5 Questions with Carol T. Christ and Jeff MacKie-Mason, Co-Chairs of Cal Performances’ Board of Trustees

Internationally celebrated leaders Christ and MacKie-Mason share their personal memories and lifelong passion for the performing arts.

For the period of July 1, 2025–June 30, 2027, Cal Performances is honored to have Carol T. Christ join Jeff MacKie-Mason as Co-Chair of the Board of Trustees. Having served most recently as Chancellor and University Librarian on the UC Berkeley campus, respectively, their impact extends far beyond the City of Berkeley, or even the realm of academia. Regarded internationally for their leadership in higher education, information and technology, and cultural philanthropy, Christ and MacKie-Mason have also proven themselves unwavering advocates for the performing arts, having both been personally shaped throughout their lives by the power of live performance.

MacKie-Mason has been a member of the Cal Performances Board of Trustees since 2016, and has served as Co-Chair since 2021, helping the organization to navigate changes in leadership, shuttered venues and a return to live performances, and, most recently, the redefinition of Cal Performances’ mission, vision, values, and strategic initiatives. Christ joined the board in 2024 following her retirement from UC Berkeley, though she has attended Cal Performances events since the 1970s and was a critical support to the organization during her time as Chancellor, in which capacity she also approved the organization’s new strategic plan.

Cal Performances is thrilled to have these two celebrated leaders—each with such a rich personal history with Cal Performances and with the arts—in a position to guide the organization over the next two years. Though these two certainly need no introduction, we hope this Q&A will provide a more personal look into their relationship with live performance, as well as their vision for Cal Performances’ exciting next chapter.

What role have the performing arts played in your life (as observer or performer)?

Carol Christ (CC): I’ve played the piano since I was a child, and learned the viola as an adult. I also sang in vocal groups for many years. I’ve been attending performances of arts events of all kinds since college. And Cal Performances has had a profound impact on my family. My stepson Adam Sklute became entranced by the ballet by attending a performance of Swan Lake at Cal Performances when he was five years old. He subsequently had a career as a ballet dancer and is now the artistic director of Ballet West.

Jeff MacKie-Mason (JMM): Music has been vital for me since I was in about first grade. My mom was a good pianist, and inspired me from the start—and got me an excellent piano teacher. In high school, I played third chair cello sitting behind Carter Brey (longtime principal cellist in the NY Phil) and played a lot of 60s and 70s folk tunes on guitar. I drifted for a while, but came back to classical piano with a passion 25 years ago, and have taken lessons and practice daily since. Now that I’m retired, music has become my full-time occupation, including not just many hours at the piano, but classes at UC Berkeley to fill in gaps in my musical education.

Jeff MacKie-Mason by UC Berkeley Libraries

How long have you been attending Cal Performances, and what made you want to serve as co-chair?

CC: I’ve been attending Cal Performances since I arrived in Berkeley in the 1970s. Serving as Co-Chair is a small way of saying thank you for the extraordinary performances I’ve attended over the decades.

JMM: I started attending Cal Performances as soon as we arrived to Berkeley in 2015, and joined the Board in 2016. When Jeremy Geffen [Executive and Artistic Director] asked me to become Co-Chair, I gratefully accepted the honor so that I could provide greater service to this magnificent organization—and also so I could work more closely with Jeremy, who is an incredible leader.

What is one (or a few, if you must!) of the most memorable performances you have seen in our halls, and what made it so special?

CC: There have been so many; I remember hearing Luciano Pavarotti sing at the Greek Theatre; I remember the Juilliard Quartet performing the whole cycle of Beethoven’s string quartets. But perhaps my most outstanding memory was a remarkable recital by a young, relatively unknown soprano, Jessye Norman. There were so few people in attendance that the recital was moved from Zellerbach Hall to Hertz Hall, where we heard one of the great voices of the century.

JMM: I was deeply moved by Víkingur Ólafsson’s performance of Bach’s Goldberg Variations. That’s one of my absolute favorite pieces in the literature, so I’ve listened to a lot of live and recorded performances (and it’s on my bucket list to learn). Víkingur brought a clarity and emotional intelligence that I’d never heard before: it has inspired me anew when I play Bach. Though recorded, I was also transported by Mitsuko Ucihda’s Schubert Impromptus, and by Jeremy Denk’s playing Bach’s The Well-Tempered Clavier during our online COVID season. And too many others for a short answer!

