$15 youth, $25 Senior/Student, $30 general admission
Tickets available through Eventbrite.

Sing-along holiday fun: treats, soloists, door prizes!

Last year's Winter Solstice/Hanukkah/Christmas singalong was such a hit, we just have to do it again! And this year, it's a co-production with St. Alban's. What does that mean? Even better treats! Even more music!

Because 'tis the season to sing along with your favorite holiday tunes, listen to some fabulous soloists, eat some cookies and chocolate, and drink some nog! Can you sing "well"? Fabulous - Sing out, Louise! Do you often wind up lip-synching to Happy Birthday (perhaps because some unkind person told you when you were ten that you can't carry a tune in bucket)? Who cares - sing out, Louise - we're here to have a good time - and we'll have song leaders to help keep you/us in tune :)!

Small, squirmy children? Bring 'em! Serious musician children? Come on down! Friends and family with accessibility issues? Our hall is fully accessible, and an inclusive and welcoming space. Bring your whole family along!

Ooh - and did we mention door prizes? Yes indeedy - there will be door prizes - tickets to Berkeley Symphony, tickets to Calliope, a private oboe lesson, an hour of Mac computer support with MacMama, CDs of fantastic local musicians - and more.....!!!!Be prepared to sing con spirito - we will have a blast!

Capacity limited to 80 attendees.

In our lovely Parish Hall - with the 1924 Steinway!

With pianist Leon Chou (Albany High, Cal, BCCO) as accompanist, song leaders Larry DiCostanzo, Kris Whitten, Amy Kessler and Christine Staples. Performances by Jesse Distiller, Judah Lampkin, Amy Kessler and more!

Here are some of our favorite tunes: In the Bleak Midwinter.... Hanukkah Rock of Ages.... Joy to the World..... Deck the Hall.... Dreidl, dreidl, dreidl..... Silent Night.... O come, o come, Immanuel.... What are your favorites?

COVID Safety Protocols:

• Masking is encouraged as an individual choice; this protects everyone from the spread of viruses. Masks will be readily available to those who want one.

• Up-to-date immunizations (including flu, COVID, pneumonia and RSV) are strongly encouraged.

• Hand sanitizer will be available, and is encouraged.

• Whenever weather permits, we will ventilate our spaces to the maximum degree possible, and employ the use of air purifiers.

• If you have tested positive for COVID, or feel at all unwell, we urge you in the strongest possible way to stay home.

$15 youth, $25 Senior/Student, $30 general admission
Tickets available through Eventbrite.

Veretski Pass is a trio of Jewish Music veterans who have been at the forefront of the klezmer revival for over 25 years. Their output spans the ultra-traditional to the Avant Garde. Taking their name from the mountain pass through which Magyar tribes crossed into the Carpathian basin to settle what later became the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Veretski Pass offers a unique and exciting combination of virtuosic musicianship and raw energy that has excited concertgoers across the world. The trio plays Old Country Music with origins in the Ottoman Empire, once fabled as the borderlands of the East and the West. In a true collage of Carpathian, Jewish, Rumanian and Ottoman styles, typical suites contain dances from Moldavia and Bessarabia; Jewish melodies from Poland and Rumania; Hutzul wedding music from Carpathian-Ruthenia; and haunting Rebetic aires from Smyrna, seamlessly integrated with original compositions. Their CDs have repeatedly been on the 10-best recording lists of journalists since 2002.

Many, many thanks to Alan Kaplan, our sponsor for this presentation of Veretski Pass! If you're inspired by Alan's generosity and would also like sponsor a concert, drop us a line :)

Artist Profiles:

Cookie Segelstein, violin and viola, received her Masters degree in Viola from The Yale School of Music in 1984. Until moving to California in 2010, she was principal violist in Orchestra New England and assistant principal in The New Haven Symphony, as well as on the music faculty at Southern Connecticut State University. She is the founder and director of Veretski Pass, a member of Budowitz, The Youngers of Zion with Henry Sapoznik, has performed with Kapelye, The Klezmatics, Frank London, Klezmer Fats and Swing with Pete Sokolow and the late Howie Leess, Margot Leverett and the Klezmer Mountain Boys, and The Klezmer Conservatory Band. Cookie has presented lecture demonstrations and workshops on klezmer fiddling all over the world, including at Yale University, University of Wisconsin in Madison, Marshall University in Huntington, West VA, University of Virginia in Charlottesville, University of Oregon in Eugene, Pacific University, SUNY-Cortland, and at Klezmerwochen in Weimar, Germany. She is a regular staff member at Living Traditions' KlezKamp, KlezKanada, KlezCalifornia, Klezmer Festival Fürth, Klezfest London, and has been a performing artist at Centrum's Festival of American Fiddle Tunes in Port Townsend, Wash.

She was featured on the ABC documentary, “A Sacred Noise,” heard on HBO’s “Sex and the City”, appears in the Miramax film, “Everybody’s Fine” starring Robert De Niro, and is heard on several recordings including Veretski Pass, Trafik and The Klezmer Shul, Budowitz Live, the Koch International label with Orchestra New England in The Orchestral Music of Charles Ives, Hazònes with Frank London, A Living Tradition with the late Moldovan clarinetist, German Goldenshteyn and Fleytmuzik with Adrianne Greenbaum.

She is also the publisher of "The Music of..." series of klezmer transcriptions. Active as a Holocaust educator and curriculum advisor, she has been a frequent lecturer at the Women’s Correctional Facility in Niantic, CT. She is on the boards of both the North California Viola Society, and the American String Teacher Association, Bay Area chapter. Cookie is also an Apple Certified Support Professional, and owns and operates The Macmama. Cookie lives in Berkeley, with her husband, Josh Horowitz, a dog and her occasionally visiting adult children.

