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Wednesday April 2, 2008 8 PM UC Berkeley Zellerbach Hall |
Music From Myth Laura Jackson, conductor
Laura Jackson, most recently Assistant Conductor with the Atlanta Symphony, closes the season's Zellerbach Hall series with three lyrical works inspired by ideas from myth and literature.
Darius Milhaud, La Création du Monde
Susan Botti, The Exchange
Thomas Glenn, tenor; Wendy Tamis, harp
Susan Botti, Translucence
(West Coast Premiere)
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Scheherazade
Complete program notes |
Thursday March 13, 2008 8 PM UC Berkeley Zellerbach Hall |
Classical Puerto Rico Guillermo Figueroa, conductor
Guillermo Figueroa, Music Director of the Puerto Rico and New Mexico Symphony Orchestras, presents two of the Caribbean island's classical talents: composer Roberto Sierra with a folk-inspired opener and mezzo-soprano Gabriela García in a Berlioz song cycle.
Roberto Sierra, Borikén (U.S. Premiere)
Hector Berlioz, Les Nuits d'été
Gabriela García, mezzo-soprano
Antonín Dvorák, Symphony No. 7
Complete program notes
Listen as Figueroa talks about this program with KALW's Alan Farley
(5 MB; please be patient for download)
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Sunday March 30, 2008 7 PM First Congregational Church of Berkeley |
Under Construction III Laura Jackson, conductor
Berkeley Symphony's new music series concludes with three new works inspired by spring. It's like open mic night... with full orchestra! More info
David Graves, Deep Green Dream
Sue-Hye Kim, Bom
Elizabeth Lim, Vesper / Serenade
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Sunday March 16, 2008 7 PM |
Under Construction II Guillermo Figueroa, conductor
Berkeley Symphony's new music series continues with three selections inspired by dance. Watch and listen as new works come alive with an immediacy unmatched anywhere else! More infoDavid Graves, The Spectator
Sue-Hye Kim, Heung
Elizabeth Lim, Shadow Dances
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Sunday February 24, 2008 7 PM First Congregational Church of Berkeley |
Under Construction Hugh Wolff, conductor
Berkeley Symphony's new music series opens with the first-ever readings/performances of the winning entries by this season's three Emerging Composers-in-Residence. More info
David Graves, Insecurities (and Other Agencies of Government)
Sue-Hye Kim, Creatio
Elizabeth Lim, Windfall
Buy Tickets: $20 / $10
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Thursday February 21, 2008 8 PM UC Berkeley Zellerbach Hall |
Berkeley Symphony Hugh Wolff, conductor
Hugh Wolff returns to the U.S., following a decade as head of the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra. He introduces works by Pulitzer Prize winner Aaron Jay Kernis and Grammy Award winner Osvaldo Golijov, followed by a Shostakovich song cycle performed in Yiddish, as he is convinced was the composer's intent. A Beethoven symphony—welcomed by Austrians emerging from years of turmoil—completes this fascinating program.
Aaron Jay Kernis,
Overture in Feet and Meters
(West Coast Premiere)
Osvaldo Golijov, Night of the Flying Horses
Heidi Melton, soprano
Dmitri Shostakovich, From Jewish Poetry
Heidi Melton, soprano
Katharine Tier, mezzo-soprano
Thomas Glenn, tenor
Beethoven, Symphony No. 7
Complete program notes
Download an interview with Maestro Wolff and KALW's Alan Farley (4 MB)
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Thursday January 31, 2008 8 PM UC Berkeley Zellerbach Hall |
Berkeley Symphony Kent Nagano, Music Director
Maestro Nagano opens the Berkeley Symphony season, including a piano concerto depicting a lotus flower floating in water, dreaming of Mozart.
Mozart, Symphony No. 26 in E-flat Major
Toshio Hosokawa, Lotus under the moonlight
Momo Kodama, piano (U.S. Premiere)
Schubert, Symphony No. 9, “The Great”
Complete program notes |
Wednesday December 19, 2007 8 PM First Congregational Church of Berkeley |
Berkeley Akademie Ensemble Kent Nagano, conductor |
Friday May 11, 2007 8 PM First Congregational Church of Berkeley |
Cello on the Edge Kent Nagano, conductor
It’s a cello revolution as Matt Haimovitz joins Maestro Nagano for two world premieres combining big band and dance floor sounds!
