Beyond the Stage

This event will be available to view for free on demand through August 31, 2022.

Wagnerism: Art and Politics in the Shadow of Music is recommended on UC Berkeley’s 2022 summer reading list for all incoming freshmen. To offer additional enrichment, Cal Performances has re-released this 2020 conversation between the book’s author, Alex Ross, and composer John Adams.

An Illuminations: “Place and Displacement” Panel Discussion
Recorded March 7, 2022
Zellerbach Hall, UC Berkeley Campus

Gentrification presents one of society’s most intractable and debated displacement challenges in our urban environment. This panel discusses the ways in which stories can help us understand gentrification—its nuances, ramifications, and the lasting impact of and on residents at risk of displacement.

Lead support for Illuminations is provided by the Jonathan Logan Family Foundation—empowering world-changing work.

An Illuminations: “Place and Displacement” Panel Discussion
Recorded April 25, 2022
Zellerbach Hall, UC Berkeley Campus
Available video on demand.

In this panel moderated by UC Berkeley Professor Karen Chapple, we will explore the issue of climate displacement with Cal’s new cluster in climate equity and environmental justice: Maya Carrasquillo, Daniel Aldana Cohen, Zoe Hamstead, Meg Mills-Novoa, and Danielle Rivera.

An Illuminations “Place and Displacement” Post-performance Q&A
February 17, 2022
Zellerbach Hall, UC Berkeley Campus

Performers and members of the Two Wings: The Music of Black America in Migration production, including Jason and Alicia Hall Moran, were joined by john powell, Director of the Othering and Belonging Institute (OBI) at UC Berkeley, to discuss the performance and make connections to the Great Migration and related research happening through OBI.

An Illuminations Live Post-performance Q&A
Recorded March 12, 2022
Zellerbach Hall, UC Berkeley Campus

Immediately following the performance of Place, producer Beth Morrison moderated a Q&A with composer Ted Hearne, performer Isaiah Robbinson, and other members of the cast and crew about the creation and production of Place.

An Illuminations Event
Recorded March 7, 2022

In this Q&A discussion, moderated by Mina Girgis, Cal Performances’ Director of Education, Joffrey Ballet choreographer Nicolas Blanc sits down with one of the Joffrey Ballet dancers, Christine Rocas, to discuss the inventive workarounds and adaptations implemented during the height of the pandemic to successfully choreograph his latest piece, Under the Trees’ Voices.

An artist conversation with Ashley Wheater and Yoshihisa Arai of Joffrey Ballet as part of their performances on the 2021/22 Cal Performances Season.

An Illuminations Live Panel Discussion
Recorded February 11, 2002
Zellerbach Hall, UC Berkeley Campus
This was a live, in-person and livestreamed event.
Will be available to view on demand.

This Illuminations panel discussion, hosted by UC Berkeley’s Black Studies Collaboratory, features esperanza spalding alongside other Black femme artists and cultural workers to explored how various creative arts communicate the concerns of radical Black feminism(s).

Melanie DeMore shares African American Spirituals and Civil Rights songs and examines the power of this music to inspire emotions, build community, and feed people’s spirits during challenging times. A dynamic and engaging guide, Melanie explores work songs, sorrow and jubilee songs, as well as zipper songs, and encourages us to create our own songs of hope and healing.

An artist conversation with Mark Morris of Mark Morris Dance Group as part of their performances on the 2021/22 Cal Performances Season.

An artist conversation with Caleb Teicher & Conrad Tao as part of their performance on the 2021/22 Cal Performances Season.

An artist conversation with Vân-Ánh Võ as part of her performance on the 2021/22 Cal Performances Season.

An artist conversation with David Harrington and Mahsa Vahdat as part of the Kronos Quartet performance on the 2021/22 Cal Performances Season.

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.

An Illuminations “Place and Displacement” Live Panel Discussion
Recorded Thursday, October 28

A Live Panel Discussion (hosted at the Social Science Matrix)
Recorded October 28, 2021

By Andrew Gilbert, Oct 25, 2021, San Francisco Classical Voice

By Lou Fancher, Oct 20, 2021, East Bay Express

An artist conversation with Ballet Hispánico as part of their performance on the 2021/22 Cal Performances Season.