Joshua Horowitz, 19th Century button accordion, Tsimbl (hammered dulcimer) received his Masters degree in Composition and Music Theory from the Academy of Music in Graz, Austria, where he taught Music Theory and served as Research Fellow and Director of the Yiddish Music Research Project for eight years. He was chosen as the co-curator and orchestrator by the San Francisco Symphony for its Jewish Installment of their “Currents” series

He is the founder and director of the ensemble Budowitz, a founding member of Veretski Pass and has performed and recorded with Itzhak Perlman, The Vienna Chamber Orchestra, Theodore Bikel, Ben Goldberg, Rubin and Horowitz, Brave Old World, Adrienne Cooper and Ruth Yaakov. His music was recently featured in the British film, “Some of my best friends are... Jewish / Muslim”, awarded the Sandford St. Martin Trust Religious Broadcasting Award and is also featured in the new film by Jes Benstock, "The Holocaust Tourist".

His recordings with Veretski Pass, Budowitz, the Vienna Chamber Orchestra, Rubin & Horowitz and Alicia Svigals, have achieved international recognition and he is the recipient of more than 40 awards for his work as both composer and performer.

He was one of the co-founders of the Austrian experimental composer collective, “Die Andere Saite” and received the Prize of Honor by the Austrian government for his orchestral composition, “Tenebrae.” Following his children’s Opera, “Der Wilde Man”, Joshua received The “Award for Outstanding Talent in Composition” from the City of Graz and was twice finalist in the National American ASCAP competition. While teaching at the Graz Academy of Music he was awarded both The David Herzog and Fritz Spielman Awards, and received ongoing support from Louise M. Davies for his dedication to music creativity and education.

In 2001, Joshua’s group, Budowitz was chosen by the Austrian government to represent the country in the International Celebration of World Culture’s held at the “House of the Cultures of The World” in Berlin.

Joshua taught Advanced Jazz Theory at Stanford University with the late saxophonist Stan Getz and is a regular teacher at KlezKamp, Klezkanada, KlezCalifornia and the Klezmer Festival Fürth. His musicological work is featured in four books, including The Sephardic Songbook with Aron Saltiel and The Ultimate Klezmer, and he has written numerous articles on the counterpoint of J.S. Bach. Josh lives in Berkeley with his wife Cookie.

Stuart Brotman, 3-String Bass, baraban, has been an accomplished performer, arranger and recording artist in the ethnic music field for over 50 years. A founding member of Los Angeles' Ellis Island Band, he has been a moving force in the klezmer revival since its beginning, and has defined klezmer bass (“It’s a large instrument that plays really low and has an accent.”)

He holds a B.A. in music with a concentration in Ethnomusicology from the University of California at Los Angeles, and has taught at KlezKamp, Buffalo on the Roof, the Balkan Music and Dance Workshops, Klezkanada, KlezCalifornia, and numerous European festivals and institutes, including Oxford University, Klezfest London, Yiddish Summer Weimar, Klezmer Festival Fürth, and the Krakow Jewish Festival.

Stu has been recording, touring, and teaching New Jewish Music with world class ensemble, Brave Old World since 1989, and is featured in the PBS Great Performances film and CD, “Itzhak Perlman, in the Fiddler’s House,” and in the 2010 documentary, “Song of the Lodz Ghetto, with the music of Brave Old World.”

Long admired as a versatile soloist and sensitive accompanist in traditional and pop music circles, he has toured and recorded with Canned Heat, Kaleidoscope, and Geoff and Maria Muldaur, and played cimbalom on Ry Cooder’s celebrated recording, “Jazz,” which premiered at Carnegie Hall.

Stu appeared in the Los Angeles production of Joshua Sobol’s “Ghetto,” the San Francisco production of “Shlemiel the First,” by Isaac Bashevis Singer, played cimbalom in “The Postman Always Rings Twice,” and contrabass balalaika in “Love Affair.”

He produced The Klezmorim's Grammy nominated album, "Metropolis," and has recorded with The Klezmorim, Kapelye, Andy Statman, the Klezmer Conservatory Band, Davka, The San Francisco Klezmer Experience, and Khevrisa. Stuart lives in Berkeley, California.

$15 youth, $25 Senior/Student, $30 general admission
Tickets available through Eventbrite.

For this much-anticipated event, the renowned ensemble Nash Baroque, with soprano Bethany Hill, bring to life tales of love, despair and triumph from 18th century France, with flute, violin, viola da gamba, theorbo and harpsichord, in a program entitled “Les Amours des Dieux”.

The cantatas of Michel Pignolet de Montéclair and Louis Nicolas Clérambault unfold as miniature dramas featuring mythological Greek gods and humans with all their passions, weaknesses and heartbreak. “Every myth is a drama in human form”, as Gaston Bachelard put it, and these intimate vocal works, together with richly evocative instrumental dance suites of Couperin, Phillidor and LeClair explore timeless themes of love, loss and metamorphosis that echo through the ages.

Artist Profiles

Bethany Hill is a versatile and critically acclaimed Australian soprano, now based in the United States. A specialist in 17th and 18th century music, she is also regularly involved in the development of new compositions. Comfortable on the stage and as a recitalist, Bethany has performed with State Opera of South Australia, Scottish Opera, Gertrude Opera, Juilliard 415,  The Song Company, Adelaide Baroque, The Firm New Music, and the award-winning Adelaide Chamber Singers.

