At a time when arts groups across the country are canceling performances and entire seasons due to the coronavirus pandemic, Cal Performances today, April 28, unveiled an optimistic and ambitious new season that kicks off Aug. 20 with famed cellist Yo-Yo Ma and the Not Our First Goat Rodeo at UC Berkeley’s Greek Theatre.
The new season also includes performances by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Gustavo Dudamel; pianist and acclaimed Mozart interpreter Mitsuko Uchida in a rare West Coast appearance with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra; the Mark Morris Dance Group and Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra and Chorale in a Cal Performances co-commissioned revival of Jean-Philippe Rameau’s comic opera “Platée”; and acclaimed early-music ensemble The English Concert kicking off a multi-season engagement with a concert performance of Handel’s “Tamerlano.”
“We remain dedicated to our artists, our audiences, and to the UC Berkeley campus,” said new Cal Performances artistic director Jeremy Geffen, “and we reaffirm our belief that the arts are now more important than ever in helping people connect with each other and remain emotionally resilient through turbulent, traumatic times.”
Cal Performances officials acknowledged the challenge of introducing a new season amidst continued uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the shelter-and-home and safe-distancing requirements and guidelines that threaten to disrupt arts programming through much of 2020 and possibly beyond. Officials said they would continue monitoring the coronavirus situation and are prepared to consider alternative seating arrangements, if needed, and provide arts patrons with more flexible refund and ticket-exchange options.
Other than the Not Our First Goat Rodeo concert, most of the Cal Performances programming runs late September through the spring of 2021.
This marks the first season curated under Geffen, who joined Cal Performances a year ago and was previously senior director and artistic advisor at New York’s famed Carnegie Hall.
Several artists are scheduled to make their maiden appearances at Cal Performances in the 2020-21 season, including pianists Beatrice Rana and Seong-Jin Cho; harpsichordist Mahan Esfahani; soprano Christine Goerke, mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton; violinist Tessa Lark; the Dover Quartet; noted Philip Glass interpreter Nico Muhly; jazz artists Artemis, Jazzmeia Horn and Matthew Whitaker; singers Madeleine Peyroux and Paula Cole; dance companies Caleb Teicher & Company, Ballet Hispánico, Boy Blue and the Dhamaal Dancers of India; and theater troupe Lars Jan and Early Morning Opera.
Several returning favorites are also part of the new season, including the acclaimed Takács Quartet; early music champion Jordi Savall; the renowned musical couple of cellist David Finckel and pianist Wu Han, who also head the summer Music@Menlo festival; Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater; the taiko drumming outfit Kodo; and renowned tabla player Zakir Hussain.
The season will also introduce a new project, titled Illuminations, intended to fuse Cal Performances arts programming with timely studies underway at UC Berkeley. The project will include Music and the Mind, exploring the transformative nature of the arts and featuring public programs with scientists, educators, and performers, including opera soprano Renée Fleming, the Mark Morris Dance Group, the Tetzlaff Quartet and jazz pianist Matthew Whitaker.
Another campaign titled Fact or Fiction will examine the sometimes uneasy intersection of storytelling and historical accuracy, including music by Handel, Julia Wolfe and Darcy James Argue; and and theater pieces based on works by writers Joan Didion and Mary Shelley.
Subscription packages go on sale at noon May 5. Single tickets for Not Our First Goat Rodeo go on sale at noon June 12. Other single tickets go on sale on Aug. 4.
More information and tickets and subscription sales are available at 510-642-9988 calperformances.org.
Check back for updates and the complete 2021-21 season.
