Canto Ostinato
An AMOC* & Sandbox Percussion Co-Production
Sunday, February 22, 2026, 3pm
Zellerbach Playhouse
A work by Simeon ten Holt
Matthew Aucoin, piano
Conor Hanick, piano
Sandbox Percussion
Jonny Allen,
Victor Caccese,
Ian Rosenbaum,
Terry Sweeney
This evening’s performance will last approximately 75 minutes and be performed without intermission.
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Simeon ten Holt’s Canto Ostinato feels like a long-lost cousin to some of the most beloved of American Minimalist compositions, pieces like Steve Reich’s Music for 18 Musicians and Terry Riley’s In C. When you meet a previously unknown relative for the first time, you might be startled to discover mysterious family resemblances: physical and temperamental similarities like the shape of a nose, the sound of a laugh have a funny way of stretching across borders, across generations.
That’s how listeners might feel when they encounter Canto Ostinato. This piece has the warmth, luminousness, and spaciousness of the best Minimalist compositions. It affords generous freedoms to the performers while also outlining an instantly recognizable musical world, a world of gently chiming pulses and profoundly satisfying shifts in harmony. The patiently changing light of this piece might evoke sacred music for some listeners; for others, it might seem to be inviting the listener into collective meditation. Canto Ostinato, so beloved in the country where it was written and first performed, deserves to become equally beloved around the world.
—Matthew Aucoin
On the AMOC* Sandbox Collaboration
It seems appropriate that the centripetal pull of Canto Ostinato, drawing in performers and listeners alike, has also pulled together the American Modern Opera Company (AMOC*) and Sandbox Percussion. In much the same way as Canto Ostinato shares a kindred likeness with American Minimalist classics, these two organizations performing this work have their own mutual affinity. They also have their own distinct strengths. For Sandbox, that would be its fluency with Minimalism, the genre that most thoroughly brought percussion forward from the back of the orchestra. This is the repertoire that Sandbox cut its teeth on—a first language of sorts. To complement that, AMOC* brings a fluency with long-form artistic storytelling. Canto Ostinato may not be an opera in the conventional sense, but it is an evening-length journey with an epic’s potential for arc and emotion.
What bonds these two organizations is a common bedrock of founding principles: both AMOC* and Sandbox are expressions of the people and relationships they comprise. This prioritization of people allowed the development process to feel less like rehearsal and more like a celebration—and Canto Ostinato was the perfect soundtrack for this celebration. More than anything, this is what is being shared in the AMOC* Sandbox collaboration on Canto Ostinato: the ecstatic feeling of gratitude to be making music together.
—Jonny Allen
Each year in February, as we move into our busiest time of the year, Cal Performances’ calendar becomes especially packed with a wide range of carefully curated events designed to appeal to the adventurous sensibilities and eclectic interests of Bay Area audiences. Over the coming months, we’ll see visits by an array of companies, ensembles, and soloists offering a remarkable set of opportunities to revisit old friends as well as discover marvelous and unfamiliar performers and artworks.
Our February programming alone features nearly two dozen presentations in our halls. You’ll find musical programs performed by world-class artists like baritone saxophonist Steven Banks and pianist Xak Bjerken (Feb 1, Hertz Hall [HH]), pianist Bruce Liu (Feb 10, Zellerbach Hall [ZH]), the beloved Takács Quartet (Feb 22, HH), and gifted jazz artists Cécile McLorin Salvant (Feb 5, ZH) and Somi (Feb 21, Zellerbach Playhouse [ZP]); enthralling contemporary dance programs with the great Martha Graham Dance Company, celebrating its 100th anniversary (Feb 14–15, ZH), and—in its highly anticipated Cal Performances debut—A.I.M by Kyle Abraham (Feb 21–22, ZH); cutting-edge new music from UC Berkeley’s own Eco Ensemble (Feb 7, HH), mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato with string trio Time for Three (Feb 7, ZH), and AMOC* and Sandbox Percussion in their mesmerizing co-production of Canto Ostinato, a hypnotic late-1970s minimalist work by Dutch composer Simeon ten Holt (Feb 22, ZP); and thrilling theater from Yaa Samar! Dance Theatre in the West Coast premiere of the company’s brilliant Gathering (Feb 27–Mar 1, ZP).
In the coming months, we’ll welcome a full spectrum of talent including Cal Performances’ 2025–26 Artist in Residence Víkingur Ólafsson; legendary soprano Renée Fleming; the virtuoso JACK Quartet; early-music superstars The English Concert, Jordi Savall, and The Tallis Scholars; and the phenomenally popular Silkroad Ensemble with Rhiannon Giddens.
And in April, our acclaimed dance series continues, distinguished by genre-defining artists and major new productions including The Joffrey Ballet in a bold new work set during Midsommar, the traditional Scandinavian summer solstice festival; and, of course, a return April engagement with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater.
As you explore the calendar, I recommend you pay particular attention to our Illuminations theme of “Exile & Sanctuary,” 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.
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.
Jeremy Geffen
Executive and Artistic Director, Cal Performances