 Operatic roles include Pamina (Die Zauberflöte) Dorabella (Cosi Fan Tutte), Susanna (Le Nozze di Figaro), Sesto (La Clemenza di Tito), Lucy (The Telephone), Pitti-Sing (The Mikado), and Belinda (Dido & Aeneas). Most recently she performed Frau in Schönberg’s Erwartung.

In 2018 Bethany made her principal debut with State Opera of South Australia as Dido in Purcell’s Dido & Aeneas and also sang the role of Mercedes for Carmen in the Square in 2019.

 Bethany has enjoyed performing in the Bay Area as a chamber musician and soloist. She is one half of the folk duo, Turas, who toured to Alaska for the first time in 2023. 

Vicki Melin Baroque and Renaissance Flutes, has performed in early music groups throughout the U.S. and the Bay area such as the American Bach Soloists, with the ABS Academy in the San Francisco Bach Festival, Voices of Music, Musica Angelica (L.A.), Live Oak Baroque Orchestra, California Bach Society, Jubilate Orchestra, MUSA, and her ensemble, Nash Baroque. Ms Melin attended Boston University for her Masters of Music, studying with Christopher Krueger and The Royal Conservatory of Music in Den Hague, The Netherlands, where she received an Advanced Diploma in Performance, studying with Wilbert Hazelzet. She has performed with early music orchestras and chamber ensembles in the United States, The Netherlands, Italy, and is a frequent guest soloist with International Organ and Chamber Music Festivals in Poland. Ms. Melin lives in San Francisco and teaches baroque flute privately and at UC Berkeley. https://www.nashbaroque.org/founders

Originally from Paris, France, Pauline Kempf is now based in San Francisco where she studied baroque violin with Elizabeth Blumenstock at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. In June 2022 Pauline was selected to participate in EMA’s Emerging Artist Showcase and performed an all 17th century program during the Berkeley Festival and Exhibition. She was recently invited by the Baroque Chamber Orchestra of Colorado and the Oregon Bach Festival to perform the “Spring” season by Vivaldi as a soloist. She is a co-founder of Ensemble Affect and frequently performs with several other period instrumental ensembles such as Third Coast Baroque, Haymarket Opera Company, Baroque Chamber Orchestra of Colorado and Lumedia Musicworks. Pauline hold musical degrees from the Music Universities of Geneva and Vienna and received her Doctor of Music degree from Northwestern University.

Award winning historical plucked string specialist, Matthew Xie focuses on the repertoire of the theorbo,lute, baroque guitar and 19th century guitar. He has performed extensively throughout the United States, Canada, Europe and Taiwan. Matthew has recently graduated magna cum laude with a Masters in Historical performance Lute/Theorbo degree at the Koninklijk Conservatorium, The Hague under the mentorship of Joachim Held and Mike Fentross. Matthew also holds graduate and bachelor degrees from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and UC Irvine. Matthew is currently active in San Francisco Bay Area as a continuo player, chamber musician, soloist, instructor and clinician. https://www.sirplucksalot.com/

Farley Pearce is a performer on both the various sizes of viola da gamba and the baroque cello. As a cellist he has performed widely in the Southeastern region of the US, most notably with the Spoleto Festival, with whom he has also played in Italy. For five years he was a member of the Charleston Pro Musica, and he has performed as a recitalist in Brazil and Uruguay. Since moving to San Francisco Farley has been an active free-lance performer with many of California’s orchestras and chamber ensembles. In the Bay Area he has performed on viola da gamba, violone, and baroque cello with Magnificat, the Jubilate Baroque Orchestra, the Sex Chordæ Consort of Viols, Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, Airs and Graces, and many other period instrument groups.

Katherine Heater, early keyboards, plays locally with early music groups such as Voices of Music, Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra and Musica Pacifica. She has performed throughout the United States, including with The Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Sun Valley Summer Symphony in Idaho and at the the Bloomington Early Music Festival, and the Tropical Baroque Festival of Miami. She received an Arts Bachelor from the University of California, Berkeley in music and a Masters of Music in historical performance from Oberlin Conservatory. At the Sweelinck Conservatorium in Amsterdam Ms. Heater studied harpsichord with Bob van Asperen and fortepiano with Stanley Hoogland. Also an active teacher, Ms. Heater teaches harpsichord at UC Berkeley, the Crowden Center, as well as privately.

$15 youth, $25 Senior/Student, $30 general admission
Tickets available through Eventbrite.

Thompsonia: Cajun, blues and old-time Americana, family style!

Thompsonia combines Suzy & Eric Thompson’s deep devotion to old-time, Cajun, acoustic blues and bluegrass with daughter Allegra’s fresh perspective, creating feel-good music that ricochets between the rowdy and the sentimental, with an abundance of groove and a bit of a quirky edge. The band features the genetically-matched vocals of Suzy and Allegra (Geoff Muldaur has dubbed this “The Everly Sisters sound”) along with stellar lead playing from Eric on mandolin and guitar, Suzy’s red-hot fiddling and Allegra’s rock-steady upright bass.

About the members of Thompsonia: ​Eric and Suzy Thompson have performed and recorded in collaborations with David Grisman, David Nelson (New Riders), Jody Stecher & Kate Brislin, Geoff Muldaur, Jim Kweskin, Michael Doucet, Del Rey, Dave Alvin and Joel Savoy, to name just a few, and their bands have included Any Old Time, Black Mountain Boys, California Cajun Orchestra, Blue Flame String Band and many others. Allegra Thompson plays bass in the Cajun band the Midnite Ramblers and with Eric & Suzy in the Aux Cajunals. She is the host of the Pig in a Pen radio show on KPFA-FM, having been handpicked by Ray Edlund who started the show nearly 50 years ago. Pig in a Pen airs every other Sunday from 3:00 to 5:00 pm. Allegra is also a co-host of the "Bluegrass Signal" radio show, airing on KALW-FM, Saturdays from 5:00 to 6:00 p.m.

