Cal Neighbors

Cal Performances
The largest presenter of performing arts in Northern California, Cal Performances brings premier artists to five venues on the UC Berkeley campus. Coming highlights are listed below.

For the complete schedule, see www.calperfs.berkeley.edu. For tickets, visit the website or call (510) 642-9988.

Nov. 13: Lang Lang. Only 22 years old, this Chinese pianist has risen to international prominence since taking first prize at age 13 at the Tchaikovsky International Young Musicians’ Competition. His program will include Mozart, Chopin, Schumann, and Liszt. Zellerbach Hall

Nov. 10–14: Royal Court Theatre – 4.48 Psychosis. Playwright Sarah Kane premiered five acclaimed plays at London’s influential Royal Court Theatre before committing suicide in 1998. Her final play, 4.48 Psychosis, has been described as “a beautiful and bruising work about medicine’s inability to understand, contain, and normalize ‘madness.’” Zellerbach Playhouse

Nov. 11–12: Laurie Anderson. In stories, musical interludes, and musings, performance artist Laurie Anderson contemplates contemporary American culture. Part travelogue, part concert, and part personal theories, history, and dreams, the performance looks at the relationships between war, aesthetics, spirituality, and consumerism. Zellerbach Hall

Nov. 14: Michael Schade. Widely considered one of the finest Mozart tenors performing today, this German-Canadian singer will be accompanied by master pianist Malcolm Martineau. The duo’s program includes repertory works by Beetho-ven, Schubert, Liszt, Fauré, and Strauss, plus Viennese folk songs. Hertz Hall

Nov. 26–30, Dec. 1–5: Matthew Bourne’s Nutcracker! Matthew Bourne has made a mission of updating classic ballets into witty, iconoclastic dance/theater spectacles. Nutcracker! re-imagines the holiday story, following Clara’s Christmas Eve dream from a bleak Victorian orphanage, through a shimmering ice-skating wonderland, to the candy-coated magical realm of Sweetieland. Zellerbach Hall

Dec. 5: Ekaterina Semenchuk. This mezzo-soprano has evoked comparisons to the greats of yesterday in regular appearances with the Kirov Opera and in the title role in Carmen with the Opera Company of Philadelphia. She makes her Bay Area debut accompanied by her mentor Larissa Gergieva, a peerless interpreter of the Russian repertoire. Hertz Hall

Dec. 7: Arlo Guthrie & The Klezmatics. Dust-Bowl balladeer Woody Guthrie left a treasure trove of unrecorded Jewish lyrics that were recently discovered by his daughter Nora. The “new” songs have been set to music by The Klezmatics and Guthrie’s son Arlo. The project, called Holy Ground, is a soul-stirring exploration of Guthrie’s favorite word, “union” — of the secular and the sacred, the humorous and the profound. Zellerbach Hall

Dec. 12: Dan Zanes & Friends. Former lead singer and songwriter for the indie band the Del Fuegos, Dan Zanes now creates infectious, roots-based music that families can enjoy together. Kids and parents will both delight in his return, with friends, to Cal Performances. Zellerbach Hall

Jan. 16: Richard Goode. Goode, a Cal Performances favorite, is a deep thinker at the keyboard, revered for his technical artistry and the vitality he brings to every performance. Zellerbach Hall

Jan. 21–22: Peking Acrobats. This elite troupe is selected from China’s best gymnasts, jugglers, cyclists, and tumblers. Their dazzling displays of contortion, flexibility, agility, and control are accompanied by live orchestral performances on traditional Chinese instruments. Zellerbach Hall

Jan. 23: Renée Fleming. A fearless performer with a range from Mozart to contemporary music, this lyric soprano is in her vocal prime. Last year she debuted three operatic roles and earned her second Grammy for her recording, Bel Canto. Zellerbach Hall

Feb 8: Directions in Music: Herbie Hancock, Michael Brecker, and Roy Hargrove. To celebrate the 75th anniversary of the births of John Coltrane and Miles Davis, jazz pianist Herbie Hancock, tenor sax virtuoso Michael Brecker, and young trumpeter Roy Hargrove formed the musical collaboration “Directions in Music in 2001.” At Cal Performances, the musicians pay tribute to the standard bearers of the 1950s and ’60s with a powerful quintet and an all-new program reflecting the spirit of the original project. Zellerbach Hall

Feb. 13: Daniel Müller-Schott. The 26-year-old cellist makes his Bay Area debut, accompanied by pianist Robert Kulek. The duo will perform Beethoven’s Sonata No. 5 in F major, Op. 24; Schumann’s Five Pieces in Folkstyle, Op. 102, and Adagio and Allegro, Op. 70; and Schubert’s Sonata in A minor. Zellerbach Hall

Feb. 25–26: Trisha Brown Dance Company. The first female choreographer to receive the MacArthur Fellowship, Brown is known for her ability to infuse rigorous formal elegance with eccentricity, wit, and lyricism. Zellerbach Hall

Lunch Poems
Readings take place from 12:10 to 12:50 p.m. on the first Thursday of the month in Morrison Library, located in Doe Library. Admission is free.

