Fascinating behind-the-scenes artist interviews. Informative and entertaining public forums. The Cal Performances Reading Room, featuring books with interesting connections to our season programs. For all this and much more, keep checking this page for frequent updates and to journey far, far Beyond the Stage!
Major support for Beyond the Stage is provided by Bank of America.
Beyond the Stage
Related Events
By Giovanni Russonello, Nov. 2, 2021, The New York Times
In fall 2018, Esperanza Spalding had just released “12 Little Spells,” a bold foray into using music as a healing practice, and a significant creative leap in her career. She was a newly minted professor at Harvard University, and thriving in the role.
Patrons are invited to stay in their seats for a post-performance conversation with Katy Tucker and Manual Cinema’s Sarah Fornace and Julia Miller as part of their performance of Frankenstein on the 2021/22 Cal Performances Season.
By Andrew Gilbert, Oct 25, 2021, San Francisco Classical Voice
The pandemic-induced cancellation of countless concerts and performances has put many presenters in a tough bind. When it comes to resolving conflicts between rescheduling events and moving forward with new bookings, calendars and budgets are unforgiving. Jeremy Geffen, who took over as executive and artistic director of Cal Performances just months before the March 2020 shelter-in-place order, found a neat solution when it came to Angélique Kidjo.
By Lou Fancher, Oct 20, 2021, East Bay Express
Defying logic and destroying skepticism fermented in 19 months of Zoom interactions, I watch the image of French-Beninese singer and composer Angélique Kidjo on the screen of my home computer as she leans back into a plush, cream-colored sofa cushion…and performs a miracle.
LIVESTREAMED EVENT
Illumination “Place and Displacement” Talk
Recorded Wednesday, September 29, 2021
Free and open to the public.
Will be available to view on demand for three months, through December 29, 2021.
Join us for our first Illuminations: Place and Displacement event of the season, a special panel discussion with the filmmakers and key participants of Netflix’s new hit documentary Turning Point: 9/11 and the War on Terror, chronicling why 9/11 happened and the day’s consequences.
Angélique Kidjo, international star and four-time Grammy Award winner and Cal Performances’ first season-long artist-in-residence, has been named one of Time magazine’s most influential people for 2021.
by Jonathan Leal, April 30, 2021, San Francisco Classical Voice
On May 6, 2021, Cal Performances will debut the new film adaptation of Wolfe’s Steel Hammer, her long-form composition based on hundreds of variants of the John Henry ballads, via its Cal Performances at Home virtual series. The film project features performances by Bang on a Can All-Stars and a new vocal trio (Molly Netter, Rebecca Hargrove, and Sonya Headlam), as well as the creative contributions of filmmaker Jeremy Robins, conductor and music director David Bloom, and percussionist-producer David Cossin.
Illuminations “Fact or Fiction” Talk
Recorded Monday, April 12, 2021
Free and open to the public.
Prof. Martha Minow of Harvard Law School was joined by Dean of Berkeley Law Erwin Chemerinsky for a conversation discussing her forthcoming book, Saving the News. They explored what role—if any—government regulation and action can, and should, play in taming the forces that now threaten the very existence of a free press and our democracy. Veteran reporter/producer and Berkeley emeritus professor Lowell Bergman moderated the discussion, adding his own perspective on the history of the regulation of electronic media.
Illuminations “Fact or Fiction” Talk
Recorded Tuesday, March 30
Orville Schell—Director of the Center on US–China Relations at the Asia Society in New York, former Dean of the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism, and a uniquely experienced observer of contemporary China—joined renowned theater director Peter Sellars for a livestreamed conversation centered on Schell’s just-published My Old Home, A Novel of Exile. Welcomed and introduced by New Yorker contributing journalist, writer, and cultural critic Zha Jianying.
by Victoria Looseleaf, February 22, 2021, San Francisco Classical Voice
The Scotsman’s David Kettle once hailed Mahan Esfahani’s performance of Bach’s Goldberg Variations as a “deeply human experience, brimming with humor and wit, cool objectivity, deep tragedy, and startling joy.” And while most live performances in the States have been cancelled due to COVID-19, the Iranian-born, American-raised Esfahani, who currently lives in Prague, recently filmed the masterwork for a Cal Performances concert that will be available for viewing online beginning March 4 for three months.
Following each performance of Manual Cinema’s Christmas Carol, ticketholders will be welcomed to “Puppet Time,” a behind-the-scenes “meet the artists” event for audiences of all ages. Manual Cinema’s artistic directors will take viewers back-stage in their studios to share the numerous theatrical mediums and devices utilized to perform Christmas Carol.
The late neurologist, naturalist, historian of science, and author explores the place music occupies in the brain and how it affects the human condition.