Photo Credit: Irene Young

$15 youth, $25 Senior/Student, $30 general admission
Tickets available through Eventbrite.

PLEASE NOTE THE 2 P.M. START TIME FOR THIS CONCERT While we usually present concerts at 4 p.m., the artists have a long-awaited, covid-postponed second commitment later in the day, and we do our best to put Artists in the center of our work!

Long time collaborators Erika Oba (piano) and Chris Bastian (bass) are joined by Jeremy Steinkoler (drums), performing original compositions and arranged works that cover a dynamic range of emotions and styles.

Drawing on influences ranging from Thelonious Monk to Okinawan folk music, the band deftly navigates from be-bop to classically influenced, through-composed pieces, captivating audiences with music coming from deep listening and a remarkably intuitive sense of comping and phrasing to support one another. The group’s last performance moved Back Room owner Sam Rudin to describe it as “One of the finest afternoons of music we’ve EVER had here."

Erika and her band recently released a new album - and they are excited to share the new works with you! Click here to sample the new recordings - and to buy a copy!

Artist Profiles

Chris Bastian is a multi-genre bass player who has lived and worked as a musician in New York, Santiago de Chile, and Quito, Ecuador.

Jeremy Steinkoler has been playing drums professionally for over 30 years and performs regularly with a wide array of musical projects, including his award-winning saxes-and-drums trio Mo’Fone.

Erika Oba is a composer, pianist/flutist, and educator. She is active in the Bay Area performing arts scene, and can regularly be seen performing in jazz and new music venues, as well as collaborating with dance and theater artists.

$15 youth, $25 Senior/Student, $30 general admission
Tickets available through Eventbrite.

Calliope is thrilled to host the return peformance of Alessandro Penezzi, considered one of the great Brazilian guitarists of his generation, as he joins his colleagues in the exemplary local Brazilian choro performing ensemble Berkeley Choro for a rousing celebration of beautiful music!

With Alessandro Penezzi, guitar; Jane Lenoir, flute; Harvey Wainapel, clarinet; Ricardo Peixoto, guitar and Brian Rice, pandeiro.

About Alessandro Penezzi: Considered one of the great Brazilian guitarists of his generation, composer, arranger and guitarist Alessandro Penezzi was born in Piracicaba, São Paulo, Brazil in February, 1974. He began his musical studies at seven years old. A multiinstrumentalist, Alessandro plays 7-string guitar, tenor guitar, cavaquinho, mandolin and flute. His teachers were Carlos Coimbra, Jair T. de Paula, Sérgio Belluco, and João Dias Carrasqueira. Alessandro has recorded over 20 CD's of music, and has performed with many of the great Brazilians musicians, including Yamandú Costa, Carlos Poyares, Toninho Ferragutti, Oswaldinho do Acordeon, Laércio de Freitas, Caíto Marcondes, Arismar do Espírito Santo, Maurício Carrilho, Pedro Amorim, Joel Nascimento, Conjunto Epoque de Ouro, Rogério Caetano, Caio Marcio, Alexandre Ribeiro and Nailor Proveta. He has taught at California Brazil Camp since 2010, and is building a following in the US as one of the great virtuosos and composers in the Brazilian Popular Music genre in the world today. He resides in São Paulo, and tours regularly to Europe and Africa.

About Berkeley Choro Ensemble: http://www.berkeleychoroensemble.com

“The Berkeley Choro Ensemble is one of the few groups playing outside Brazil that has the deepest understanding of what it means to play a ‘chorinho.’ Proof of this is all over their disc, with ten astounding pieces.”

–World Music Report, April, 2018

Choro, the first uniquely Brazilian popular music and the root of samba and bossa nova, has its origins in the late 1800s. The genre, a captivating blend of European salon and chamber music with Afro-Brazilian rhythmic energy and a touch of jazz, is still being renewed and updated, and is spreading internationally at a very healthy pace. The Berkeley Choro Ensemble, formed in 2010, has dedicated itself to the performance of modern choro compositions and collaborations with renowned Brazilian performers and composers. The new CD is a reflection of what is happening today in the world of choro. The Ensemble has been actively promoting the advancement of this great genre via performances, workshops, and the annual Berkeley Festival of Choro.

Artist Profiles:

From a family of professional musicians, Berkeley resident, flutist Jane Lenoir, grew up in Tampa, Florida, and left home at 15 as a scholarship student to the Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan and then to Oberlin Conservatory of Music. A performer comfortable in many diverse styles, Jane appears regularly as a soloist, chamber player, orchestral musician, baroque flutist, and jazz performer. A founder of Berkeley Choro Ensemble and Berkeley Festival of Choro, Jane is particularly interested in Latin flute styles, which celebrate the instrument’s ancient, rich history , virtuosity, and lyrical sound. Her 2017 CD, Jane Lenoir plays Penezzi, celebrated the São Paulo guitarist/composer’s compositions to critical acclaim. As an educator, she is flute coach at Young People’s Symphony and teaches privately in Berkeley. She is a Powell Flutes Artist and presents workshops and classes on Brazilian choro frequently to local flute clubs, schools, and professional organizations.