An artist conversation with Harry Bicket as part of The English Concert performance on the 2021/22 Cal Performances Season.

An artist conversation with the Danish String Quartet as part of their two performances on the 2021/22 Cal Performances Season.

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.

An artist conversation with Jordi Savall, recorded in conjunction with Jordi Savall and his musician’s performance, part of the 2020/21 Cal Performances at Home Spring Season.

An artist conversation with Beatrice Rana, recorded in conjunction with Rana’s performance, part of the Cal Performances at Home Spring Season.

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.

An artist conversation with Julia Wolfe, recorded in conjunction with Bang on a Can’s performance, part of the Cal Performances at Home Spring Season.

An artist conversation with Renée Fleming, recorded in conjunction with Fleming’s performance, part of the Cal Performances at Home Spring Season.

An artist conversation with Jazzmeia Horn, recorded in conjunction with Horn’s performance, part of the 2020/21 Cal Performances at Home Spring Season.

An artist conversation with Jeremy Denk, recorded in conjunction with Denk’s performance, part of the Cal Performances at Home Spring Season.

An artist conversation with Christine Goerke, recorded in conjunction with Goerke’s performance, part of the Cal Performances at Home Spring Season.

An artist conversation with Mitsuko Uchida, recorded in conjunction with Uchida’s performance, part of the 2020/21 Cal Performances at Home Spring Season.

A talk between Mahan Esfahani and Michael Maul, director of the Leipzig Bach Archive, recorded in conjunction with the Esfahani’s performance, part of the Cal Performances at Home Spring Season.

An artist conversation with Mahan Esfahani, recorded in conjunction with the Esfahani’s performance, part of the Cal Performances at Home Spring Season.

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.

Award-winning composer and musician Vân-Ánh Võ leads an immersive “show and tell,” of traditional Vietnamese instruments, demonstrating the sound of each unique, hand-constructed instrument, and featuring them in her compositions.

An artist conversation with the Takács Quartet, recorded in conjunction with the Quartet’s performance, part of the 2020/21 Cal Performances at Home Spring Season.

An artist conversation with Julia Bullock, recorded in conjunction with the Julia Bullock, classical singer; Laura Poe, piano performance, part of the Cal Performances at Home Fall Season.

An artist conversation with Bria Skonberg, recorded in conjunction with the Bria Skonberg performance, part of the 2020/21 Cal Performances at Home Fall Season.

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.

In “Changing the Narrative: What Stories Can We Tell Now?” UC Berkeley faculty members Anthony Cascardi and Catherine Gallagher discuss the ideas of Fact or Fiction in shaping humanity’s narrative about the current global pandemic, climate change, and the stories we tell about this moment in history.

An artist conversation with Dover Quartet, recorded in conjunction with the Dover Quartet performance, part of the Cal Performances at Home Fall Season.

An artist conversation with members of the Dover Quartet and Cal Performances Executive and Artistic Director Jeremy Geffen.

An artist conversation with Leif Ove Andsnes, recorded in conjunction with the Leif Ove Andsnes, piano performance, part of the Cal Performances at Home Fall Season.

An artist conversation with Leif Ove Andsnes and Cal Performances Executive and Artistic Director Jeremy Geffen.

An artist conversation with Yo-Yo Ma and Kathryn Stott, recorded in conjunction with the Yo-Yo Ma & Kathryn Stott; Songs of Comfort and Hope performance, part of the Cal Performances at Home Fall Season.

Arts + Design’s Monday evening series, Together: Reinventing Politics, Reimagining Health, presents the three creators of Real Enemies—composer Darcy James Argue, writer and director Isaac Butler, and film designer Peter Nigrini—in a discussion about the American fascination with conspiracy theories that fuels their immersive, multimedia production. The conversation will be moderated by Jeffrey MacKie-Mason, UC Berkeley University Librarian and Chief Digital Scholarship Officer, and a professor in the UCB School of Information and the Department of Economics.

The late neurologist, naturalist, historian of science, and author explores the place music occupies in the brain and how it affects the human condition.