Johannes Brahms, Symphony No. 4
Tod Machover, VinylCello
for HyperCello, DJ, and live electronics
Matt Haimovitz, hypercello
DJ Olive, turntables
David Sanford, Scherzo Grosso
for cello and orchestra
Matt Haimovitz, cello
Listen Up Talk, 7:15 PM
KALW 91.7 FM host Alan Farley talks with cellist Matt Haimovitz and composers David Sanford and Tod Machover.
Complete Program Notes
SOLD OUT
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Thursday April 19, 2007 8pm First Congregational Church of Berkeley Kent Nagano, conductor 
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Europe, Old and New Nagano pairs yesterday’s innovators with today’s voices, including two from Berlin: a Korean-born composer and the longtime principal clarinetist from the Berlin Philharmonic.
George Benjamin, Olicantus
Wolfgang A. Mozart, Clarinet Concerto in A
Karl Leister, clarinet
Unsuk Chin, Cantatrix Sopranica
Marnie Breckenridge, soprano
Nikki Einfeld, soprano
Paul Flight, countertenor
Ludwig van Beethoven, Symphony No. 8
Complete Program Notes
SOLD OUT
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Saturday January 13, 2007 8pm Zellerbach Hall, UC Berkeley George Thomson, conductor 
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Hold On Join us as George Thomson returns to sample the many styles of the modern orchestra: Chamber music, from a composer known for his large-scale fireworks. Virtuoso music, at the hands of a 22-year-old Oakland native. Theater music, as could be heard in Shakespeare’s time. And music of conscience, as one of Berkeley’s own expresses how the African American spiritual tradition of the past speaks to perseverance in the face of injustice today.
Igor Stravinsky, Concertino for 12 Instruments
Jean Sibelius, Violin Concerto | Margot Schwartz, soloist
Matthew Locke, “Curtain Tune” from The Tempest (1674)
Olly Wilson, Hold On: Symphony No. 3
Read the feature article in the January 12 Berkeley Daily Planet
Read the complete program notes
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Thursday December 14, 2006 8pm Zellerbach Hall, UC Berkeley Kent Nagano, conductor 
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Shostakovich: Leningrad Maestro Nagano presents an epic work from a time of war - a warning of threats both from abroad... and from within.
Arvo Pärt, Summa for strings
Arvo Pärt, Für Alina for piano
Arvo Pärt, Arbos for brass & percussion
Dmitri Shostakovich, Symphony No. 7, Leningrad
Complete Program Notes
Listen as Nagano introduces this program
(MP3 / 2:20 / courtesy KALW 91.7 FM)
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Wednesday June 21, 2006 8 pm Zellerbach Hall, UC Berkeley Kent Nagano, Conductor 
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Nagano and Eaglen Together! Superstar soprano Jane Eaglen sings Berg and Mozart Edmund Campion, Practice*
Alban Berg, Seven Early Songs
Jane Eaglen, soprano
Wolfgang A. Mozart, Arias from Don Giovanni
Jane Eaglen, soprano
Robert Schumann, Symphony No. 2
The 2005-06 season comes to a glorious close with Kent Nagano's first-ever appearance with one of the world's most heralded sopranos, Jane Eaglen. Of a recent performance at the Metropolitan Opera, The New York Times wrote “Ms. Eaglen’s voice remains a natural wonder…a gleaming sound that shimmered throughout the house.”
The season's “Europe meets America” theme comes to a close with a new work for orchestra and integrated electronics by Edmund Campion, fresh from its debut in Carnegie Hall's Orchestra Underground series. Kent Nagano's year-long cycle of the Schumann symphonies concludes with his most popular work in the genre, the poignant and triumphant Symphony No. 2.
Complete Program Notes
* Edmund Campion's Practice performed in conjunction with UC Berkeley Center for New Music and Audio Technologies (CNMAT)
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Thursday April 6, 2006 8 pm St. John’s Presbyterian Church, Berkeley George Thomson, Conductor; Kent Nagano, Host |
Under Construction Entering its 12th year, the Berkeley Symphony's Under Construction is unique combination of open-rehearsal and performance that selects works-in-progress or recently completed works by local composers and brings them to life for the first time. BSO Associate Conductor George Thomson conducts the orchestra, and Maestro Nagano hosts and interviews the composers during the insightful question and answer period. Your exclusive opportunity to hear new music in progress before the World Premiere!
