Ojai at Berkeley 2018
Patricia Kopatchinskaja,
music director
2018 Grammy Award Winner Patricia Kopatchinskaja
Cal Performances celebrates its partnership with Southern California's storied Ojai Music Festival with this eighth installment of Ojai at Berkeley, June 14–16, 2018. Each year, an appointed music director re-imagines the festival anew, connecting Ojai's formidable history with their own musical community and unique artistic vision. Ojai at Berkeley 2018 features four concerts curated by and featuring this year's festival music director, the dynamic and versatile violinist Patricia Kopatchinskaja. Praised for her "savage energy" (The Washington Post) and "mesmerizing artistry" (The Strad), the Moldovan-Austrian violinist is known for imaginative, surprising programs that connect early music and contemporary works in performances by the world's most engaging musicians. Kopatchinskaja's Ojai at Berkeley series showcases her exceptional abilities as a thrilling soloist, energetic collaborator, and tireless new-music advocate.
"...she plays with an astonishing, folk-like passion...When she leads an orchestra or group—which happens often, all around the world—the other players take on that same impetuous, fiery quality, like iron filings lining up along a magnetic field" (The Telegraph, London).
Schedule
Thu, June 14, 8pm, Zellerbach Hall
Bye Bye Beethoven
(Bay Area Premiere)
Semi-staged concert conceptualized by Patricia Kopatchinskaja
Patricia Kopatchinskaja, violin and director
Mahler Chamber Orchestra
Maria Ursprung, stage director
Kopatchinskaja's first staged concert, already a hit in Europe, weaves together works by Bach, Haydn, Beethoven, Ives, Cage, and Kurtág—as well as a surprise or two! Kopatchinskaja describes the concert as a commentary on "the irrelevance of the classic concert routine for our present life," involving musicians in both conventional and unconventional roles, and placing familiar repertoire in conversation with new sounds and imagery. She is joined by the brilliant Mahler Chamber Orchestra, an international collective of musicians with a flexible instrumentation that is making its Bay Area debut.
Approximate run time: 75 minutes without intermission
Friday, June 15, 8pm, Zellerbach Hall
The Music of Michael Hersch
Ah Young Hong and Kiera Duffy, soprano
Michael Hersch and Amy Yang, piano
Gary Louie, alto saxophone
Members of the Mahler Chamber Orchestra
Tito Muñoz, conductor
The remarkable American composer Michael Hersch—"a natural musical genius who continues to surpass himself" (The Washington Post)—presents his latest creation, I hope we get a chance to visit soon, a "dramatic narrative" for two sopranos and ensemble (co-commissioned by Cal Performances). The sopranos here are no strangers to bold contemporary music—Kiera Duffy is a 2016 recipient of the Lincoln Center Emerging Artist Award, and Ah Young Hong has earned rave reviews in her previous performances of Hersch's work. The program includes additional music for solo saxophone and solo piano by the composer, with Hersch himself at the keyboard.
Approximate run time: 1 hour and 40 minutes with intermission
Saturday, June 16, 2pm, Zellerbach Hall
Romanian and Moldovan Folk Music
Patricia Kopatchinskaja, violin
Viktor Kopatchinsky, cimbalom
Emilia Kopatchinsky, violin
Maria Krykov, double bass
Amy Yang, piano
Approximate run time: 1 hour
Saturday, June 16, 8pm, Zellerbach Hall
Bartók, Stravinsky, and Ligeti
Patricia Kopatchinskaja, violin
Mahler Chamber Orchestra
Philipp von Steinaecker, conductor
Approximate run time: 1 hour and 45 minutes with intermission
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