Cal Performances at Home is much more than a series of great streamed performances. Fascinating behind-the-scenes artist interviews. Informative and entertaining public forums. The Cal Performances Reading Room, featuring books with interesting connections to our Fall 2020 programs. For all this and much more, keep checking this page for frequent updates and to journey far, far Beyond the Stage!
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Beyond the Stage
Honoring Robert Cole
Honoring Robert Cole
The performing arts world has lost one of its great champions. Robert Cole, who served as Director of Cal Performances from 1986 to 2009, was a singular force in American arts presenting—a conductor and musician by training who brought a performer’s instinct and an institution-builder’s vision to everything he touched. For decades, he shaped not only what happened on Cal Performances’ stages, but how an entire region came to understand and experience the transformative power of live performance. His passing leaves a profound absence, and an equally profound legacy.
Cole arrived at Cal Performances in 1986, inheriting a respected regional organization that presented roughly 45 events each year on a relatively modest budget. What he built over the next 23 years was something altogether different: an internationally acclaimed presenting and commissioning organization that came to stand alongside the greatest performing arts centers and festivals in the world and directly helped to shape the performing arts ecosystem. By the time he stepped down at the close of the 2008–09 season, Cal Performances was presenting some 130 performances annually, with a budget that had more than tripled and ticket sales that had grown more than ten-fold since he took the helm.
Numbers, of course, tell only part of a story. What Cole understood—and what made him so effective—was that true transformation in the arts happens through relationships, through artistic risk, and through an unwavering belief that audiences deserve the very best. “I had the idea to make [Berkeley] more like a London, New York, or Paris where the greatest artists come from all over the world,” he said in a 2005 KQED interview. “That was my goal when I came here and that’s what we’ve been working on ever since.” He achieved it.
Building Something New
From the earliest years of his tenure, Cole began forging the long-term artist partnerships that would define Cal Performances’ identity for generations. One of the most celebrated was with choreographer Mark Morris, whom Cole first invited to Berkeley in 1987, and who has been coming every year since. Over the following decades, Cole presented a remarkable series of Mark Morris Dance Group premieres and commissions, including the world premieres of World Power (1995), Falling Down Stairs (1997), and Rhymes With Silver (1997)—as well as the US premieres of Morris’s staging of Jean-Philippe Rameau’s Platée (1998) and King Arthur (2006), and the West Coast premieres of L’Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato (1994), The Hard Nut (1996), and Mozart Dances (2007).
He commissioned or co-commissioned new works from an extraordinary range of artists, including theater and opera director Peter Sellars, choreographers Twyla Tharp, Bill T. Jones, Merce Cunningham, and Pascal Rioult; the Kronos Quartet; actor and director Robert Lepage; and performance artist Laurie Anderson. Among the highlights of his tenure were the world premiere of John Adams’ songplay I Was Looking at the Ceiling, and Then I Saw the Sky (1995), with a libretto by UC Berkeley poet June Jordan and directed by Peter Sellars; the US premiere of Nur Du (Only You) by German expressionist choreographer Pina Bausch and her Tanztheater Wuppertal (1996); the first West Coast performances of Yo-Yo Ma’s Silkroad Ensemble in a 10-day festival held on the UC Berkeley campus; and the final performances of the acclaimed Berliner Ensemble before the company disbanded in 1999.
The international companies he brought to Berkeley—Lyon Opera Ballet and Orchestra, the Royal Court Theatre, the Grand Kabuki Theater of Japan, the Abbey Theatre and the Gate Theatre of Dublin, and the Bolshoi Ballet and Orchestra, to name a small selection—made Cal Performances a genuine destination for the world’s most celebrated artists and companies, and attracted new audiences within the Bay Area. Among the US debuts Cole presented were tenor Ian Bostridge, violinist Julia Fischer, and the early music ensemble Il Giardino Armonico.
Under his leadership, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater came to perform in Berkeley more than anywhere else in the world outside of New York. The roster of artists who made Cal Performances a regular home included Yo-Yo Ma, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Cecilia Bartoli, Ravi Shankar, Salif Keita, Philip Glass, Jordi Savall, Cesária Évora, Paco de Lucía, and Sweet Honey in the Rock. Cellist Yo-Yo Ma once observed that Cole was an artist himself, and that he “understands what artists need to do their best work”—an insight that explains much about why so many of the world’s great performers trusted him and returned to Berkeley again and again.
A Visionary for New and Early Music
Cole’s impact extended even beyond Cal Performances’ halls. In 1990, Cole founded the Berkeley Festival & Exhibition, a biennial international festival of early music, presented in association with the UC Berkeley Department of Music, the San Francisco Early Music Society, and Early Music America. The festival helped establish Berkeley as one of the world’s premier destinations for early music, and continues to draw audiences and artists from across the globe. In 2003, Cole established the Berkeley Edge Fest, a biennial showcase for new and contemporary performing arts that featured the work of John Adams, John Zorn, Lou Harrison, Terry Riley, Paul Dresher, and Frederic Rzewski, among others across its multiple years of production. Both festivals reflected a belief that the full breadth of musical tradition—from the ancient to the newly made—deserved a place on Berkeley’s stages.
After his time at Cal Performances, Cole continued to lend his expertise and vision to the broader arts community, including through his contributions to the Berkeley Festival and the Green Music Center at Sonoma State University. He remained, throughout these years, a devoted supporter of Cal Performances, and his continued engagement with the organization he had built was a source of immense meaning to those who carry its work forward today.
An Educator and Institution-Builder
Cole understood that a great performing arts organization must also be a great civic institution. As arts funding declined nationally, he expanded Cal Performances’ education offerings dramatically. By the time he stepped down, more than 100 programs were presented annually, including the highly regarded SchoolTime and teaching artist in-school residency initiatives, which have been nationally recognized as model arts education programs.
Cole also shaped the extracurricular music life of UC Berkeley through formal management of Student Musical Activities (SMA): the Cal Band, the UC Jazz Ensemble, and the UC Choral Ensembles. He deepened the organization’s ties to the University by working closely with faculty to support their work, and by programming lectures, demonstrations, and symposia for students and community members throughout the year.
Among the programs Cole counted among his proudest achievements was Berkeley/Oakland AileyCamp, which takes place on the UC Berkeley campus and will celebrate its 25th anniversary in 2027. The camp opened locally in 2002 as a free summer program through which young people can experience first-hand the transformative power of dance while learning essential life skills. Now well into its third decade, Berkeley/Oakland AileyCamp has touched more than 1,300 young people—a legacy that reflects Cole’s conviction that the arts belong to everyone, and that the work of a performing arts organization extends far beyond the concert hall.
