New Music Concerts at Cal Performances

Our 2025–26 season sees an exciting, extensive lineup of New Music events! Coming to Cal Performances are Kronos Quartet as they bring new and recent works by an international cohort of strikingly original women composers; Third Coast Percussion & tabla virtuoso Salar Nader give us a program honoring the late Zakir Hussain; mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato and Time for Three traverse the poetry of Emily Dickinson; UCB’s own Eco Ensemble deep dive into the music of two exciting recent additions to the composition faculty; American Modern Opera Company and Sandbox Percussion co-produce Simeon ten Holt’s Canto Ostinato; JACK Quartet make their Cal Performances debut with a program of new and recent works by living composers; and Silkroad Ensemble with Rhiannon Giddens explore music as a powerful medium for healing and connection across cultures.

Beginning noon Apr 22, save 25% with an New Music Subscription!

2025–26 New Music Events Calendar

New Music, Illuminations: "Exile & Sanctuary"

Kronos Quartet

Beyond the Golden Gate

Oct 11, 2025, 8pm
New Music

Third Coast Percussion & Salar Nader, tabla

Murmurs in Time

Nov 1, 2025, 8pm
New Music

Eco Ensemble

David Milnes, director

Feb 7, 2026, 8pm
New Music

Joyce DiDonato, mezzo-soprano
Time for Three

Emily – No Prisoner Be
A Cal Performances Co-commission

Feb 7, 2026, 8pm
New Music

Canto Ostinato
An AMOC & Sandbox Percussion Co-Production

A work by Simeon ten Holt

Feb 22, 2026, 3pm
Orchestra & Chamber Music, New Music

JACK Quartet

Mar 15, 2026, 3pm
New Music, Illuminations: "Exile & Sanctuary"

Silkroad Ensemble with Rhiannon Giddens

Sanctuary: The Power of Resonance and Ritual

Mar 19–20, 2026
New Music

Theatre of Voices

Apr 26, 2026, 3pm