Cal Performances 2013 - 14 Season Announcement

Tuesday morning, Director Matías Tarnopolsky announced the Cal Performances 2013- 2014 season at a press conference on the UC Berkeley campus. The Vienna Philharmonic had such a wonderful time during their visit 2 years ago that they asked to come back. They return next year for 3 concerts, each led by a different conductor. The Kronos Quartet celebrates its 40th birthday with a concert including guest artists & a performance of Crumb's Black Angels. Pianist Emanuel Ax appears with mezzo Anne Sofie von Otter & cellist Yo-Yo Ma in 2 programs featuring music of Brahms paired with new commissions. Other pianists in the season include Shai Wosner, Richard Goode, Yefim Bronfman, Jonathan Biss, Paul Lewis, & Mitsuko Uchida, whom Mr. Tarnopolsky called one of his musical heroes. The Takács Quartet presents a complete Bartók cycle.

The theatrical presentation The Intergalactic Nemesis was described as a live graphic novel done as a radio play & as "Prairie Home Companion meets Star Wars." Mark Morris premieres his version of Handel's Acis and Galatea, using Mozart's arrangement, which Mr. Morris describes as "kind of jazzy."  Mr. Tarnopolsky averred that "one countertenor is never enough," so early music concerts include recitals by Philippe Jaroussky & Iestyn Davies.

The press conference was held in Alumni House instead of on the Zellerbach stage, due to the arrival of the Alvin Ailey company. Mr. Tarnopolsky highlighted the participation of UC students in last year's Wozzeck & showed videos of visiting artists coaching UC music students. We also saw video of Shai Wosner engagingly discussing how Schubert's silences are never funny.

Pipa player Wu Man, who will perform with the Kronos Quartet & in a solo recital, played a traditional Chinese piece at the press conference & hushed the attendees with the surprising range of sounds she produced. I nearly foiled the recording of her performance by sitting where the videographer needed to place his camera, even though he had tried to save the seat by putting a plate of food in front of it.


§ Cal Performances 2013/14 Calendar at a Glance

September 29, Fall Free for All: Open House at Cal Performances

October  4, Keith Jarrett, Gary Peacock, Jack DeJohnette
October 13, Kelley O’Connor, mezzo-sopranol; Jessica Rivera, soprano; Robert Spano, piano
October 20, Les Violons du Roy with Stephanie Blythe, mezzo-soprano
October 23 & 24, Nederlands Dans Theater
October 26, Musicians from Marlboro
October 27, The Silk Road Ensemble
October 30, Mariza

November  1 & 2, Shanghai Ballet, The Butterfly Lovers
November  3, Paul Lewis, piano
November  3, Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitlán
November  9, Apollo’s Fire; Jeannette Sorrell, music director
November 14, The Intergalactic Nemesis: Book One: Target Earth
November 16, Joshua Redman Quartet
November 17, Danish String Quartet
November 17, Unión Tanguera, Nuit Blanche
November 23 & 24, Imago Theatre, Frogz!
November 24, Shai Wosner, piano

December  1, Davitt Moroney, harpsichord
December  7, Kronos Quartet 40th Anniversary; Wu Man, pipa; Others Musicians TBA
December 14, Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, Messiah

January 18, Chick Corea & Béla Fleck
January 19, Richard Goode, piano
January 23, Anne Sofie von Otter, mezzo-soprano; Emanuel Ax, piano
January 25 & 26, Peking Acrobats
January 26, Wu Man, pipa
January 31 & February 1, Martha Graham Dance Company

February  2, Gerald Finley, baritone; Julius Drake, piano
February  2, Barefoot Divas, Walk a Mile in My Shoes
February  7, Venice Baroque Orchestra with Philippe Jaroussky, countertenor
February  9, Michael Cooper, Masked Marvels & Wondertales
February 12, Sweet Honey In The Rock, 40th Anniversary: Forty and Fierce
February 16, Jonathan Biss, piano
February 22 & 23, Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet
February 22, Eco Ensemble
February 23, Calder Quartet
February 26, Yo-Yo Ma, cello; Emanuel Ax, piano

March  1, Jordi Savall, viola da gamba, with Hespèrion XXI & Tembembe Ensamble Continuo
March  2, Ladysmith Black Mambazo
March  7, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra; Daniele Gatti, conductor; Juliane Banse, soprano
March  8, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra; Andris Nelsons, conductor
March  9, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra; Franz Welser-Möst, conductor
March 12, Ballet Flamenco Eva Yerbabuena
March 14, Estrella Morente
March 16, Jerusalem Quartet
March 21 & 22, Trey McIntyre Project
March 22 & 23, Takács Quartet
March 23, Zakir Hussain & the Masters of Percussion
March 25, Mitsuko Uchida, piano
March 25, Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo
March 28, Iestyn Davies, countertenor; Thomas Dunford, lute
March 29, Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin

April  1–4, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater
April  6, David Gonzalez and the Yak Yak Band
April  6, Kronos Quartet with Combat Paper Project
April  8, Yefim Bronfman, piano; Pinchas Zukerman, violin & viola
April 12, Eco Ensemble
April 13, Christianne Stotijn, mezzo-soprano; Rick Stotijn, double bass; Joseph Breinl, piano
April 25 & 26, Mark Morris Dance Group, Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, Acis and Galatea

May 2, Marcus Shelby Orchestra, The Legacy of Duke Ellington: 50 Years of Swing!
May 3, David Finckel, cello; Wu Han, piano
May 9 & 10, John Malkovich & Orchestra Wiener Akademie, The Giacomo Variations

June TBA, Ojai North, Jeremy Denk, music director