Honors and a Lasting Mark
The recognition Cole received from the wider world was a fitting reflection of his accomplishments. In 1997, UC Berkeley Chancellor Chang-Lin Tien awarded him the Berkeley Citation, the campus’s highest administrative honor, given to individuals who have “rendered distinguished or extraordinary service to the University.” In 1995, France’s Minister of Culture and Francophonia named him a Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters. In 1998, he received the William Dawson Award for Programmatic Excellence from the Association of Performing Arts Presenters (APAP).
Cole came to Cal Performances with distinguished experience: he had studied conducting with Richard Lert and Ingolf Dahl in California, with Leonard Bernstein and Leon Barzin at the Tanglewood Music Center, and with Hans Swarowsky in Europe. He was a graduate of the University of Southern California School of Music; and had previously served as Executive Director of the Brooklyn Center for Performing Arts at Brooklyn College and of the Bardavon 1869 Opera House in Poughkeepsie, New York, as Associate Conductor of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, and as Music Director and Executive Director of the Ballet Society of Los Angeles.
When he announced his departure in 2007, Chancellor Robert J. Birgeneau offered words that still ring true today: “Robert has not only heightened Cal Performances’ profile in the arts world, but also the organization’s service to the educational mission of the University. The arts and sciences stand together in the important work of advancing civilization, and in this complex world nothing bridges cultural differences more effectively than the performing arts; they demonstrate the immeasurable range of human expression and our shared humanity. The University community has been the recipient of Robert’s impeccable artistic judgment, and because of it, we have all grown in our understanding and appreciation of the world.”
Cole himself, ever looking forward, reflected on what remained possible: “There is uncommon opportunity for growth at Cal Performances; what I have been able to accomplish with this talented staff and devoted Board of Trustees”—a board that he helped to initiate—”is only the beginning.”
He was right. The organization he built continues to grow and to bring the world’s greatest artists to Berkeley—a living testament to the vision, dedication, and artistry of a remarkable leader. Cal Performances will always consider Robert Cole part of our family, and we are profoundly grateful for everything he gave us and to the community we share.
——
Robert Cole is survived by his sons, Alex Julian Cole and Thomas Montgomery Cole; his grandsons, Charles Cole and Daniel Cole; and his wife, Susan Muscarella. Cal Performances extends its deepest condolences to them, as well as all other members of his family, his friends, and the many people whose lives were touched by his extraordinary work.
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Sustaining Excellence: A Conversation with Board Co-Chair Jeff MacKie-Mason and Janet Netz
Sustaining Excellence: A Conversation with Board Co-Chair Jeff MacKie-Mason and Janet Netz
“We want our children and grandchildren, and theirs, to continue to have the opportunity to hear world-class and exciting performances close to home.”
By Cal Performances Development staff
As Cal Performances looks to the future, leadership from within its own community is setting a visionary example. Board Co-Chair Jeff MacKie-Mason (former University Librarian, University of California, Berkeley, and a professor in the UC Berkeley School of Information and the Department of Economics) and longtime supporter Janet Netz (bachelor’s degree cum laude in economics from the University of California, Berkeley in 1986) recently committed a transformative $1 million gift to establish sustained excellence in classical music via a newly established endowment.
Both have deep roots at UC Berkeley, and we sat down with them to discuss the vital role of philanthropy, their personal connection to the arts, and why investing in the future of classical music at a public university matters now more than ever.
Jeff, in your role as Co-Chair of the Cal Performances Board, and Janet, as an alumna, longtime major donor, and champion of our mission, you have unique insights into not only the performing arts, but Cal Performances presentations specifically. From your perspective, why is an endowment the right way to ensure the enduring excellence of our classical programming? And why now?
Jeff & Janet: Classical music has been an important part of our lives for many years, and Cal Performances makes extraordinary artists and performances available to students, faculty, and the broader public. Some of our most memorable experiences have happened in Zellerbach Hall or Hertz Hall—moments of beauty, surprise, and awe that stayed with us long after the performance ended.
We believe an endowment is the right vehicle because it provides long-term stability. It helps ensure that Cal Performances can continue presenting ambitious classical programming not just today, but decades from now—even through economic uncertainty or changing cultural priorities. We want our children and grandchildren, and theirs, to continue to have the opportunity to hear world-class and exciting performances close to home.
We also believe this is an important moment to invest in the arts. Organizations everywhere are facing rising costs and increased competition for philanthropic support. Endowment funding allows institutions to plan boldly and sustain excellence over time.
And what does it mean to lead by example in this way?
Jeff & Janet: UC Berkeley has been enormously important in both of our lives, and Cal Performances contributes so much to the cultural life of the Bay Area. We are fortunate to be able to help this continue, and hope that we might inspire others to give generously as well.
When you think about the future of classical music, what is the impact you hope this gift has on the next generation of students and concert-goers?
Jeff & Janet: We hope this gift helps ensure that future students and audiences continue to have access to truly world-class classical music in Berkeley. One of the remarkable things about Cal Performances is that students can encounter extraordinary artists and performances as part of everyday university life.
As a Berkeley student in the 1980s, Janet was able to attend performances through student rush tickets that made concerts affordable on a student budget. Those opportunities created exposure to artists and performances she would not have otherwise had. Great performances challenge audiences, introduce them to new ideas and interpretations, and create shared experiences that bring people together across generations and backgrounds.
Was there a specific moment or performance that made you realize this was the legacy you wanted to leave?
Jeff & Janet: There was not one single concert or moment that led us to make this gift. Rather, it came from many years of attending performances and seeing firsthand the important role Cal Performances plays in the intellectual and cultural life of both the university and the broader Bay Area community.
Over time, we realized we wanted to help ensure that future generations would continue to have those same opportunities—to discover artists they might never otherwise encounter, to experience the excitement of live performance, and to have access to a vibrant classical music program close to home.
Why did you choose to earmark this $1 million gift specifically for a classical music endowment?
Jeff & Janet: We enjoy many different kinds of performances at Cal Performances—dance, theater, jazz, folk, and world music among them—but classical music has always held a special place for us. That is especially true for Jeff, who has studied classical piano since childhood and now, in retirement, has more time to devote to that lifelong passion.
We chose to direct this gift toward a classical music endowment because sustaining great classical programming requires long-term investment. World-class artists, ambitious programming, and opportunities for audiences and students to experience exceptional live performance do not happen automatically. We wanted to help ensure that Cal Performances can continue presenting classical music at the highest level for generations to come.
How do you see the presence of world-class piano performances and classical music as vital to the cultural fabric of a public university like Berkeley?
Jeff & Janet: We’ve both been university professors, and we share the belief that higher education should do more than prepare students for careers. Universities should help students build meaningful, intellectually rich lives by exposing them to new ideas, different forms of expression, and experiences that inspire curiosity and reflection.