Multi-instrumentalist and composer, Berkeley resident, Harvey Wainapel, has forged a well-earned reputation as one of the foremost artists in Brazilian styles in the US today. Trained as a jazz saxophonist and celebrated for his numerous recordings in the jazz idiom, Harvey has spent many years touring and studying in Brazil with the leading musicians of the day, including Airto and Flora Purim, ..... His 2006 CD, Amigos Brasileiros, received rave reviews as a testament to the history of Brazilian styles of music. With over 40 Brazilian musicians represented on the CD, it was a musical odyssey and labor of love. In 2014, Amigos Brasileiros Volume 2 came out to rave reviews. Harvey has done extensive arrangements for the group over the years, and in 2021 the group premiered an entirely new repertoire on contemporary Brazilian choro compositions. He wrote extensive program notes for our online festival during covid, A Celebration of Women in Brazilian Music.

Originally from Rio de Janeiro and based in the Bay Area, Oakland resident, guitarist/composer Ricardo Peixoto is among the top representatives of Brazilian guitar in the US, with a fluid melodic style and a keen compositional sense. His performances explore Brazil’s rich and diverse traditions, both in his original work as well as in arrangements of Brazilian classics. His approach is grounded both in the jazz and Brazilian music traditions, but always ventures well beyond their borders, combining rich melodies, sophisticated harmonies, and the unmistakable rhythms of Brazil.

Ricardo came to the US on a scholarship to the Berklee School of Music in Boston, and later continued his studies in classical guitar at the SF Conservatory of Music.He has recorded, performed, and collaborated with, among others, Claudia Villela, Flora Purim and Airto, saxophonist Bud Shank, percussionist Dom Um Romão, Toots Thielemans, Dori Caymmi, Guinga, guitarist Carlos Oliveira, Harvey Wainapel, Marcos Silva and Terra Sul. He has performed throughout the US, Europe, Canada, Japan and Brazil. He has taught an ongoing class in choro at CJC for several years now, educating a new audience to choro and Brazilian music.

Oakland resident percussionist Brian Rice graduated from the Interlochen Arts Academy and Oberlin College Conservatory of Music with a B.M. in Percussion Performance and Ethnomusicology. A faculty member at UC Berkeley and UC Davis in latin percussion styles, Brian is a highly acclaimed performer, educator and recording artist adept at numerous musical styles ranging from classical and jazz, to Latin, Afro-Cuban, and Brazilian, to contemporary and experimental music. Brian's study of the Brazilian pandeiro began in 1986 when the Sao Paulo State University percussion ensemble visited Oberlin and percussionist/composer Carlos Stasi, then a student at SPSU, gave Brian a quick pandeiro lesson after the concert. Since then Brian's obsession with the pandeiro has led him to study with Guello, Marcos Suzano, Airto, Claudio Bueno and Clarice Magalhaes, and his prowess on the instrument has led him to perform with numerous Brazilian artists including, Jovino Santos Neto, Paulo Sergio Santos, Danilo Brito, Dudu Maia and Jorge Alabe. It was studies with Marcos Suzano that inspired Brian to expand his use of the pandeiro outside the Brazilian music world and apply it to Balkan, Celtic, Middle Eastern, Spanish, and Cuban music with great effect.

$15 youth, $25 Senior/Student, $30 general admission
Tickets available through Eventbrite.

Rising operatic tenor Christopher Oglesby explores the concept of “home” through time, place, heritage, and circumstance with the music of Ralph Vaughn Williams, Beethoven, Italian art songs, traditional Ukrainian pieces, Hoagy Carmichael, Cole Porter, and a selection of Appalachian folksongs. Truly, a feast for the soul! To access a copy of the written program, including texts and translations, please click this link.

For this program, he will be joined by noted pianist collaborator Kseniia Polstiankina Barrad; both Christopher and Keseniia are recent graduates of the San Francisco Opera Adler Fellowship program.

For the 2024 season, Christopher will be performing in numerous productions of San Francisco Opera, including in Puccini’s “La bohème”, Händel’s “Partenope”, Tamino in Mozart’s “The Magic Flute”, Bridegroom in Saariaho’s “Innocence”, Chief Magistrate in Verdi’s “Un ballo in maschera ” and Luke in Ruders’ & Bentley’s “The Handmaid’s Tale.”

$35 Senior/Student, $45 general admission, $20 live-stream only/on-demand, $30 youth 5-12/Limited Income
Tickets available through Eventbrite.

Cellist Isaac Pastor-Chermak returns to Calliope for a very special performance of the complete Bach Cello Suites, celebrating the 10th anniversary of his first performance of the Six Suites at St. Alban's in July 2014. A biennial tradition in the community that is sure to sell out!

Artist Profile:

Cellist Isaac Pastor-Chermak enjoys a diverse and varied career in symphony and opera orchestras, chamber music, and solo and recording engagements, as well as engaging deeply with his community as a conductor, educator, and nonprofit board member. He is Principal Cellist of Vallejo Symphony, Waterloo-Cedar Falls Symphony, and Eisenstadt (Austria) Classical Music Festival; Assistant Principal Cellist of Opera San Jose and Fresno Philharmonic; and a member of Berkeley Symphony, Santa Barbara Symphony, Monterey Symphony, and Reno Philharmonic. In 2023, he was guest principal cellist of the Britt Festival Orchestra. His CD catalog includes The Shadow Dancer with Auriga String Quartet, Backlash Bach with Red Cedar Chamber Music, and Preludes and Prologues with pianist Alison Lee. A limited edition vinyl LP, The Year 1948, is due out in May 2024, featuring cello sonatas by Prokofiev and Elliott Carter, recorded on Mr. Carter’s piano.

Pastor-Chermak is Adjunct Professor of Music History at San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where his course offerings include Beethoven’s String Quartets; the Second Viennese School; Haydn; and Leonard Bernstein. At home, he teaches an award-winning private cello studio. A ‘recovering conductor’, he is Founder and Music Director Emeritus of Solano Youth Chamber Orchestra. Isaac and his wife, pianist Alison Lee, live in a 104-year-old house in the Berkeley Hills with their cat, Waffle. Isaacpastorchermak.com

$15 youth, $25 Senior/Student, $30 general admission
Tickets available through Eventbrite.