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Wednesday March 29, 2006 8 pm Zellerbach Hall, UC Berkeley Kent Nagano, Conductor 
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Nagano and Ohlsson Together! Garrick Ohlsson plays the Schumann Piano Concerto John Chowning, Voices, in association with CNMAT (U.S. Premiere)
Maureen Chowning, soprano
Robert Schumann, Piano Concerto
Garrick Ohlsson, piano
Robert Schumann, Fantasia for violin and orchestra
Stuart Canin, violin
Robert Schumann, Symphony No. 4
Robert Schumann – German romanticism at its best. Revel in the rare opportunity to explore three varied works as Kent Nagano is joined by two remarkable artists: pianistGarrick Ohlsson and violinist Stuart Canin. Composer-in-residence John Chowning conjures ancient oracles to open a musical evening both fresh and familiar.
Complete Program Notes
Join us to explore behind the music:
"Schumann's Brain:
Music and the Mind"
Pre-concert talk with Dr. Bruce Miller, Professor of Neurology, UCSF
March 29, 7pm, Zellerbach Hall
"Electronic Music Appreciation 101"
With John Chowning and David Wessel
March 23, 6pm, UC Berkeley CNMAT, 1750 Arch St.
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Saturday January 28, 2006 8 pm Zellerbach Hall, UC Berkeley George Thomson, Conductor |
From Bach to Carter Thomson conducts Bach, Carter, Varèse and Stravinsky Johann Sebastian Bach, Brandenburg Concerto No. 3
Elliott Carter, Piano Concerto
Jerry Kuderna, piano
Edgard Varèse, Octandre
Igor Stravinsky, Suite from The Firebird
BSO Associate Conductor George Thomson’s subscription debut last season was called “one of the orchestra’s finest, most cohesive performances in recent memory” by the Contra Costa Times. Maestro Thomson continues our “Europe meets America” season as he leads Bach’s glorious Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 and is joined by pianist Jerry Kuderna for Elliot Carter’s Piano Concerto. Carter, one of the preeminent American composers of our time, celebrates his 97th birthday this season. Edgar Varèse’s Octandre is a testament to the composer’s dynamic concept of sound and his colorful use of wind instruments. The concert ends with Stravinsky’s rousing Suite from The Firebird.
Complete Program Notes
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Friday Friday, December 2, 2005 8 pm Zellerbach Hall, UC Berkeley Kent Nagano, Conductor 
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World Premiere of Bitter Harvest Bitter Harvest, an American farmer's oratorio (commissioned by the Berkeley Symphony)
Kurt Rohde, composer
Amanda Moody, librettist
Melissa Weaver, director and dramaturge
The Agape Performance Group:
Henrietta Davis, soprano
John Duykers, tenor
Troy Cook, baritone
Robert Schumann, Symphony No. 1, Spring
‘Europe meets America’ continues with the world premiere performance of Bitter Harvest by Kurt Rohde, commissioned by the Berkeley Symphony. Kurt Rohde is a young Bay Area composer familiar to BSO audiences as a longtime violist in the orchestra. Kurt and the members of Agape Performance Group have come together to create the oratorio Bitter Harvest, a work that will challenge the audience to investigate the roots of hatred and what drives an individual to destructive behavior. It will use music to explore the economic, social, spiritual and psychological effects of corporate agribusiness on the small family farmer. Paired with this groundbreaking oratorio will be Schumann’s Symphony No. 1, an ode to spring.
Complete Program Notes |
Tuesday November 1, 2005 8 pm Zellerbach Hall, UC Berkeley Kent Nagano, Conductor 
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2005-06 Opening Night Featuring violinist Caitlin Tully Robert Schumann, Manfred Overture
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Violin Concerto No. 4 in D Major
John Chowning, Stria, in conjunction with UC Berkeley Center for New Music and Audio Technologies (CNMAT)
Robert Schumann, Symphony No. 3, Rhenish
“Europe meets America” in the BSO’s 2005-06 season, as Kent Nagano pairs each of the four Schumann symphonies with a work by a contemporary American composer. The BSO begins its Schumann exploration with the most joyous of the symphonies, the Rhenish. Schumann’s tribute to the mighty Rhine River is a boisterous, glorious tour de force for the orchestra, and demonstrates Schumann’s romantic lyricism at its peak. The Schumann Symphony is paired with Stria, a work by John Chowning, the BSO’s 2005-06 resident composer. Chowning is widely considered the “dean” of digital music, and Stria is regarded as one of his seminal works. Seventeen year-old Canadian violinist Caitlin Tully performs Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 4, as the BSO joins in the worldwide celebration of Mozart’s 250th birthday. Upon hearing Caitlin Tully, legendary violinist Yehudi Menuhin said, “she plays with more integrity than any young violinist I have ever heard.”