The performing arts—and classical music in particular—play an important role in that mission. Experiencing great music, whether as a listener or performer, develops attention, discipline, emotional understanding, and a deeper appreciation for human creativity. Having access to world-class performances on a public university campus like Berkeley enriches not only students, but the broader community as well.
One of the extraordinary things about Cal Performances is that it makes those experiences part of the everyday cultural life of Berkeley and the East Bay. We hope this gift helps ensure that continues far into the future.
Cal Performances offers its sincerest appreciation to Jeff MacKie-Mason and Janet Netz for their endowment gift, as well as for a long history of guidance and financial support. For more information about how you can join our passionate community of donors, visit calperformances.org/support.
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Jeremy Geffen Introduces the 2026–27 Season
Jeremy Geffen Introduces the 2026–27 Season
By Jeremy Geffen, Executive and Artistic Director of Cal Performances
Welcome to Cal Performances’ 2026–27 season, a celebration capping 120 years of presenting the world’s most exciting performers at UC Berkeley.
What began in 1906 with a dramatic performance benefitting those impacted by the great San Francisco earthquake has expanded beyond anyone’s wildest dreams—and yet, at its center, Cal Performances has remained true to the spirit that started it all, amplifying the performing arts’ power to unite us, inspire us, and create a better future.
WATCH: the 2026-27 Season Trailer
I’m proud to unveil wide-ranging programming that demonstrates what makes Cal Performances such a stronghold of artistic excellence. We continue to deepen invaluable relationships with return visits by artists like the Vienna Philharmonic with conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin and guest soloists Elīna Garanča, Christiane Karg, and Yuja Wang; expansive programs honoring milestones for composers Philip Glass, John Adams, and Steve Reich; Wynton Marsalis’ final US tour as artistic director of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra; two performances and campus activities by the Attacca Quartet, our 2026–27 Ensemble in Residence; and the West Coast premiere of William Kentridge’s The Head & the Load, an epic masterpiece spotlighting African soldiers of WWI and the first performance in a new initiative that will see a Kentridge multidisciplinary work on each of our next five seasons.
While we honor the familiar, we also promote curiosity and innovation—investing in new works, artists, and ideas. Our season-opening weekend (September 25–27) serves as a strong example of this commitment, featuring the extraordinary dancers of The Australian Ballet in the North American premiere of Oscar, a bold new creation about Oscar Wilde by famed choreographer Christopher Wheeldon. Oscar also kicks off the exploration of our 2026–27 Illuminations theme, “Innocence & Experience.”
And there is so much more in store! I’m grateful to our community for supporting the live performing arts in the Bay Area. That Cal Performances’ programming has inspired countless memories and moments of transformation over our 120 years is not lost on me, and I look forward to all the 2026–27 season will add to our shared history.
Explore More and Secure Your Seats
Browse the full 2026–27 Cal Performances season for yourself, and discover our season guides as well on Beyond the Stage.
Want to secure your seats early and save up to 25% on tickets? When you subscribe by bundling as few as four performances, you unlock the very best experience we have to offer! Explore our Subscriber benefits, and mark your calendars for when subscriptions go on sale at noon (PT) on May 5, 2026!
UC Berkeley students have access to exclusive student discounts, including a special bundle of 4 tickets called a Flex Pass. UCB Student tickets go on sale on August 21, 2026.
Related Events
Beyond the Stage: 2026–27 Season Guides
Explore the six guides to the season below to find the performances that were made for you.
Think Deeply, Feel Fully: The Philosopher’s Guide to the 2026–27 Season
Think Deeply, Feel Fully: The Philosopher’s Guide to the 2026–27 Season
If you love performances that make you think—sometimes for days or even weeks afterwards—our “Philosopher” guide will point you in the right direction. The offerings listed here are all part of Cal Performances’ Illuminations programming—a series of performances, lectures, and conversations designed to explore pressing topics of today by connecting extraordinary artistry with groundbreaking scholarship.
Driven by the innovative, intellectual spirit of UC Berkeley, Illuminations investigates big ideas through music, dance, theater, and performances that transcend categories and boundaries. Each performance listed below provides a distinct lens through which to consider the 2026–27 theme, “Innocence & Experience.” Throughout the season, we’ll announce additional panels and Q&As hosted in conjunction with these performances, all in service of helping you view concepts of “innocence” and “experience” through fresh eyes.
SEP 25–27, 2026, ZELLERBACH HALL
Inspired by the legacy and lore of one of literature’s most extraordinary minds, Christopher Wheeldon’s visionary choreography engages the superb dancers of The Australian Ballet to tell the story of Irish author Oscar Wilde. The witty dramatist who is today best known for stories including The Picture of Dorian Gray, Lady Windermere’s Fan, and The Importance of Being Earnest, was himself the subject of significant attention during his own lifetime (1854–1900), polarizing society with his satirical prose, confident demeanor, and flamboyant fashion choices. Wilde’s public presence was significant and complex, influenced by a range of professional and personal factors, from his strong advocacy of “art for art’s sake,” to criminal convictions related to his sexuality. Of the production, The Australian Ballet’s Artistic Director, David Hallberg, shared, “Working on Oscar has been deeply meaningful because it speaks to how ballet can continue to evolve, not only in movement, but also in the narratives it embraces.
“For much of its history, ballet has told heteronormative stories, so to collaborate with Christopher Wheeldon on a work that so boldly brings a different experience to the stage has felt especially significant.
“… I hope audiences leave with a sense of having experienced something beautiful, but also something deeply human. A story of love, identity and vulnerability that has not often been given this kind of space in dance.”
In this standout, season-opening event—one that combines brilliant dancing with a moving score performed live by the Berkeley Symphony Orchestra—audiences are invited to contemplate who society and legal authority have designated as “innocent,” particularly within the context of love and sexuality; and how “experience” can be imposed on an individual through encounters with hardship. The performers onstage will leave you pondering a keenly relevant question: What does it mean to make choices in service of one’s own happiness at a time when being truly visible means making yourself vulnerable?
NOV 12–15, 2026, HENRY J. KAISER CENTER FOR THE ARTS, OAKLAND
“The piece unfolds like a fever dream. At any one moment, multiple events are occurring onstage. Watching it, you want to be everywhere at once.” So wrote the New Yorker of The Head & the Load, William Kentridge’s largest and most celebrated work. Conceived for a massive 180-foot-long stage (presented this season at the Henry J. Kaiser Center for the Arts Arena) and performed by 37 dancers, actors, vocalists, and musicians, this sprawling, layered production incorporates music, dance, speech, shadow play, projection, and sculpture to tell the history of Africans who served and sacrificed during the First World War. Choreographer Gregory Maqoma shared, “I hope audiences leave with a sense of reckoning, with the realization that the story of the First World War is incomplete without acknowledging the millions of African lives that sustained it.
