 and Nov. 13. This Friday’s OMCA event also features a set from the formidable DJ duo known as Lychy Jelly, and there will be several food and beverage trucks on hand. Those with a museum ticket can access OMCA after hours and receive a special tour of the exhibits. The event runs 5 to 9 p.m. Upcoming performers at Friday Nights at OMCA include Oakland Rising (June 5), singer Kim Nalley (June 12), and The Seshen (June 26). The museum is located at Oak and 10th streets; more information is at museumca.org.
Reveling in Redwood City: Redwood City’s jam-packed summer event series boasting free music, movies and more is celebrating 20 years. It kicks off this weekend with Music on the Square on Friday, featuring the Santana tribute group, Carnaval. The concert runs from 6 to 8 p.m. in Courthouse Square. The appealing series continues most Friday evenings through Sept. 4; a multitude of musical styles are represented, as well as Eagles, Lynyrd Skynyrd, David Bowie, Steely Dan and Michael Jackson tributes groups; how fun! This weekend also features the return of Redwood City’s newest party, Pub in the Park. The 9-year-old event on four Saturdays in Red Morton Park offers cold local brews, free live bluegrass music and corn-hole. Guests are encouraged to bring their own blankets and lawn chairs to enjoy a sunny afternoon in a welcoming atmosphere. The fun runs from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, July 11, Aug 1, and Aug 29. This weekend’s events are just a few of numerous happenings in Redwood City in the next few months. For the complete lineup, which includes kids’ shows, outdoor films, classical music and more, visit redwoodcity.org.
Tale of 2 legends: The fact that the centennials of jazz legends Miles Davis and John Coltrane fall on the same year creates both a blessing and a headache for jazz programmers planning tributes to the American icons. One the plus side: What a wealth of classic songs to choose from!! On the downside: What a flood of classic songs to drown in!! How do you choose? However, that might not deter the renowned musicians performing this weekend at SF Jazz Center; they’re intimately acquainted with the icons and their music. Trumpeter Terence Blanchard, executive artistic director of SF Jazz, got to know Davis when both were part of Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers. And the other headliner, saxophonist Ravi Coltrane, is John’s son. Although Terence and Ravi don’t have a storied partnership like that of their predecessors, their performances on Thursday through Sunday in San Francisco ought to be fantastic. Shows are at 7:30 p.m. Thursday through Saturday and 7 p.m. Sunday in SF Jazz’s Miner Auditorium. Tickets are $44-$124.50 and going fast. SF Jazz members can also live-stream Friday’s concert. More information is at www.sfjazz.org.
Faith fractured: “Doubt.” Is the charismatic priest guilty of abusing a young charge, or is the overtly antagonistic nun so sure of her convictions just flat-out wrong? First it was a riveting Broadway production that captured the 2005 Pulitzer Prize for drama; then it was the 2008 film starring Meryl Streep and Philip Seymour Hoffman, who got Oscar nominations for their roles, as did supporting actors Amy Adams and Viola Davis, and director John Patrick Shanley, who adapted the screenplay from his own work. Now, courtesy of the adventurous San Francisco company Opera Parallèle, it is a new chamber opera version receiving its world premiere in three productions this weekend at the Presidio Theatre in San Francisco. By creating a set that looks like a church interior and placing the orchestra onstage with the singers, the production effectively makes the audience the “congregation,” markedly intensifying their involvement with what unfolds over the next 100 intermission-less minutes. Douglas Cuomo’s reorchestrated score from a 2013 adaptation in Minnesota will be conducted by Nicole Paiement, with Brian Staufenbiel directing. Baritone Matthew Worth sings the role of Father Flynn, with soprano Rhoslyn Jones starring as the suspicious Sister Aloysius. Performance times are 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday at 99 Moraga Ave. Find tickets, $66-$115.50, at www.operaparallele.org/doubt.
Vocal champions: It’s reasonable to posit that the San Francisco Symphony Chorus is the best darn large singing group in the Bay Area, given that of the eight Grammy-winning recordings that have featured the vocalists, three are for Best Choral Performance. But occasions to hear them perform center stage are not frequent, making their upcoming appearance in Davies Hall Sunday afternoon a rare opportunity. Chorus director Jenny Wong leads the chorus, with pianist John Wilson’s and organist Jonathan Dimmock’s support, through works by Brahms, Fauré, MacMillan, Boulanger and Norwegian composer Ola Gjeilo plus some traditional American songs, winding up with Morton Lauridsen’s ethereal requiem, “Lux aeterna.” Concert time is 2 p.m. Tickets, $39-$89, are available at sfsymphony.org.