Sarabande Africaine
Angélique Kidjo & Yo-Yo Ma
with Thierry Vaton and David Donatien
and special guest Sinkane
Saturday, August 30, 2025, 8pm
William Randolph Hearst Greek Theatre, UC Berkeley
This evening’s program will be announced from the stage and performed without intermission.
Leadership support for this performance is provided by Nadine Tang.
Cal Performances is committed to fostering a welcoming, inclusive, and safe environment for all one that honors our venues as places of respite, openness, and respect. Please see the Community Agreements section on our Policies page for more information.
About the Performance
Angélique Kidjo and Yo-Yo Ma first met under the Arc de Triomphe, gathered with dozens of world leaders to mark the centenary of the end of the first world war. Yo-Yo played a Bach sarabande; Angélique sang “Blewu,” an Ewe dirge, in memory of the many and often-forgotten African soldiers killed in the war. It was a fitting beginning to a conversation between Angélique and Yo-Yo about the ways in which African culture is so
In the years since, Angélique and Yo-Yo have explored the intersections of their voices, their stories, and their musical sensibilities, developing new, collaborative arrangements of iconic music from each of their traditions, music that surfaces the many centuries of interaction between African musical idioms and what has come to be defined as western classical music.
For example, the sarabande—the dance at the heart of J.S. Bach’s suites for solo cello—traveled from Africa to the Americas, then back to Spain, where it made its way into European courts. Dvořák’s New World symphony was inspired in part by Black American spirituals; Gershwin re-imagined Gullah Geechee songs. Meanwhile, Miriam Makeba grew up listening to western classical music; Angélique’s “Aisha” re-interprets Bach’s Keyboard Concerto No. 5, with lyrics in the Yoruba language.
Two endlessly curious musicians come together to search beyond the edges of their musical backgrounds, exposing the ways we have all been connected for a very long time; it’s a collaboration that asks us to joyfully question the tenets of genre and tradition that underpin our cultural thinking.
When the 1723–1724 season opened, Handel had two rival composers, Giovanni Bononcini and Attilio Ariosti, serving along with him at the King’s Theatre. By the end of the season, they had both left. It was impossible to compete with Handel’s musical and theatrical genius or his burgeoning popularity with the London public.
—Janet E. Bedell © 2025
Janet E. Bedell is a program annotator and feature writer who writes for Carnegie Hall, the Metropolitan Opera, Los Angeles Opera, Caramoor Festival of the Arts, and other musical organizations.
About the Artists
Wecome to this special summer concert under the stars with the legendary Angélique Kidjo and Yo-Yo Ma, performing their brilliant Sarabande Africaine program. Tonight, we’ll witness the artistry of two ever-inquisitive musicians—and longtime friends of Cal Performances—as they venture beyond their traditional musical backgrounds to uncover the timeless connections that unite us all; it’s a collaboration that encourages us to joyfully break free from the traditional constraints of genre and culture. Thank you so much taking part in this remarkable
evening at UC Berkeley’s glorious Greek Theatre.
In just a few weeks, we’ll return indoors to continue Cal Performances’ ambitious and exciting 2025–26 season, a jam-packed schedule that promises to spotlight fresh viewpoints, captivating stories, and breathtaking talent in presentations that expand the boundaries of the performing arts and inspire one and all to engage more deeply with the world around us. From September to May, you’ll find a dazzling array of artists representing the very best in the worlds of music, dance, and theater.
We’ll welcome the return of Víkingur Ólafsson as our 2025–26 Artist in Residence. The revered Icelandic pianist appears this fall as soloist in two concerts with London’s extraordinary Philharmonia Orchestra under the baton of principal conductor Santtu-Matias Rouvali, and returns to our stage for a solo recital in the spring. (For more on Ólafsson and his UC Berkeley residency this season, please see Thomas May’s feature article, beginning on the next page.)
The full season lineup features an astonishing range of talent including—to name only a few!—conductor Riccardo Muti and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra; pianists Daniil Trifonov and Jeremy Denk; vocalists Joyce DiDonato and Renée Fleming; the Kronos and Takács string quartets; early-music superstars The English Concert, Jordi Savall, and The Tallis Scholars; jazz greats Cécile McLorin Salvant and Somi; family events like Disney’s MOANA Live-To-Film Concert and special Thanksgiving weekend dates with MOMIX; and appearances by Silkroad Ensemble with Rhiannon Giddens, the Vienna Boys Choir, Broadway diva Kelli O’Hara.
Our acclaimed dance series is distinguished by genre-defining artists and major new productions, including the Paris Opera Ballet in the North American premiere of Red Carpet, a new work by trailblazing choreographer Hofesh Shechter; the Martha Graham Dance Company celebrating its centennial; The Joffrey Ballet in an otherworldly celebration of the traditional Scandinavian solstice festival; the long-awaited Cal Performances debut of A.I.M by Kyle Abraham; and, of course, return engagements with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and the Mark Morris Dance Group.
And there’s so much more! I encourage you to visit our website and check out the interactive season brochure that has been designed to provide the best possible online reading experience; this dynamic tool has also been configured to map perfectly to your device, whether it’s a desktop, laptop, or mobile. Please take a look today!
As you explore the calendar, I recommend you pay particular attention to our 2025–26 Illuminations theme of “Exile & Sanctuary,” a series of offerings focusing on how issues of displacement can inform bold new explorations of identity and community; and how artistic expression can offer safe harbor during times of unrest or upheaval—an idea I hope will ring true for each performance you experience this season.
The opportunity to engage with diverse artistic perspectives and share the transformative power of the live performing arts is one of life’s greatest pleasures, and I look forward to encountering these profound and entertaining experiences with you in the months ahead.
Thank you for joining us this season. I look forward to seeing you again in the fall.
Jeremy Geffen
Executive and Artistic Director, Cal Performances