“The Head & the Load invites a re-evaluation of history, one that shifts the lens away from dominant narratives toward those who carried its invisible weight.”
The performance explores what it means to retain “innocence” in the context of such egregious violence; and how a person can process encounters with war and colonialism at the same time that the lived “experience” they impart is being minimized and covered up by those in power.
The sonic world created in this production is particularly symbolic, and hones in on the disconnect between European powers and the experience of the African soldiers they enlisted. According to the production notes, “One of the striking aspects of colonialism is Europe’s incomprehension of Africa—not being able to hear the very clear language that was being spoken by Africa to Europe. There is the sense of language breaking down into nonsense, which is what Dadaism was very much about.” Pulling from this Dada tradition, the libretto draws from a wide net of sources, from Frantz Fanon to Tristan Tzara to Setswana proverbs, cut up and reassembled. The score, composed by Philip Miller and Thuthuka Sibisi, similarly uses collage as a tool to reflect the many varied, unpredictable sounds that commingle during wartime, including traditional African songs, European compositions, war chants, and percussive interjections.
NOV 21, 2026, ZELLERBACH HALL
The Absence of Ruin is innovative jazz pianist and composer Jason Moran’s multidisciplinary meditation on the life and legacy of James Reese Europe, the underrecognized Black American composer and bandleader who landed in France with the Harlem Hellfighters on New Year’s Day 1918. The celebrated all-Black unit contributed to breaking the stalemate on the Western front during the First World War, while composer Europe’s finely honed military music ensemble helped popularize the new spirit of jazz in a war-torn France fascinated with Black culture. The Absence of Ruin features Moran alongside bassist Tarus Mateen, drummer Nasheet Waits, and a seven-piece horn section. The rich sonic world is elevated by filmed visuals created by Bradford Young, who, in 2016, became the first African American cinematographer nominated for an Oscar (for his work on the science-fiction movie Arrival).
Through music and film, these insightful performers deliver what the Washington Post refers to as a “beautiful, poignant, reverent” tribute to Europe.
Paradoxically, Europe and the Harlem Hellfighters—many only one generation removed from enslavement—fought for the ideals of patriotism and belonging while their own nation was still denying them full equality. The “experience” they gained did not translate to the respect and recognition they deserved; and yet, Moran’s tale is one in which resilience, influence, and reclamation of memory take center stage.
DEC 4–5, 2026, ZELLERBACH HALL
In A a | a B : B E N D, two leading lights in their fields—choreographer Aszure Barton and composer Ambrose Akinmusire—create a world in which dancers and a musician (Akinmusire himself on electronics and trumpet) explore what it means to “unlearn.” In what Tanz Magazine refers to as “a refusal of categorization,” the artists inhabit the space between improvisation and structure, with the performance itself oscillating between up-close and personal to vastly distanced and massive.
It doesn’t take much digging to find the common ethos between Akinmusire’s and Barton’s artistry. The creators, who have collaborated for years, are both incredibly curious, and push each other to think bigger and deeper. Akinmusire is best known in jazz, classical, and hip hop circles, and cites the emotional, spiritual, and practical sides of art as his primary motivation.
The result has been emotive and unexpected works in service of his “perpetual quest for new paradigms.”
Not strictly beholden to tradition, he acknowledges the desire to honor his “lineage of Black invention and innovation … without being stifled by it.” Barton, in turn, is recognized for pushing the boundaries of traditional dance, with the The New York Times saying she “takes ballet technique and dismantles it to near-invisibility.” Their collaboration brings choreography and music into a shared field of constraint and possibility. Here, “experience” looks like structure, method, and form—the accumulated knowledge of training, composition, and systematized thinking—while “innocence” manifests as experimentation and risk, and movement or sound before it settles into order.
FEB 5–6, 2027, ZELLERBACH HALL
Named for the ancient Roman “Unconquered Sun” deity, Sol Invictus arrives with a clear message from its creator, French Algerian choreographer Hervé Koubi: that despite the fractures of the world, community is humanity’s saving grace. To deliver that message, Koubi enlists 17 extraordinary dancers from around the world whose unique visual language showcases mastery across contemporary dance, hip-hop, and martial arts.
The choreography is deliberately arranged so that each performer can stand out, and there is something different and intriguing to take in, no matter which direction you look.
Playing off of the company’s distinct, uncategorizable movement style, the performance invites attendees to consider the concepts of “innocence” and “experience” as they relate to the body itself—what bodies remember, what they carry, and how they can transform when conscious effort is made to unlearn structured practices.
FEB 10 2027, ZELLERBACH HALL
In a true season highlight, star mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato—described by the New Yorker as “perhaps the most potent female singer of her generation”—returns to Berkeley with the Italian period-music ensemble Il Pomo d’Oro in a program of Baroque music presented with freshness and raw emotional power. The first half of the program covers Carissimi’s Jephte, a scena (a dramatic, multi-section vocal piece for a soloist in opera that often includes a recitative, arioso, and aria) performed by Grammy Award–winning lyric tenor, Nicholas Phan.
The bulk of the concert is devoted to Purcell’s only complete opera, the brilliant and haunting Dido and Aeneas, which sees Phan as Aeneas and DiDonato as Dido.
This canonic tragedy foregrounds the tale of two lovers who exist in a world complicated by the politics of empire. In Dido and Aeneas, the concept of “innocence” takes the form of emotional openness and trust, while “experience” is depicted in the navigation of power dynamics as well as in personal transformations inspired by love and loss. Purcell’s opera concludes with what is perhaps his most famous work, “When I am laid in Earth.” To hear DiDonato sing the all-consuming aria will undoubtedly inspire new revelations in us all.
Explore More and Secure Your Seats
While this guide focuses specifically on our Illuminations performances, any art lover knows that moments of transformation and learning can strike during any performance. The ability of art to speak to us in ways that words alone cannot communicate is a quality we celebrate and embrace throughout the 2026–27 season (and, indeed, always!). We encourage you to review the full season for yourself to explore what else might spark your curiosity.
Want to secure your seats early and save up to 25% on tickets? When you subscribe by bundling as few as four performances, you unlock the very best experience we have to offer! Explore our Subscriber benefits, and mark your calendars for when subscriptions go on sale at noon (PT) on May 5, 2026!
UC Berkeley students have access to exclusive student discounts, including a special bundle of 4 tickets called a Flex Pass. UCB Student tickets go on sale on August 21, 2026.
Related Events
Beyond the Stage: 2026–27 Season Guides
Explore the six guides to the season below to find the performances that were made for you.