In conjunction with its streaming presentation of Oliver Sacks: His Own Life, the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive (BAMPFA) hosted an informative conversation and Q&A with Ric Burns, the film’s director; Kate Edgar, Sacks’ editor and researcher, and executive director of the Oliver Sacks Foundation; and Bill Hayes, photographer, writer, and Sacks’ partner. The discussion was moderated by scientist and soprano Indre Viskontas, who holds faculty positions at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and the University of San Francisco, and whose scientific work is featured in Sacks’ book Musicophilia. Oliver Sacks: His Own Life – Forum Discussion is available free of charge, courtesy of BAMPFA.

Matthew Whitaker’s performance and all related activities are part of the Cal Performances Illuminations: Music and the Mind series.

Where does imagination come from? Neuroscientists have only recently begun to examine the elusive nature of creativity in connection to music. One key area of study is the notion of improvisation—a foundational element in many musical art forms, including jazz and hip hop. In this 90-minute video from the Kennedy Center, UCSF Professor of Otolaryngology Dr. Charles Limb shows how encouraging and developing musical improvisational skills in children has led to a better understanding of how creativity is implemented in the human brain. In this talk, Dr. Limb is joined by the Kennedy Center Artistic Director of Jazz Jason Moran, Freestyle Love Supreme co-founder Anthony Veneziale, music therapist Ed Roth, and jazz pianist Matthew Whitaker, who helps with a demonstration. Thank you to the Kennedy Center for generously sharing this video free of charge.

Matthew Whitaker’s performance and all related activities are part of the Cal Performances Illuminations: Music and the Mind series.

An artist conversation with Matthew Whitaker, recorded in conjunction with the Matthew Whitaker Quartet performance, part of the 2020/21 Cal Performances at Home Fall Season.

The classic and authoritative text, and the fascinating life story of its author.

Cal Performances Reading Room are books suggested for reading in conjunction with events scheduled during Cal Performances’ 2020–21 season.

An artist conversation with co-Artistic Director of Manual Cinema Drew Dir and UC Berkeley Chancellor Carol Christ, recorded in conjunction with the Manual Cinema; Frankenstein performance, part of the 2020/21 Cal Performances at Home Fall Season.

Olmsted demonstrates that it was only in the 20th century that strange and unlikely conspiracy theories became central to American politics.

Cal Performances Reading Room are books suggested for reading in conjunction with events scheduled during Cal Performances’ 2020–21 season.

An artist conversation with composer Darcy James Argue, director Isaac Butler, and media designer Peter Nigrini, recorded in conjunction with the Darcy James Argue’s Secret Society; Real Enemies performance, part of the Cal Performances at Home Fall Season.

Real Enemies, featuring Darcy James Argue’s Secret Society, was inspired by Kathryn S. Olmsted’s 2013 book Real Enemies: Conspiracy Theories and American Democracy, World War I through 9/11. Watch as Professor Olmsted of UC Davis’ History Department, writer and director Isaac Butler, and MacArthur Fellow journalist and writer Mark Danner of UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism as they had a lively conversation about the grip of conspiracy theories on the American imagination.

We encourage you to read Real Enemies: Conspiracy Theories and American Democracy, World War I through 9/11 (Oxford University Press), available from any online bookseller.

An artist conversation with Nathalie Joachim, recorded in conjunction with the Nathalie Joachim and Spektral Quartet; Fanm d’Ayiti performance, part of the Cal Performances at Home Fall Season.

The late neurologist, naturalist, historian of science, and author explores the place music occupies in the brain and how it affects the human condition.

Cal Performances Reading Room are books suggested for reading in conjunction with events scheduled during Cal Performances’ 2020–21 season.

An artist conversation with members of the Tetzlaff Quartet, recorded in conjunction with the Tetzlaff Quartet performance, part of the 2020/21 Cal Performances at Home Fall Season.

The renowned New Yorker music critic and author reveals how Richard Wagner became the proving ground for modern art and politics―an aesthetic war zone where the Western world wrestled—and continues to wrestle—with its capacity for beauty and violence.

A signed copy of Wagnerism is available from our partners, Pegasus Books on Solano Avenue in Berkeley.

Cal Performances Reading Room are books suggested for reading in conjunction with events scheduled during Cal Performances’ 2020–21 season.

An artist conversation with Tessa Lark, recorded in conjunction with the Tessa Lark, violin; Andrew Armstrong, piano performance, part of the 2020/21 Cal Performances at Home Fall Season.