When Matanda, the extraordinary young percussionist and artist, performed for Calliope as part of the Remee Ashley Quartet in the summer of 2022 we knew we had to invite him back!

For this intriguing program, Matanda has created a theatrical tone poem expounding on world folk-music sonics.

Matanda will be joined by string musicians for this piece; the Oakland-raised multi-instrumentalist Cheflee on bass and electronics, along with Morgan Harrison on piano.

Saracens is the fictitious story of a boy caught in the middle of a holy war. Matanda, along with three other eclectic musicians, will present this tale as a tone poem, blending sounds of American folk, Afro-Peruvian percussion, orchestral bowing, and vocalization. The performance will present as an immersive experience akin to that of a speakeasy or work-song, with touches of movement borrowed from the theatrical stage.

Artist Profiles

Matanda - percussion/vocals: Oakland born, Brooklyn-based multimedia artist Matanda (formerly known as Matanda Keyes) is a jazz-trained percussionist whose work develops around sculpture. A graduate of the Manhattan School of Music, he is now blending folk, world music, and alt/indie rock sounds. Matanda's newborn multi-disciplinary project, Parsody, aims to explore the relationship between music and physical objects.

Recently, he designed jewelry for Madonna's worldwide "Celebration Tour", and he has been asked to supply pieces for Zayn Malik (formerly of One Direction).

Matanda breathes through sound, and his brand of such is personally coined, “Alternative World Music." You can learn more about this eclectic artist on his website.

Cheflee - bass/electronics: Cheflee is a multi instrumentalist from Oakland California that draws on inspiration from artists such as Egbert Gismonti, George Clinton, Radiohead and OutKast. He loves.

Morgan Harrison - piano: Morgan Harrison is a Pianist, Saxophonist, Singer, Composer, Arranger, and Bandleader from Sacramento, CA.

Currently studying in San Francisco, at the Conservatory of Music, Morgan is seeking to find new ways to blend old and new musics and put his spin on things, creating something that is unseen as of yet.

He takes inspiration from bands like The Chick Corea Elektric Band, Herbie Hancock, Weather Report, and others such as Earth Wind and Fire, Stevie Wonder, Daft Punk, Alice In Chains, Nirvana, Jaco Pastorius, and many more.

Presenting emerging young local talent is one of the great delights of running a community-based, community-led performing arts nonprofit! In addition to presenting young talent just as they launch their professional careers, we also keep our eyes open for gifted young people at the pre-professional stage.

Calliope leaders first encountered the young El Cerrito-based pianist Jesse Distiller when, at fourteen, he took part in a chamber music celebration organized by pianist Alison Lee as part of the East Bay Music Foundation’s programming. Now 16 years old and applying to conservatories for post-high school, Jesse is already demonstrating a riveting expressiveness in his playing. In addition to beautiful solo work, he is also a nuanced accompanist, and regularly delights the St. Alban’s congregation during worship services.

Judah Lampkin is similarly a marvel; until recently self-taught as a cellist, classical singer, composer, and arranger, he has begun formal training in singing and in cello. He currently studies voice with Susan Nance in her San Francisco studio. With a rich bass voice and extensive range, his vocal work can cause chills.

For this joint recital, a co-production with St. Alban's, Jesse and Judah will perform works by Warlock, Vaughan Williams, Haydn, Debussy, and Schumann, along with a world premiere of a piece commissioned from Judah by Calliope.

A co-presentation with St. Alban’s

Admission to this event is free of charge! However, capacity is limited to 80 in person guests; you must make a reservation to be assured of a seat! Please be sure to register for in-person attendance on Eventbrite. (As always, your donations in support of the presentation are very welcome!)

If you'd like to join us by live-stream, simply click this link to enjoy the concert from the comfort of your own home! Available live or "on-demand" - the recording will stay up after the concert for your continued enjoyment!

https://youtube.com/live/7ZeWoprsQew?feature=share

Artist Profiles

Judah Lampkin is a composer, cellist, vocalist, and vagabond of international notoriety. He hails from the American south, where he became acquainted with the proud traditions of navel-gazing and moonlighting. He subsequently attended Harvard University, where his areas of study expanded to include music, philosophy, astrophysics, religion, linguistics, and a variety of other subjects. Through his musical compositions, Judah seeks to explore dreamscapes, those subtle intimations that hover at the edge of conscious awareness. These dreamscapes are the gateways through which the individual must pass in order to acquire a wider awareness of all that is. He was the recipient of Harvard's 2023 George Arthur Knight Prize for compositional excellence, and was a semifinalist in the 2022 Petrichor International Music Competition.

Jesse Distiller is a 16 year old pianist in his junior year of high school. As a middle schooler attending the Crowden School, Jesse fell in love with classical music, and his favourite composers include Beethoven, Brahms, and Debussy. Some of his favourite pieces include: Shostakovich’s piano quintet and second piano trio, Debussy's "L'isle Joyeuse", Beethoven's sixth and seventh symphonies, and many of Brahms' works. He also finds Stephen Sondheim's work to be incredibly profound. He is deeply interested in composition as well as piano performance, and has composed several pieces as part of the John Adams Young Composers Program, as well as composing the entire score for his school play. In addition to performing solo, he loves playing chamber music. He attends the San Francisco Conservatory of Music Pre-College Program, where he studies with Sharon Mann.

$15 youth, $25 Senior/Student, $30 general admission
Tickets available through Eventbrite.