Legends of the Stage: The Iconnoisseur’s Guide to the 2026–27 Season
Legends of the Stage: The Iconnoisseur’s Guide to the 2026–27 Season
The “Iconnoisseur” guide is for loyalists who aspire to see living legends and legendary works. You want to experience world-class art that has stood the test of time, and yet still feels fresh and inspiring with every encounter. In this tailored list, you’ll find creators and performers with the biggest names, and enormous talent to back them up. Seeing any one of these artists would be a bucket list item for many performing arts lovers, so take advantage of this high concentration of superstardom and start planning your season!!
MAR 2–4, 2027, ZELLERBACH HALL
As part of the 2027 Maria Manetti Shrem and Elizabeth Segerstrom California Orchestra Residency, the Vienna Philharmonic returns to Cal Performances with acclaimed conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin and an all-star cast of collaborators. Internationally renowned for its consistently masterful playing and unwavering dedication to the great tradition of European classical music, the 185-year-old orchestra has formed a close bond with many composers—Anton Bruckner called it “the most superior musical association”; Johannes Brahms counted himself as a “friend and admirer”; and Richard Strauss was quoted as saying, “All praise of the Vienna Philharmonic reveals itself as understatement.” And yet, few composers hold as significant a role in the orchestra’s history as Gustav Mahler, onetime director of the Vienna Court Opera—the predecessor of the Vienna State Opera, from which the orchestra still draws its membership. One of the leading composers of his generation, Mahler created 10 symphonies during his lifetime, and with these concerts, Berkeley audiences have the opportunity to hear three across the three nights of the orchestra’s residency: Symphonies Nos. 2 (Resurrection), 4, and 9.
Conducting the concerts is dynamic maestro Yannick Nézet-Séguin, who has enjoyed a close partnership with the orchestra since 2010, a relationship finely honed through numerous tours and recordings.
He concurrently holds the prestigious positions of Music Director of the Metropolitan Opera; Music and Artistic Director of the Philadelphia Orchestra; and Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the Orchestre Métropolitain of Montreal in his home province of Quebec, Canada. Of Nézet-Séguin’s many accolades, highlights include five Grammy Awards, recognition as Musical America’s Artist of the Year (2016), ECHO Klassik’s Conductor of the Year award (2014), and a Royal Philharmonic Society Award.
Making their Cal Performances debuts, soprano Christiane Karg and mezzo-soprano Elīna Garanča join as soloists (Karg for Symphony Nos. 4 and 2, and Garanča for Symphony No. 2 only). Both vocalists have performed alongside esteemed orchestras, though are best known for bringing to life celebrated roles for many of the world’s great opera companies and houses, including the Vienna State Opera, Metropolitan Opera, and Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. The vocal power of Symphony No. 2 is amplified even further by the San Francisco Symphony Chorus—local performers with a national reputation and eight Grammy wins to date—under director Jenny Wong, who simultaneously holds positions as Chorus Director for this group and Associate Artistic Director for the Los Angeles Master Chorale.
Last but certainly not least on this lineup of outrageous talent is pianist Yuja Wang, joining for Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 3 on the March 3 program. Known for her dazzling virtuosity and electrifying stage presence, Wang has been recognized with a Grammy and an Opus Klassik Award, and has been honored as a Musical America’s Artist of the Year (2017, the year immediately following Nézet-Séguin’s win). Wang once said, “I firmly believe every program should have its own life.” Here, audiences have the rare opportunity to witness what is sure to be a once-in-a-lifetime performance, polished to perfection by a stage full of classical masters sharpening and building off of each other’s artistry in real time.
FEB 19, 2027, ZELLERBACH HALL
In a landmark event, artistic director, trumpet virtuoso, and Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Wynton Marsalis brings his final tour as managing and artistic director of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra to Berkeley. Marsalis has been celebrating milestones of late, which reflects his superhuman efforts over the past 40 years to establish jazz as “America’s classical music” and create a framework for its enduring support.
Marsalis has served as artistic director of the orchestra since 1991 (less than five years after its founding), and has helped to shape it into a brilliant jazz ensemble, famed for its unique blend of New Orleans swing, gutbucket blues, and Ellingtonian precision and pure chops.
Throughout his career, Marsalis has received nine Grammys (and was the first musician ever to win a Grammy in two categories—jazz and classical—during the same year), composed more than 600 works, and collaborated with orchestras and ensembles for more than 5,300 concerts across more than 850 cities and 66 countries. You won’t want to miss the opportunity to see him at the height of his powers and in such a meaningful collaboration.
NOV 20, 2026, ZELLERBACH HALL
It used to be that the only person with permission to perform composer Philip Glass’ etudes was Glass himself, but as his fame grew, he extended the opportunity to other pianists, and the works have since become modern classics. To celebrate Glass’ 90th birthday, this event will see the performance of all 20 etudes across a single evening—a massive undertaking featuring 10 acclaimed pianists, including the composer and acclaimed Glass interpreter Timo Andres; the highly regarded jazz and classical artist (and regular Andres piano duo partner) Aaron Diehl; up-and-coming young Mexican artist Daniela Liebman; and the lauded jazz keyboard virtuoso, composer, and MacArthur “Genius Grant” recipient Jason Moran.
The new music style that Glass has been most closely associated with throughout his career was eventually dubbed “minimalism,” though Glass prefers to describe himself as a composer of “music with repetitive structures.”
Much of his early work was based on the extended reiteration of brief, melodic fragments that wove in and out of an aural tapestry. A prolific composer whose output only continues to grow, Glass has composed (in addition to the etudes) 14 symphonies, 13 concertos, numerous film soundtracks, nine string quartets, multiple works for solo organ, and more than 30 operas, including his famed four-and-a-half-hour masterpiece, Einstein on the Beach. To hear his repertoire for solo piano—a body of work composed over nearly two decades—reveals Glass at his most personal and intimate.
FEB 13–14, 2027, ZELLERBACH HALL
Seventy-five years ago, choreographer Amalia Hernández founded Ballet Folklórico de México with a vision: to take regional folk dances and their surrounding Mexican subcultures—from pre-Columbian civilizations to the modern era—and elevate them onto a global stage. In the decades since, her company has reached more than 45 million spectators worldwide and served as an official ambassador of Mexico, firmly establishing itself as one of the world’s premier folkloric dance ensembles. Its accolades are numerous and include the National Prize for Fine Arts from the Mexican government and France’s Legion of Honor. This anniversary tour is a celebration of everything the group’s legacy encompasses: a well-rounded feast of dance, music, storytelling, and vibrant, intricate costuming that amplifies and honors the full richness of Mexican cultural heritage.
To experience Ballet Folklórico de México is to understand, in the most visceral and joyful way possible, just how much a single performance can deliver.