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Tuesday June 14, 2005 8 pm Zellerbach Hall, UC Berkeley Kent Nagano, Conductor |
Season Finale Featuring the Bay Area debut of soprano Linda Watson Franz Schubert, Symphony No. 4
Arnold Schoenberg, Friede auf Erden (instrumental version)
Richard Strauss, Four Last Songs
Linda Watson, soprano
Richard Wagner, excerpts from Tristan and Isolde
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Tuesday May 10, 2005 8 pm Zellerbach Hall, UC Berkeley Kent Nagano, Conductor |
Season Concert #4 Featuring the premiere of Manzanar Charles Ives, Unanswered Question
Ludwig van Beethoven, Fidelio, Act II Introduction
Ludwig van Beethoven, Leonore, Overture No. 3
Naomi Sekiya, Jean-Pascal Beintus, and David Benoit, composers; text by Philip Kan Gotanda: Manzanar: An American Story
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Tuesday April 12, 2005 6:00 PM UC Berkeley Art Museum Ticket prices $250-$500 |
The Berkeley Symphony 2005 Spring Gala Celebrating the Art of Music Join the Berkeley Symphony as we celebrate three decades of bringing new works to life and put the spotlight on the latest BSO premiere, Manzanar. The evening will include an energetic live and silent auction with all proceeds benefiting the BSO and our award-winning Music Education Program.
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Thursday April 7, 2005 8 pm St. John's Presbyterian Church, Berkeley Conducted by George Thomson; hosted by Kent Nagano |
Under Construction Entering its 11th year, Under Construction is a unique combination of open rehearsal and performance that selects works-in-progress by local composers and brings them to life for the first time.
Dylan Mattingly, Overture to Orestia
Michael Zbyszynski, Labirynt
Naomi Sekiya, Manzanar:An American Story
Kurt Rohde, Bitter Harvest
FREE and open to the public.
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Wednesday March 2, 2005 8 pm Zellerbach Hall, UC Berkeley Vance George, Conductor |
Berkeley Choral Festival Benefiting the Musicians' Pension Fund Returning for a 4th sensational year, this concert has become a "must attend" community event for the whole family.
Program highlights:
Brahms, Schicksalslied
Brahms, Academic Festival Overture
Mendelssohn, Ave Maria
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Wednesday January 26, 2005 8 pm Zellerbach Hall, UC Berkeley George Thomson, Conductor |
Season Concert #3 Heitor Villa-Lobos, Bachianas Brasileiras No. 9
Charles Wuorinen, Symphony Seven
Felix Mendelssohn, Violin Concerto in E Minor
Nigel Armstrong, violin
Carlos Chávez, Symphony No. 2 (Sinfonia India)
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Tuesday, November 30,
and
Wednesday, December 1, 2004 8 pm Hertz Hall, UC Berkeley Kent Nagano, Conductor |
Season Concert #2 Béla Bartók, Rhapsody No. 1 for Violin and Orchestra
Stuart Canin, violin
David Wessel, Singularities
In association with the Center for New Music and Audio Technologies (CNMAT), UC Berkeley
Ludwig van Beethoven, Grosse Fuge (for string orchestra)
Ludwig van Beethoven, Piano Concerto No. 1
Mari Kodama, piano
Jörg Widmann, Chor f ür Orchester (U.S. Premiere)
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Monday September 13, 2004 8 pm Zellerbach Hall, UC Berkeley Kent Nagano, Conductor |
Season Concert #1 J.S. Bach orchestrated by Arnold Schoenberg, Komm, Gott, Schöpfer, heiliger Geist
George Benjamin, Viola Viola
Ellen Ruth Rose & Kurt Rohde, violas
Unsuk Chin, Violin Concerto (U.S. Premiere)
Viviane Hagner, violin
Ludwig van Beethoven, Symphony No. 5 in C minor
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