CLASSICAL AT THE FREIGHT brings the Bay Area's best classical musicians to our stage for an hour of top-flight chamber music in an informal, friendly atmosphere. San Francisco Chamber Orchestra music director Benjamin Simon is your host; his goal is to un-stuffify and de-mystify classical music for the general music lover, sharing the joys and rewards of this timeless art with new audiences.

Principal bassist of the San Francisco Chamber Orchestra, as well as other prominent ensembles, Michel Taddei is one of the Bay Area's most popular classical musicians. He has toured with Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble and was solo bassist for the Orchestre de l'Opéra National de Lyon for seven seasons. By day, he is Administrative Director of Music at the Crowden School in Berkeley, where he teaches double bass, French, and chamber music, and conducts the school's orchestras.