Each regional style brings its own rhythms and history—and the company’s dancers convey all of it with the kind of precision and passion that demonstrates the lasting impact of its iconic and visionary founder.
OCT 18, 2026, ZELLERBACH HALL
A living legend of American music, Judy Collins arrives in Berkeley for a retrospective concert that looks back on a six-decade career of sublime vocals, boldly vulnerable songwriting, and a firm commitment to social activism. A contemporary of Bob Dylan and Joan Baez, Collins established herself as a household name with recordings that quickly became part of the cultural fabric—among them, her landmark 1967 rendition of Joni Mitchell’s “Both Sides Now,” which has since been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, and her sweetly intimate version of Stephen Sondheim’s “Send in the Clowns,” which won Song of the Year at the 1975 Grammy Awards.
Across 55 albums, she has inspired audiences with deeply personal renditions of traditional and contemporary folk standards as well as her own poetic original compositions—resulting in gold and platinum albums, and winning countless awards and the devotion of generations of listeners.
The depth of Collins’ impact on music is perhaps best measured by the company she keeps: artists including Rufus Wainwright, Shawn Colvin, Dolly Parton, and Leonard Cohen have all honored her legacy on the tribute album Born to the Breed. The title of this farewell tour is drawn from her own memoir, Sweet Judy Blue Eyes: My Life in Music—a fitting frame for an evening that celebrates not just a body of work, but an entire life lived in service of song.
OCT 25, 2026, HERTZ HALL
The most acclaimed countertenor of his generation, Iestyn Davies has been lauded as “one of those hallowed few countertenors who can take a single note on a single syllable and spin it out into a long-breathed thing of immaculate beauty—shifting, modulating, and shaped to tug at the heartstrings” (Bachtrack).
Known for his sensitive musicianship and the beauty and technical dexterity of his voice, Davies is a Grammy winner and recipient of multiple Gramophone awards.
He has collaborated with many of today’s leading composers, including Thomas Adès, George Benjamin, and Nico Muhly; and here combines his interpretive powers with those of standout harpist Oliver Wass, the first harpist to win the prestigious Guildhall Gold Medal.
Several seasons ago, Davies visited Cal Performances with The English Concert to sing the role of Bertarido in Rodelinda. This recital offers a more personal encounter with both Davies and Wass, as they traverse 400 years of music from the Old and New Worlds. Davies in particular is known for appearances at the most prestigious opera houses around the world, so to have him at Cal Performances for an intimate recital is an opportunity not to be missed.
FEB 21, 2027, ZELLERBACH HALL
Sister period-music ensembles the English Baroque Soloists and the Monteverdi Choir—the gold standard in Baroque performance for decades—join forces for a very special US performance of Bach’s crowning masterpiece during its 300th anniversary year. The majestic and powerfully dramatic St. Matthew Passion sets the 26th and 27th chapters of the Bible’s Gospel of Matthew to music with interspersed chorales and arias. The work has undoubtedly earned its place in the classical canon, and is scored for massive forces: a double choir, double orchestra, and vocal soloists.
Both the English Baroque Soloists and Monteverdi Choir are among the finest specialists in historically informed performance, and have spent decades arranging, recording, and performing for audiences around the world.
They are conducted here by Masaaki Suzuki, a leading authority on the works of Bach and the founder and music director of the Bach Collegium Japan. Bach’s transcendent oratorio will be sung by featured soloists: in the role of the Evangelist, British tenor Nick Pritchard, whom Classical Post heralded as “redefining the English tenor tradition through authentic performances”; and, as Jesus, German bass-baritone Florian Störtz, whose accolades include the Prix de mélodie at the 2023 Lili et Nadia Boulanger Competition in Paris and the Young Artists Platform at the International Song Festival Zeistas.
OCT 24, 2026, ZELLERBACH HALL
Steve Reich has been called “the most original musical thinker of our time” by the New Yorker and “among the great composers of the century” by the New York Times—and those are not idle superlatives. A leader of the minimalist movement since the 1960s, Reich’s influential works such as Drumming, Music for 18 Musicians, and Different Trains have undoubtedly shifted the way music is composed, away from extreme complexity and towards rethinking pulsation and tonal attraction in new ways. As the Guardian put it,
“There’s just a handful of living composers who can legitimately claim to have altered the direction of musical history, and Steve Reich is one of them.”
To celebrate his 90th birthday, Cal Performances presents a one-night mini-festival featuring more than 20 of Reich’s foremost interpreters and closest collaborators. New York’s Bang on a Can All-Stars—world-renowned champions of new music for more than three decades—join next-generation innovators Ensemble Signal for a program that spans seminal works including the Pulitzer Prize-winning Double Sextet and Electric Counterpoint, alongside the West Coast premiere of a brand new Reich work, In All Your Ways, co-commissioned by Cal Performances. It is a fitting tribute to a composer whose influence shows no signs of slowing.
JAN 29, 2027, ZELLERBACH HALL
Among the most venerated pianists and musical thinkers of our time, Mitsuko Uchida is acclaimed as a peerless interpreter of Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, and Schumann—composers whose works she has thoughtfully mined over decades of performances and recordings. Named Musical America’s Artist of the Year in 2022, she is a multiple Grammy winner who has enjoyed close partnerships with the world’s finest orchestras and conductors throughout a career that has only grown richer with time. Her 2022 recording of Beethoven’s Diabelli Variations earned both a Grammy nomination and the Gramophone Piano Award, and she has been a vital part of the leadership of the Marlboro Music Festival for more than 20 years. Cal Performances audiences will remember her fondly as Artist in Residence of the 2023–24 season.
Uchida returns to Berkeley performing at the height of her considerable powers, in a solo recital that traverses a kaleidoscope of sentiment and character.
The program moves from Haydn’s inventive Variations in F minor to a ruminative Mozart rondo to Schubert’s transcendent late-period Sonata in A major. The repertoire focuses on composers whom Uchida has spent a lifetime illuminating, offering unmatched sensitivity and deep musical insight that have made her one of the most revered figures in classical music today.
APR 6–11, 2027, ZELLERBACH HALL
Founded in 1958, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater is one of the most acclaimed dance companies in the world—and one of the most consequential. Created by legendary choreographer Alvin Ailey during a pivotal moment in the American Civil Rights Movement, the company was established to
“uplift the African American experience while transcending the boundaries of race, faith, and nationality through its universal humanity.”
Ailey’s visionary model reimagined his company as a “library of dance,” where the strong and graceful dancers of the company would bring to life the works of many choreographers that might otherwise be lost—the first modern dance company of its kind. Today, the Ailey company boasts a repertory of roughly 300 works by more than 100 choreographers, has performed in more than 70 countries on six continents, and has been designated a “vital American Cultural Ambassador to the World” by a US Congressional resolution.
