San Francisco and the Bay Area are getting ready to throw a big (albeit somewhat belated) celebration for Philip Glass’ 70th birthday with concerts all over the place and, of course, the premier of Glass’ new opera Appomattox. And the kick-off is this Friday night with a very special and rare intimate recital courtesy of San Francisco Performances. Mr. Glass will be playing several of his pieces with cellist Wendy Sutter and percussionist Mick Rossi at Herbst Theater....

The language of Wednesdays is universal. Tonight: Blame it on the bossanova -- Brazilian singer Luciana Souza kicks off her yearlong residency as San Francisco Performances' jazz artist in residence with a performance at the Hotel Rex salon. If you miss her at the Rex tonight, she's performing in a variety of other (free) venues throughout this week. 6:30 p.m. at 562 Sutter (between Powell and Mason). We'd give you pricing info but we can't......