Gorgeous harmonies and classical instruments chart the path from Baroque to traditional music

Beneath A Tree - Baroque To Folk (BAT) is a multi genre ensemble led by the core duo of Gail Hernández Rosa (violin, viola, vocals), and Daniel Turkos (contrabass, cittern/Irish bouzouki, vocals). BAT's roots were planted in 2017 in Philadelphia and the surrounding rural pubs of Chester County, PA. These rowdy performances included standard folk, celtic, bluegrass and jazz repertoire melded with music from the Baroque.

For this concert, they will perform a selection of Latin American baroque music, Vivaldi, Mozart, Celtic fiddle music, and more. PLUS: their own arrangement of the Grateful Dead tune Uncle John’s Band - a Baroque take on the original tune - as well as Bach Minuets and Gigue from the first Bach cello suite - with newly composed music to complement Bach’s original composition.

Founded on the mutual love of historical performance, collaborations with like-minded intrepid musicians explore the interrelationships found between composed and traditional folk music from the Baroque period and its continued relevance, creating a curious and exciting fusion that appeals to varied audiences. It is through a natural progression of musical curiosity BAT finds the kinship between genres and their roots in the Baroque.

In 2018 Beneath A Tree turned a new leaf and relocated to Northern CA. This period of growth has included performances, collaborations, and productions at the California Jazz Conservatory, San Francisco Conservatory of Music & Herbst Theatre as part the American Bach Soloists Festival, San Francisco Early Music Society, Chamber Music Society of SF, Mercury Soul, Black Pearl Chamber Orchestra, Luther Burbank Center for the Arts, Music Performance Trust Fund, Listen and Heal, Salon Era, Kennett Brewing Company, ASMALLWORLD, Fifth Street Farms and numerous house concerts throughout CA. BAT remains grounded by performing music meditations for various wellness facilities along the west coast.

Hernández Rosa recorded My Cup of Tea, in collaboration with Beneath A Tree, at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in 2020 with Paul Holmes Morton joining on theorbo, baroque guitar and vocals. BAT has since been featured in Early Music America’s 2021 Emerging Artist Showcase, Boston Early Music Fringe festival and the American Bach Soloists Festival.

With: Gail Hernández Rosa - Baroque Violin, Viola & vocals, Daniel Turkos - Contrabass, Octave Mandolin & Vocals

$15 youth, $25 Senior/Student, $30 general admission
Tickets available through Eventbrite.

From Classical to New Works

For this exciting recital, pianist Ting Luo will present a repertoire spanning the classical era, with compositions from Schubert and Bach, as well as several pieces from contemporary and new piano music, featuring works by Phillip Glass, Terry Riley, and Ingrid Stölzel.

A special highlight will be the inclusion of prepared piano classics by John Cage. Additionally, Ting Luo will showcase selected compositions from the New Arts Collaboration 2023 season, including pieces by Xuesi Xu, Dylan Findley, and Cole Reyes.

The New Arts Collaboration proudly offers innovative programming, bringing together multimedia piano works by living composers and artists from diverse fields, resulting in a groundbreaking mixed-media experience.

“The music offered a wide variety of different technical and rhetorical approaches to composition, and the variations in media design were just as extensive.” from the review by The Rehearsal Studio.

$15 youth, $25 Senior/Student, $30 general admission
Tickets available through Eventbrite.

Middle Eastern delights with oud, clarinet, percussion and song

Featuring artists whose backgrounds include Israel (Asaf Ophir), Lebanon and Syria (Faisal Zedan) and Iran (Sirvan Manhoobi), the Dashti Trio brings a unique musical and cultural blend to the concert stage.

The Dashti Trio began with a peace concert in 2017, bringing together musicians from different parts of the Middle East to share their cultures. Each coming from a unique background and with his own independent career, they continued to collaborate on numerous projects and finally decided to form a dedicated trio. With a mixture of voice, clarinet, flutes, oud, and percussion, they bring the beauty of each individual culture as well as a few refreshing combinations that may never have existed before. Come and hear avaz with a scent of spices, hijaz with a flourish, and klezmer with a twist!

With: Asaf Ophir - woodwinds, vocals; Sirvan Manhoobi - oud, vocals and Faisal Zedan - percussion, vocals

$15 youth, $25 Senior/Student, $30 general admission
Tickets available through Eventbrite.

Outstanding woodwind quintet performs Latin American music both old and new

Since 2004, Quinteto Latino has performed music of Latino and Latin-American composers and used the performances to educate audiences around racial equity and cultural issues in the classical music field. Sharing the wonderful music of Latino composers and supporting them in their creation of new works and wider recognition are Quinteto Latino’s goals for every performance. Our program includes a piece recently commissioned by us: Mitos by Gabriela Lena Frank, as well as a tribute to the late composer Paul Desenne: El Recreo, La Cumbia, Los Vikingos, y Otras Miniaturas. We’re excited to perform these new pieces alongside a folk song and a well-known tango… old and new Latin American music!

With Armando Castellano, French horn; Leslie Tagorda, clarinet; Diane Grubbe, flute; Kyle Bruckmann, oboe and Jamael Smith , bassoon.

Tickets are $20 - $30 at Eventbrite

No "Dots" - No Problem!

Want to learn how to jam? This Jam Session Workshop "Beyond the dots” will show you how!

Oftentimes musicians are divided into two categories, those who can play by ear and those who need “dots” - music notes. This workshop is especially for those who have not explored learning music by ear, as well as for musicians who play by ear, but just want to learn some new tunes! Through the use of simple European melodies (Polish, Ukrainian, Romanian), Cookie will guide participants to feeling comfortable in a jam session - even if this is your first time jamming! After learning the melodies, we start to apply the stylistic elements, ornaments, trills, frills and thrills. Some of the melodies will stem from the music in her childhood home, a mixture of Jewish, Ukrainian, and Polish.