Leading the company into its next chapter is Alicia Graf Mack—a San Jose native, celebrated former Ailey performer, and most recently Dean and Director of the Dance Division at the Juilliard School—who became the company’s fourth artistic director in 2025. Under her leadership, the Ailey dancers continue to be guided by the spiritual core that has always made this company distinct, whether performing canonical masterworks like Revelations or bringing to life brand-new works by some of today’s most compelling choreographers. An Ailey performance is, and has always been, an event unlike any other.
Explore More and Secure Your Seats
Cal Performances is known, above all, for our commitment to excellence, and so this list cannot possibly cover all of the incredible talents planned for our 2026–27 season. We encourage you to review the full lineup on your own, and guarantee you’ll find plenty more to add to your own personal Mount Rushmore of great artists!
Want to secure your seats early and save up to 25% on tickets? When you subscribe by bundling as few as four performances, you unlock the very best experience we have to offer! Explore our Subscriber benefits, and mark your calendars for when subscriptions go on sale at noon (PT) on May 5, 2026!
UC Berkeley students have access to exclusive student discounts, including a special bundle of 4 tickets called a Flex Pass. UCB Student tickets go on sale on August 21, 2026.
Related Events
Beyond the Stage: 2026–27 Season Guides
Explore the six guides to the season below to find the performances that were made for you.
Around the World in 80 Performances: The World-Traveler’s Guide to the 2026–27 Season
Around the World in 80 Performances: The World-Traveler’s Guide to the 2026–27 Season
If you’re someone who loves to experience cultural performance traditions from around the world, our “World-Traveler” guide will prove a great point of departure for your adventures—no plane ticket required! Each season, Cal Performances brings the world’s best artists from all across the globe to Berkeley, and the 2026–27 season is certainly no exception. This curated list highlights a handful of performances headed to the Bay Area soon, and provides direct insights from the artists about how their culture gives life to their work.
APR 17, 2027, ZELLERBACH HALL
Maverick instrumentalist and composer Niladri Kumaar carries a musical lineage that is as much cultural as it is personal. As a fifth-generation sitarist, Kumaar grew up surrounded by Indian classical music from a very young age, giving his first performance at age 6 and releasing his first album in collaboration with his father at age 15. Today, Kumaar is among the most compelling and innovative artists in Indian classical music, and embraces his “journey and challenge of making the sitar and classical music more accessible, loved and appreciated in the minds, hearts and playlists of the younger generation.”
“In music, there is space between the notes; and that very music actually reduces the space between people, time, place, and connection. Regardless of different cultures and languages, music just binds it all. … In my upcoming tour, we celebrate that magic that music has to string it all together. The sitar is a royal instrument of India. She represents the Indian classical soul but also showcases the infinite possibilities one has with the instrument being fretted and fretless together. This time, I’m also looking forward to touring with my zitar, the electric sitar. The amazing musicians with me on the tabla, keys, and drums complement the traditional sound. The beauty of Indian culture is that its identity is strong yet has a universal appeal. That’s why Indian music has always intrigued listeners. It is my humble attempt to reach as many people as possible, to experience the beauty, divinity, and timeless relevance this music holds. I look forward to having Indian music on the global stage and seeing you all soon.” —Niladri Kumaar
Kumaar was an admired collaborator and longtime protegé of the late tabla virtuoso Zakir Hussain—appearing multiple times with him at Cal Performances—and their special musical relationship is explored in Sumantra Ghosal’s documentary film The Space Between the Notes. To honor his friend and mentor, Kumaar has created a new ensemble of Indian and North American musicians that will perform a program combining his own original compositions with works that he and Hussain once played together.
In this video, Fairouz Nishanova, Director of the Aga Khan Music Programme, talks about how musical fusion is not a new concept but a centuries-old tradition of cultural exchange.
APR 16, 2027, ZELLERBACH HALL
The artist collective of Aga Khan Master Musicians was formed through the Aga Khan Music Programme, a multi-faceted education, performance, production, commissioning, and awards platform that convenes leading artists from the Great East and Mediterranean worlds to explore what happens when long-travelled musical paths meet again in the present.
The members of Aga Khan Master Musicians and their special guests—collectively representing roots in Central Asia, China, the Middle East, and France—are dedicated to using their own cultures and personal experiences, including encounters with displacement and migration, to create a modern sound that resonates across continents and centuries. Here, the septet performs a fresh program of jointly created new works inspired by the ancient routes that connected trade and culture between Asia and the Mediterranean. The instrumentation of the performance is in keeping with the theme of putting cultures in dialogue, featuring: Feras Charestan on the Middle Eastern string instrument, the qanun; Abbos Kosimov on the traditional Uzbek percussive instrument, the doira; Wu Man on the Chinese pipa, a four-string plucked lute; Vincent Peirani on the Europe-originated accordion; Basel Rajoub on the European saxophone and the Middle Eastern wind instrument duclar; Vincent Ségal on the European cello; and Yurdal Tokcan on the oud, the traditional lute-like instrument of the Middle East.
FEB 13–14, 2027, ZELLERBACH HALL
Seventy-five years ago, choreographer Amalia Hernández founded Ballet Folklórico de México with a vision: to take regional folk dances and their surrounding Mexican subcultures—from pre-Columbian civilizations to the modern era—and elevate them onto a global stage. In the decades since, her company has reached more than 45 million spectators worldwide and served as an official ambassador of Mexico, firmly establishing itself as one of the world’s premier folkloric dance ensembles. Its accolades are numerous and include the National Prize for Fine Arts from the Mexican government and France’s Legion of Honor.
“My mother [Amalia Hernández] was very creative. She had a lot of ways to understand—not to repeat what she saw, but to translate what was the language of Mexican roots. … What we really want to share is ‘what are the roots,’ ‘what are they doing,’ and making [Mexicans and Mexican Americans] love where they come from and not be ashamed. Be proud of where you come from. … I think it makes our roots and our present stronger.” —Viviana Basanta Hernández, artistic director of Ballet Folklórico de México and daughter of founder Amalia Hernández, in interview with The Hoya
This anniversary tour is a celebration of everything the group’s legacy encompasses: a well-rounded feast of dance, music, storytelling, and vibrant, intricate costuming that amplifies and honors the full richness of Mexican cultural heritage. To experience Ballet Folklórico de México is to understand, in the most visceral and joyful way possible, just how much a single performance can deliver. Each regional style brings its own rhythms and history—and the company’s dancers convey all of it with the kind of precision and passion that demonstrates the lasting impact of its iconic and visionary founder.
In this video, members of Kodo talk about their Luminance One Earth tour, including music inspired by different cultures encountered on their travels.
