Nina Stemme, soprano
Magnus Svensson, piano
Magnus Svensson, piano
Sunday, May 7, 2023, 3pm
Zellerbach Hall
Major support provided by The Bernard Osher Foundation.
From the Executive and Artistic Director
As many of you already know, just a few weeks ago, Cal Performances announced details of its upcoming 2023–24 season. Beginning in October, with the Berkeley debut by the brilliant young Israeli pianist Tom Borrow, and continuing into May, when Icelandic pianist Víkingur Ólafsson will close the season with a performance of J.S. Bach’s timeless Goldberg Variations, you can look forward to a calendar packed with the very finest in live music, dance, and theater.
You’ll find more than 80 carefully curated events designed to appeal to the eclectic interests and adventurous sensibilities of Bay Area audiences. As you’ve come to expect at Cal Performances, the upcoming season offers a wide range of opportunities to discover new artists and artworks, featuring nearly 30 companies, ensembles, and solo artists new to our program, and many unfamiliar works, including six world premieres, six Cal Performances co-commissions, nearly one dozen local and regional premieres, and the West Coast premieres of Taylor Mac & Matt Ray’s Bark of Millions and Nathalie Joachim’s Ki moun ou ye (Who are you?).
Cal Performances also continues to invest in ongoing relationships with established and acclaimed artistic partners, many of whom are longtime audience favorites. We’ll see a thrilling collaboration between Germany’s Pina Bausch Foundation, Senegal’s École des Sables, and England’s Sadler’s Wells theater in a program that includes the first-ever Bay Area performance of Bausch’s pioneering The Rite of Spring (1975), as well as the renewal of a multi-season residency by The Joffrey Ballet, which this year will present its first full-length narrative ballet (Anna Karenina) at Zellerbach Hall. And I’m especially pleased that in March 2024, the renowned pianist Mitsuko Uchida will join us as Artist in Residence for two special concerts as well as additional opportunities for the campus and wider Bay Area community to engage with her singular artistry.
A focus of the season will be our multi-dimensional Illuminations programming, which once again connects the work of world-class artists to the intellectual life and scholarship at UC Berkeley via performances and public programs investigating a pressing theme—this season, “Individual & Community.” Concepts of “individual” and “community” have been at the forefront of public discourse in recent years, with some models increasing polarization and radicalization within our society. Questions have emerged as to how we can best nurture a sense of community and how the groups we associate with impact our own sense of self. Given our fast-evolving social landscape, how can we retain and celebrate the traits that make each of us unique, while still thriving in a world that demands cooperation and collaboration? With the performing arts serving as our guide and compass, our 2023–24 “Individual & Community” programming will explore the tensions that come into play when balancing the interests of the individual with those of the group.
Please make sure to check out our brand new 45-page season brochure and our website for complete information. We’re thrilled to share all the details with you, in print and online!
This weekend, of course, our current season draws to a close with long-awaited performances of Octavia E. Butler’s Parable of the Sower and our season-closing recital with the great Swedish soprano, Nina Stemme and pianist Magnus Svensson. It has been a joy sharing the entire year with you, and I look forward with great anticipation to seeing you again next season!
Jeremy Geffen
Executive and Artistic Director, Cal Performances
As many of you already know, just a few weeks ago, Cal Performances announced details of its upcoming 2023–24 season. Beginning in October, with the Berkeley debut by the brilliant young Israeli pianist Tom Borrow, and continuing into May, when Icelandic pianist Víkingur Ólafsson will close the season with a performance of J.S. Bach’s timeless Goldberg Variations, you can look forward to a calendar packed with the very finest in live music, dance, and theater.
You’ll find more than 80 carefully curated events designed to appeal to the eclectic interests and adventurous sensibilities of Bay Area audiences. As you’ve come to expect at Cal Performances, the upcoming season offers a wide range of opportunities to discover new artists and artworks, featuring nearly 30 companies, ensembles, and solo artists new to our program, and many unfamiliar works, including six world premieres, six Cal Performances co-commissions, nearly one dozen local and regional premieres, and the West Coast premieres of Taylor Mac & Matt Ray’s Bark of Millions and Nathalie Joachim’s Ki moun ou ye (Who are you?).
Cal Performances also continues to invest in ongoing relationships with established and acclaimed artistic partners, many of whom are longtime audience favorites. We’ll see a thrilling collaboration between Germany’s Pina Bausch Foundation, Senegal’s École des Sables, and England’s Sadler’s Wells theater in a program that includes the first-ever Bay Area performance of Bausch’s pioneering The Rite of Spring (1975), as well as the renewal of a multi-season residency by The Joffrey Ballet, which this year will present its first full-length narrative ballet (Anna Karenina) at Zellerbach Hall. And I’m especially pleased that in March 2024, the renowned pianist Mitsuko Uchida will join us as Artist in Residence for two special concerts as well as additional opportunities for the campus and wider Bay Area community to engage with her singular artistry.
A focus of the season will be our multi-dimensional Illuminations programming, which once again connects the work of world-class artists to the intellectual life and scholarship at UC Berkeley via performances and public programs investigating a pressing theme—this season, “Individual & Community.” Concepts of “individual” and “community” have been at the forefront of public discourse in recent years, with some models increasing polarization and radicalization within our society. Questions have emerged as to how we can best nurture a sense of community and how the groups we associate with impact our own sense of self. Given our fast-evolving social landscape, how can we retain and celebrate the traits that make each of us unique, while still thriving in a world that demands cooperation and collaboration? With the performing arts serving as our guide and compass, our 2023–24 “Individual & Community” programming will explore the tensions that come into play when balancing the interests of the individual with those of the group.
Please make sure to check out our brand new 45-page season brochure and our website for complete information. We’re thrilled to share all the details with you, in print and online!
This weekend, of course, our current season draws to a close with long-awaited performances of Octavia E. Butler’s Parable of the Sower and our season-closing recital with the great Swedish soprano, Nina Stemme and pianist Magnus Svensson. It has been a joy sharing the entire year with you, and I look forward with great anticipation to seeing you again next season!
Jeremy Geffen
Executive and Artistic Director, Cal Performances