This class is best suited for intermediate players and above and open to all acoustic instruments.

$15 youth/Live Stream, $25 Senior/Student, $30 general admission

Tickets available through Eventbrite.

$15 youth, $25 Senior/Student, $30 general admission
Tickets available through Eventbrite.

For this special event, Veretski Pass presents a program of formerly lost melodies of pre-Holocaust traditional, Ukrainian-Jewish music, as well as dances from Ukraine.

PLUS: Join us at 3:00 p.m. for a 30 minute scholarly talk with violinist/violist, scholar and teacher Cookie Segelstein - Veretski Pass: UNDER THE HOOD: Using Jewish Archival Materials to Create New Music and Arrangements, at no extra cost; the talk is free to concert ticket-holders. Thank you, Klez California, for the grant covering this talk!

In this short talk, Cookie will explore ways that musicians can balance old-school research and learning with digital resources. How does Veretski Pass use Jewish archival collection materials to compose and arrange new music? This presentation shows their creative process, from gathering materials, to the treatment of the smallest melodic fragments, to using whole melodies. Cookie will show elements of this, including music sources, tempo and key treatments, melodic and rhythmic variations.

Concert Program: This new program combines traditional folk resources from Ukraine with Veretski Pass' own new compositions. With both traditional and contemporary folk gestures, in concert with the traditional style of improvisation, this collection draws on sources of Ukrainian Jewish music that are in peril, being housed in the Vernadsky National Library in Kiev, Ukraine, and being digitized by volunteers from the Kiselgof-Makonovetsky Digital manuscript Project (KMDMP), which includes members of Veretski Pass.

$15 youth, $25 Senior/Student, $30 general admission
Tickets available through Eventbrite.

Voices for Change: ART SONG AND KEYBOARD MUSIC OF CALIFORNIA - part of the statewide California Festival

Left Coast explores the voices of women composers of California in song, both historical and contemporary, ranging from Carrie Jacobs Bond and Elinor Remick Warren to Vivian Fung and Gabriela Lena Frank. Piano works by Gabriella Smith and Henry Cowell complement the program.

Featuring lyric coloratura Nikki Einfeld and pianist Allegra Chapman.

This concert is presented as part of The California Festival - a Celebration of New Music

$15 youth, $25 Senior/Student, $30 general admission
Tickets available through Eventbrite.

Rich harmonies and intimate music with beloved East Bay singer-songwriters

Jaeger & Reid, a duo from the San Francisco East Bay, combines Judi’s Canadian background, striking vocals and intelligent songs with Bob’s California upbringing and his own engaging original tunes. Their artful blending of guitars, ukulele and rich harmonies delivers an intimate evening of deeply meaningful music. Be prepared to be moved.

FREE EVENT - OPEN TO THE PUBLIC!

Please join us for the opening of Calliope’s first juried group art exhibition!

The unprecedented COVID-19 Pandemic will have long ranging effects on all of us. Surrounding this experience is a collective grief we are only beginning to grasp. This exhibition will explore the COVID experience as seen through the art and writings of our own community with the goal of acknowledging, honoring and learning from all that we have experienced, lost and gained, TOGETHER.

$15 youth, $25 Senior/Student, $30 general admission
Tickets available through Eventbrite.

We welcome you to join us for a special treat: not just one, but FOUR extraordinary classical saxophonists who will take us on a musical ride around the world.

TC4's eclectic program begins with Atom Hearts Club Quartet by Takashi Yoshimatsu, which blends his unique approach to classical music with rock icons Pink Floyd, The Beatles, and Emerson, Lake & Palmer.

We then travel to major port cities in South America, and explore the combination of American Rags, Blues, and Jazz, with Brazilian Choro and Dominican Merengue in Saxteto by Victor Marquez Barrios.

We end in France, where we explore the diverging styles of late French Romanticism and the ever popular Impressionism, with Nuages by Eugene Bozza and a fresh setting of Claude Debussy's famous String Quartet.

$15 youth, $25 Senior/Student, $30 general admission
Tickets available through Eventbrite.

This is music you won’t hear anywhere else! This program consists entirely of original compositions, combining a jazz quintet with string quartet.

Typically, in a jazz setting, strings are either relegated to the role of “sweetener” or, in small jazz groups they function much like another horn. Here, you hear a musical partnership, with the string quartet integrated into the music, lending its agility and plush sonority to balance and contrast with the slash and burn of the jazz quintet. These arrangements have been a long time in the making, and we are thrilled to be able to share them with you!

$15 youth, $25 Senior/Student, $30 general admission
Tickets available through Eventbrite.

Piano and cello masterworks - with a world premiere by composer Jean Ahn

Join Berkeley's own Isaac Pastor-Chermak and Alison Lee for an afternoon of greatest hits and brand-new music for cello and piano. Isaac and Alison will perform sonatas and showpieces by Beethoven and Brahms, and the world premiere of a newly commissioned work by Jean Ahn. One of the Bay Area's most prominent musical "power couples", Isaac and Alison have collaborated musically since 2016, including several performances of the complete Beethoven and complete Brahms sonatas and appearances at Calliope and St. Alban's individually and as a duo. Jean Ahn is a music faculty member at UC Berkeley and director of Ensemble ARI, which performed on Calliope's 2021-22 season.

Each of the three pieces on their program represents the friendship and collaboration between composers and performers: Beethoven with Jean-Louis Duport, Brahms with Robert Hausmann, and Jean Ahn with the performers directly, for a world-premiere commissioned work.