Carol Christ

Having served in a key leadership role on the UC Berkeley campus, what do you feel is the importance and opportunity of Cal Performances being part of the university?

CC: Art provides a kind of insight into human experience unlike any other; it is perhaps the most moving and profound form of human knowledge and achievement. And art builds community. I learned to love the performing arts in college; we are giving students that opportunity.

JMM: UC Berkeley is one of the very best liberal arts, comprehensive, research universities in the world. We graduate about 15,000 students a year, who go on to make a meaningful difference throughout the world. Crucial to our educational prowess is precisely that we are a comprehensive, liberal arts institution: our students are exposed to great thinkers, creators, and performers across the whole range of sciences, humanities, and arts. Cal Performances plays a critical role for them during these formative years. Berkeley just wouldn’t be the same without it!

What are you most excited about for Cal Performances’ future?

CC: Under Jeremy Geffen’s leadership, the quality of the seasons has been extraordinary. I look forward to even more great performances.

JMM: Over the past two years, we have developed and launched a strong and very concrete strategic plan. With it, we’ve charted a course forward that will result in Cal Performances not only surviving these difficult times for the performing arts, but becoming stronger. We’ll see innovative programming, increased engagement with campus and K–12 students, support for emerging artists… I’m very excited to be part of this ambitious, and—forgive the over-used word, but—truly transformative forward-looking project.

Carol T. Christ served as UC Berkeley’s 11th chancellor from 2017 through 2024. A celebrated scholar of Victorian literature, she is also known as an advocate for high-caliber, accessible public higher education, and a champion of women’s issues and diversity on college campuses. As chancellor, she worked to foster community, improve the campus climate for people of all backgrounds, celebrate the institution’s long-standing commitment to free speech, strengthen UC Berkeley’s financial position, address a housing shortage, and develop a ten-year strategic plan for the campus. Prior to serving as Chancellor of UC Berkeley, Christ was the 10th President of Smith College from 2002 until 2017. In 1970, Christ joined the English faculty at UC Berkeley. As Chair of the department from 1985 to 1988, she built and maintained one of the top-ranked English departments in the country. Christ entered UC Berkeley’s administration in 1988, serving first as dean of the Division of Humanities and later as provost and dean of the College of Letters and Science. In 1994, she was appointed vice chancellor and provost and later became executive vice chancellor. During her six years as Berkeley’s top academic officer, she was credited with sharpening the institution’s intellectual focus and building top-rated departments in the humanities and sciences.

Christ also chairs the boards of the Central European University and the Simons Laufer Mathematical Sciences Institute (SLMath) and serves on the boards of the Marlboro Music School and Festival, the Left Coast Chamber Ensemble, and Rutgers University.

Jeffrey MacKie-Mason is UC Berkeley’s University Librarian Emeritus, and Professor Emeritus of Information and Economics. In June 2024, Jeff MacKie-Mason retired from his positions as University Librarian and Chief Digital Scholarship Officer, Professor in the School of Information, and Professor of Economics at UC Berkeley and received the Chancellor’s Distinguished Service Award. MacKie-Mason came to Berkeley after 29 years on the faculty of the University of Michigan, where he served as Dean of the School of Information 2010–2015. He received the Distinguished Faculty Achievement Award from Michigan in 2010. During his time at the helm at the Berkeley Library, he was a leader in the UC drive to flip the scholarly publishing industry to open access, co-chairing the systemwide publisher negotiation team 2018–2024. He also led the successful $150 million fundraising campaign for the Library. MacKie-Mason earned his PhD in economics from MIT. He has been a pioneering scholar in the economics of the Internet, online behavior, and digital information creation and distribution. His more than 85 scientific publications appear in scholarly journals in the areas of economics, computer science, law, public policy, and information and library science.
MacKie-Mason is a concert pianist with a life-long love of the arts, and has served on the boards of the University Musical Society at the University of Michigan and the Kerrytown Concert House. In addition to his leadership of Cal Performances’ Board of Trustees he also currently serves on the board of Authors Alliance, which advances the interests of authors choosing to share their creations broadly in order to serve the public good.