On Sunday, world-renowned trumpet player, bandleader, composer and music director Wynton Marsalis returned to Zellerbach Hall, performing for one night only. His band, the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, is highly regarded as one of the best big bands in the world today. JLCO is a 15-piece ensemble composed of Read More…
‘42’ at United Artists in Berkeley This one is for my fellow fans of America’s favorite pastime. The surprisingly modern take on the famous rise to glory of the MLB’s first African American player, Jackie Robinson, looks like it will score a home run with both baseball fanatics and movie-lovers. Read More…
This week, Cal welcomes the age-old art of opera into our hallowed Zellerbach Hall. We assume most people don’t know too much about opera, so we thought that we’d go see it and give you our two cents from the perspective of an average college student. Here’s what we thought Read More…
“Paul Klee’s Circus” at SFMOMA A selection of prints and drawings by Expressionist artist Paul Klee will spend its last two days at SFMOMA this weekend. If you’re into abstract sketches of clowns and acrobats (or if you don’t know it yet), bid adieu to the series of circus-inspired drawings Read More…
What does one expect from a Yo-Yo Ma concert? Most likely a classy experience. It goes without saying that it takes a cultivated ear to find most classical music compelling. The experience could easily be underwhelming — after all, what is a child prodigy when he is an adult? Thursday Read More…
After more than a decade away from Zellerbach Hall, the Joffrey Ballet’s performance on Saturday night (put on by Cal Performances) began with an empty stage. Regal red curtains hung in the background, recalling the stately grand ballrooms found in the novels of Jane Austen — a place where men Read More…
As soon as Emanuel Ax stepped onto the Zellerbach Hall stage, the anxiously chattering crowd quieted down, took their seats and burst into boisterous applause. The concert hall was filled to the brim for the world-renowned Polish pianist on Nov. 13, a testament to the artist’s acclaim. Even before the Read More…
Writing a review of “Einstein on the Beach” is a profound challenge. The opera is hailed as one of the crowning artistic achievements of the 20th century and remains among the most important contributors to modern performance culture. And yet, despite the glitz and glamor surrounding the opera, the endless Read More…
The ballet “Swan Lake” begins with a solitary violin sequence, soaring briefly before crashing into the swell of the orchestra. With this short passage played to spine-tingling perfection, the atmosphere inside Zellerbach Hall, already buzzing from the mere presence of the illustrious Mariinsky Theater (ballet and orchestra), instantly turned spellbinding. Read More…
Last Thursday night, David Sedaris talked pretty all over Berkeley. He started in the Berkeley Art Museum at a fundraiser-turned-cocktail party for the California College of the Arts, where the writer met with Stephen Beal — president of CCA and Sedaris’ former art professor at School of the Art Institute Read More…
