
Judy Collins, vocals
Tarriona “Tank” Ball, vocals
Invoke
Karl Mitze, viola and mandolin
Geoff Manyin, cello
Zach Matteson, violin
Nick Montopoli, violin and banjoOakland Interfaith Gospel Choir
In the stirring and eclectic presentation, This Land, celebrated pianist, popular NPR and Classical California radio host, and California native Lara Downes welcomes an all-star cast of collaborators for a program of classical and popular music that explores the richness and complexity of the American experience.
Folk legend Judy Collins, Grammy-winning singer and poet Tarriona “Tank” Ball (of Tank and the Bangas fame), quartet Invoke, and the Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir join Downes in an inspiring selection of music spanning more than a century, reflecting on our capacity for empathy and community as we approach our nation’s 250th anniversary.
This event is part of Cal Performances’ Illuminations: “Exile & Sanctuary” programming for the 2025–26 season.
8pm
There is a $20 service charge on all subscription orders, and a $15 per order service charge on ticket purchases made by phone or online that are not part of a subscription package. There is no fee for tickets purchased in person at the Zellerbach Hall Ticket Office unless they are part of a subscription.
Related Illuminations Event
Lara Downes and Friends: This Land: Reflections on America
Pre-performance Panel
Sat, May 9, 7–7:30pm
Zellerbach Hall
Free and open to performance ticket holders
A Q&A with Lara Downes and NPR correspondent Chloe Veltman about This Land: Reflections on America, as well as its relation to the Illuminations theme of “Exile & Sanctuary,” will take place an hour before the performance. Their conversation will explore the power of music to voice resilience, resistance, progress, and protest, particularly in the face of displacement, throughout the nation’s 250-year history. Downes and Veltman will consider the many Americas that coexist within our national story, and how music can create spaces of sanctuary and belonging.
Watch
Beyond the Stage Related Posts
8pm
There is a $20 service charge on all subscription orders, and a $15 per order service charge on ticket purchases made by phone or online that are not part of a subscription package. There is no fee for tickets purchased in person at the Zellerbach Hall Ticket Office unless they are part of a subscription.







