2022/23 Season
Illuminations: “Human and Machine”
Illuminations connects groundbreaking UC Berkeley scholarship to themes taken up by the world-class music, dance, and theater presented by Cal Performances. Illuminations programming, which includes performances, panel discussions, lecture demonstrations, Q&As, and more, sheds light on pressing topics with the power to transform our understanding of the world and shape the future.
Through the 2022–23 season theme “Human and Machine,” Illuminations explores the many roles technology plays in both catalyzing and challenging creative expression and human communication. Onstage performances, public programs, and conversations will engage communities on and off campus to explore how the arts, the humanities, and the sciences grapple with the influence of technology on human expression. Through six main stage performances and even more educational events held in partnership with thought leaders (to be announced soon!), Illuminations programming follows the evolution of musical instruments, the complex relationships between technology creators and users, technology’s impact on the creative process, and the benefits and potential dangers of the growing role of artificial intelligence in our society.
Artist Partner
Every year, we select an Artist Partner who embodies the intersection of the arts and our Illuminations theme to help frame our public and campus-facing programs, such as Q&As, master classes, lecture demonstrations, and more. This year’s “Human and Machine” artist partner is Colm Ó Riain. Colm is a professional violinist, composer, and the Head of Growth at the Machine Intelligence Research Institute. Colm is particularly interested in the places where creativities meet — between myriad human cultures as well as between humans and our machines, especially artificial intelligence.
Design Committee
Our Illuminations Design Committee is made up of UC Berkeley faculty, staff, and students, each with relevant expertise to our theme. Through their involvement, Cal Performances is able to curate a much richer series of public and campus-facing programs that encapsulates UC Berkeley research and speaks directly to our campus community. This year, our “Human and Machine” design committee is:
- David Bamman, Associate Professor for UC Berkeley’s School of Information
- Edmund Campion, Director of UC Berkeley’s Center for New Music & Audio Technology
- Deirdre English, Continuing Lecturer for UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism
- Jeremy Geffen, Cal Performances Executive & Artistic Director
- Ehud (Udi) Isacoff, Director of the Berkeley Brain Initiative at UC Berkeley
- Massimo Mazzotti, Thomas Siebel Professor of the History of Science in UC Berkeley’s Department of History
- Lance Nagel, Cal Performances Board Co-Chair
- Nassirah Nelson, undergraduate double major in Engineering & Art + Design
- Greg Niemeyer, Cofounder of UC Berkeley’s Center for New Media, Human Technology Futures
- Jennifer Urban, Clinical Professor of Law at UC Berkeley, Director of Policy Initiatives for the Samuelson Law Technology & Policy Clinic, and faculty co-director of the Berkeley Center for Law and Technology
- Lisa Wymore, Professor of Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies at UC Berkeley
