21/22 Season
Return to Joy
Music Director, Joseph Young
Welcome back to Berkeley Symphony! It brings me so much joy to return to the Berkeley stage, invite our community back into the concert hall, and celebrate Berkeley Symphony’s historic 50th Anniversary season. We will go on a journey of renewal this season. While each concert is full of depth and complexity of its own, every program features an element that is reconceptualized. When we return to the concert hall, expect new takes on familiar classics from Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite; to a unique retelling of Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf; to our season finale, where we present Beethoven’s monumental Ninth Symphony with a brand new libretto by former U.S. Poet Laureate Tracy K. Smith. Berkeley Symphony’s 50th Anniversary celebration would not be complete without building on our orchestra’s rich history of commissioning and presenting the music of today. We are thrilled to offer two Berkeley Symphony World Premiere commissions: a celebratory work from Derrick Skye (formerly Spiva) and a riveting new piece from Berkeley-based composer Jimmy López. This season revels in diverse programming and diverse audiences, and reminds us that Berkeley Symphony really is for everyone. I can’t wait for you to join us as we celebrate five decades of adventurous music-making and look towards a vibrant future.
SYMPHONIC SERIES past performances
SYMPHONIC III: REJOICE
Beethoven | López Bellido World Premiere
JIMMY LÓPEZ BELLIDO RISE (World premiere made possible through the generous support of Kathleen G. Henschel & John W. Dewes and New Music USA)
BEETHOVEN’S NINTH SYMPHONY featuring new text from former U.S. Poet Laureate Tracy K. Smith commissioned by Carnegie Hall
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SUNDAY 06.12.2022 4:00 PM ZELLERBACH HALL
Call the box office at (510)841-2800 x1 or email [email protected] to subscribe!
SYMPHONIC II: REIMAGINE
Ravel | Prokofiev | Esmail
REENA ESMAIL Meri Sakhi Ki Avaaz (My Sister’s Voice) featuring guest singers Saili Oak, Hindustani singer, and Maya Kherani, soprano
RAVEL Mother Goose Suite
PROKOFIEV Peter and the Wolf
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FRIDAY 03.25.2022 7:30 PM FIRST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH OF BERKELEY
Call the box office at (510)841-2800 x1 or email [email protected] to subscribe!
SYMPHONIC I: RENEW
Stravinsky | Sibelius | Adams | Skye World Premiere
MORTON GOULD “Protest” from Spirituals for Orchestra
DERRICK SKYE (FORMERLY SPIVA) As Water, Freedom (World premiere made possible through the generous support of S. Shariq Yosufzai & Brian James)
SIBELIUS Finlandia
JOHN ADAMS Lollapalooza
STRAVINSKY Firebird Suite
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SUNDAY 02.06.2022 4:00 PM ZELLERBACH HALL
Call the box office at (510)841-2800 x1 or email [email protected] to subscribe!
CHAMBER SERIES
Chamber II: June 26, 2022
Biber | Shaw | Nabors | Ravel
HEINRICH BIBER Passacaglia in G Minor for solo violin
CAROLINE SHAW Limestone and Felt for viola & cello
BRIAN NABORS* Caged for string quintet
MAURICE RAVEL String Quartet in F Major
performance begins at 3:00pm Piedmont Center for the Arts
Call the box office at (510)841-2800 x1 or email [email protected] to subscribe!
PAST PERFORMANCES
Chamber V: May 15, 2022
Mendelssohn | Garner | Esmail
REENA ESMAIL Saans
DAVID GARNER Vilna Poems
FELIX MENDELSSOHN Piano Trio No. 1 in D minor, Op. 49
LISA DELAN Soprano
RENÉ MANDEL Violin
EVAN KHAN Cello
ROMAN FUKSHANSKY Clarinet
KEVIN KORTH Piano
performance beginS at 4:00pm Piedmont Center for the Arts
Call the box office at (510)841-2800 x1 or email [email protected] to subscribe!
Chamber IV: April 10, 2022
Brahms | Bartok | Larsen | Flanagan | Neville
DAN FLANAGAN An Animated Street in Autumn for solo violin + Painting by Jean-François Raffaëlli
LIBBY LARSEN 4 on the Floor
CATHERINE NEVILLE Danses for solo violin + Lithograph by Henri Fantin-Latour
BELA BARTÓK Contrasts for violin, clarinet, and piano
JOHANNES BRAHMS Horn Trio in C Major
DAN FLANAGAN Violin
ROMAN FUKSHANSKY Clarinet
ALEX CAMPHOUSE French Horn
CHLOÉ MENDOLA Cello
MICHEL TADDEI Bass
ELIZABETH DORMAN Piano
performance beginS at 4:00pm Piedmont Center for the Arts
Call the box office at (510)841-2800 x1 or email [email protected] to subscribe!
Chamber III: March 6, 2022
Dvorak | Rindt | Nabors
BRIAN NABORS* Zephyr for 2 flutes and string quartet
DARCY RINDT A Tribute to the Granite Mountain Hotshots for string quartet
ANTONIN DVOŘÁK String Quartet in F Major, Op. 96 “American Quartet”
MATTHEW SZEMELA Violin
STEPHANIE BIBBO Violin
DARCY RINDT Viola
ISAAC PASTOR-CHERMAK Cello
EMMA MOON Flute
STACEY PELINKA Flute
performance beginS at 4:00pm Piedmont Center for the Arts
Call the box office at (510)841-2800 x1 or email [email protected] to subscribe!
Chamber I: December 12, 2021
Vivaldi | Debussy | Montgomery | Nabors
JESSIE MONTGOMERY Voodoo Dolls for string quartet
BRIAN NABORS* Theme and Variations for solo violin
ANTONIO VIVALDI Winter from Four Seasons
CLAUDE DEBUSSY String Quartet in G minor
NIGEL ARMSTRONG Violin
EMANUELA NIKIFOROVA Violin
IVO BOKULIC Viola
ISAAC PASTOR-CHERMAK Cello
All performances begin at 4:00pm Piedmont Center for the Arts
Special Chamber Concert: November 21, 2021
Stuart Canin & Friends
SHOSTAKOVICH Five Pieces for Two Violins and Piano (René Mandel, guest violinist)
STRAVINSKY Divertimento for Violin and Piano
BEETHOVEN Sonata for Violin and Piano in C Minor
STUART CANIN Violin
HELENE WICKETT Piano