JAN 22-24, 2027, ZELLERBACH HALL
For 45 years, Kodo has evolved the ancient art of taiko drumming through rigorous physical discipline and spiritual connection while maintaining deep roots in Japanese cultural heritage. Living bearers of a centuries-old folk tradition, the ensemble’s drummers create a universe of emotion through supreme athleticism, astonishing choreography, and earth-shattering sounds drawn from enormous drums. The core of Kodo is the intention to “play the drums with the simple heart of a child,” and the effect is at once profound and exhilarating.
The new production Luminance celebrates both the troupe’s 45th anniversary and taiko’s ability to stir the soul. The performance features highlights from Kodo’s most popular tours and is in part inspired by cultures the group itself has encountered on its travels—currently standing at over 7,500 performances in more than 50 countries and regions across five continents. The program includes the mighty o-daiko drum solo and climactic “Yatai-Bayashi” finale, and a tribute to Maki Ishii’s dynamic and beloved taiko composition “Monochrome,” which involves 10 drums and two large, deeply resonant gongs.
In this video, Jean Rondeau plays an excerpt from Tombeau de Mr. de Blancrocher G. 81 by Louis Couperin. Recorded at San Stefano Church in Castelmuzio (Italy) on a Blanchet harpsichord built by Bruce Kennedy.
SUN, Nov 8, 2026, HERTZ HALL
Returning to Cal Performances following his memorable 2023 recital, French harpsichordist Jean Rondeau—truly a global ambassador ushering in “new and imaginative” (San Francisco Classical Voice) ways of playing his instrument—visits with a characteristically ambitious and insightful program exploring the marvelous keyboard works originating in his home country during the Baroque period.
“It has always seemed sensible to me to immerse oneself in the historical and social context of a specific musical period in order to discern the contours of the role music played at that time and how it intertwined with social life. From this, one can derive insights into the very relationship musicians had with music, as well as with one another and within society. This program focuses both on a specific strand of 17th-century French music, marked by an emerging and experimental style, and on a particular strand of the 18th century, in which the French style is brought to its height. I wanted to bring these composers together in order to explore the continuity between musical languages and the evolution of music across different periods—what they reveal about music and how they shape it.” —Jean Rondeau
Across the recital, Rondeau will perform works by four leading lights of the Baroque style: Louis Couperin, who composed more than 100 pieces for harpsichord and was the first major member of the Couperin dynasty of musicians; Jean-Philippe Rameau, the great harpsichordist, opera composer, and musical theorist who provided a framework for the development of harmony in the 18th century and was one of the first composers to put France on the global stage; Louis Couperin’s nephew, harpsichordist and prolific composer François Couperin (who personally doubled his uncle’s output for the instrument), also known as Couperin le Grand; and Joseph-Nicolas-Pancrace Royer, whose talents with the harpsichord earned him favor with the court of Louis XV, who saw his work as an opportunity to spread French culture. To hear one of the world’s leading harpsichordists today unpack his own musical lineage in an intimate recital setting is sure to transport anyone in the audience through time and place.
NOV 28–29, 2026, ZELLERBACH HALL
From the very first moment, WOW (World of Words) makes clear that it intends to deliver on its title. Led by Yamoussa Bangoura—a multidisciplinary artist of Guinean origin who founded both a school of circus arts and a company specializing in African arts—Cirque Kalabanté brings together traditional African movement and music with the Montreal circus tradition in a production that communicates its story almost entirely through dance, acrobatics, contortion, music, and clever staging in place of dialogue. Bangoura himself supplies a live soundtrack of singing and kora playing that matches the energy of everything unfolding around him, rooting the performance in a vivid African soundscape even as the acrobatics seem to defy every earthly limit.
“My dream was to become an acrobat and travel the world, representing Guinea. But as I traveled and worked with various circuses globally, I felt something was missing. I wanted to create something special that would remind me of my country and share the colours of Guinea with the audience. I wanted people to know where Guinea is and showcase the richness of African culture.” —Yamoussa Bangoura, founder and artistic director of Cirque Kalabanté, in interview with London Living
Bangoura, who has proudly spoken of the immense artistic talent and athleticism he was surrounded by in his home country of Guinea growing up, has trained in dance, kora, juggling, strap, acrobatics, and singing throughout his career. This wide range of talents is on full display in the company’s production, resulting in a performance that explores the transmission of knowledge and the meeting of cultures with as much warmth as it does spectacle.
OCT 23, 2026, 7:30PM, ZELLERBACH HALL
The origins of Mariachi Herencia de México are anything but traditional. The mariachi group traces its start to investment banker César Maldonado, a native Chicagoan whose parents emigrated from the same small town in México and filled his childhood home with the music of mariachi legends. Seeing a lack of cultural arts programs in the same schools he attended in his youth, Maldonado created a nonprofit, Mariachi Heritage Foundation, an enterprise dedicated to bringing mariachi curriculum to Chicago public schools. Wanting students to experience what it would be like to record music professionally, Maldonado had select program participants take part in a recording project that, released under the name Mariachi Herencia de México, would go on to earn a Latin Grammy Award nomination.
“We take it on as a responsibility to push this genre forward. … Mariachi Herencia de México is comprised of some of the best mariachi musicians in the world from all over the place…. Mariachi music is generational music, so a lot of the members are four-, five-time generations in their families of being mariachi musicians. So, as you can imagine, it’s a legacy that we respect, and when we make new music, we always try to honor the old school and put our fresh take on it, too.” —César Maldonado, founder and artistic director of Mariachi Herencia de México
Over the last decade, Maldonado has grown the band in ways no one could have anticipated. Fusing traditional mariachi repertoire (sung in both English and Spanish) with additional influences from other musical styles originating in Mexico, the Caribbean, and Central and South America, Mariachi Herencia de México pays homage to tradition while paving a new way forward.
Beyond the Stage: 2026–27 Season Guides
Explore the six guides to the season below to find the performances that were made for you.
As noted, this list includes just a small sample of performers who have proudly and proactively called out the impact their culture plays in their work; although we celebrate the fact that many of the performers on our season carry with them a cultural heritage that is inseparable from their personal artistry. Explore the full 2026–27 Season Calendar for yourself, and review our other season guides as well on Beyond the Stage.
Want to secure your seats early and save up to 25% on tickets? When you subscribe by bundling as few as four performances, you unlock the very best experience we have to offer! Explore our Subscriber benefits, and mark your calendars for when subscriptions go on sale at noon (PT) on May 5, 2026!
UC Berkeley students have access to exclusive student discounts, including a special bundle of 4 tickets called a Flex Pass. UCB Student tickets go on sale on August 21, 2026.
Related Events
Beyond the Stage: 2026–27 Season Guides
Explore the six guides to the season below to find the performances that were made for you.