Dec. 2: Billy Collins. U.S. Poet Laureate from 2001-03, Billy Collins has broken sales records with his past three collections of poems and garnered both critical acclaim and popular appeal. His most recent collection, Sailing Alone Around the Room, was published in 2002. Note: This reading held in Zellerbach Playhouse.

Feb. 3: Barbara Guest. This UC Berkeley graduate has published more than 10 volumes of poetry and has received the Frost Medal for Distinguished Lifetime Achievement from the Poetry Society of America. Guest’s most recent titles include Miniatures and Other Poems, Rocks on a Platter, and Selected Poems.

UC Botanical Garden
A living museum open to the public, UC Berkeley’s Botanical Garden contains more than 12,000 different kinds of plants from all over the world on its 34 acres. The garden is open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. It is closed the first Tuesday of every month.

Registration is required for all programs and events, except the Sick Plant clinic and Plant Sales. Parking is available in the UC lot across Centennial from the Garden. Program fees include Garden admission. Register early, as class space is limited.

Dec. 4: Holiday Plant and Gift Sale. Don’t miss this annual lead-in to the holiday season. Free parking in the university lot across from the garden. 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Dec. 4: Sick Plant Clinic. UC plant pathologist Robert Raabe, entomologist Nick Mills, and their team of experts diagnose what ails your plants. Free.
9 a.m. to noon.

Dec. 8: Holiday Wreath-Making Class. Take home a unique wreath. Includes all materials, but bring your own handclippers. 7 to 9 p.m. $30/$25 members.

Dec. 10: Holiday Wreath-Making Class. Take home a unique wreath. Includes all materials, but bring your own handclippers. 10 a.m. to noon. $30/$25 members.

Jan. 8: Sick Plant Clinic. UC plant pathologist Robert Raabe, entomologist Nick Mills, and their team of experts diagnose what ails your plants. Free. 9 a.m. to noon.

Jan. 22: Winter Bird Walk. Join Chris Carmichael, Associate Director of Collections and Horticulture, and expert birder Dennis Wolff on a morning walk to discover the garden’s bird life. Heavy rain cancels the walk. 9 to 10:30 a.m; admission $12/$8 members

One of the largest university art museums in the country, the Berkeley Art Museum presents a wide-ranging program of more than 15 gallery exhibitions each year. Coming highlights are listed below.

For a complete list of exhibits, visit www.bampfa.berkeley.edu/exhibits

Through Dec. 12: Threshold: Byron Kim 1990–2004. This first major museum retrospective of the La Jolla-born artist’s work focuses on his use of color to express notions of ethnic and racial identity in his abstract paintings.

Through Dec. 19: Some Forgotten Place / MATRIX 213. Eight contemporary international artists redefine the historical boundaries of landscape painting (factual, ideal, pastoral, and artificial) by incorporating a range of unexpected elements including myth, dreams, personal narrative, abstraction, and the psychological.

Pacific Film Archive
A treasure for cinema-lovers, the Pacific Film Archive screens an eclectic program of 500 films each year.

For film schedules and exhibits, visit www.bampfa.berkeley.edu or ca1l (510) 642-1412.

Department of Music
Noon concerts are offered on Wednesdays during the school year in UC Berkeley’s 700-seat refurbished Hertz Hall, near College Ave. and Bancroft Way. Admission is free. The department also sponsors a variety of musical events in the evenings and on Sunday afternoons.

Department of Theater, Dance & Performance Studies
Each year, the department presents four to five main-stage productions, as well as student workshop productions, special events, and Making Theater, a lecture-discussion series featuring luminaries in dance, theater, film, television, and performance studies.

Hearst Museum of Anthropology
The museum’s vast collection of objects comes from nearly every geographic region, including the Americas, Asia, Africa, Oceania, Ancient Egypt, and the Near East.

For a complete list of exhibits and visitor information, visit hearstmuseum. berkeley.edu

Through June 26, 2005: Tesoros Escondidos — Hidden Treasures From the Mexican Collection. This exhibit includes 250 pieces from the museum’s permanent collection. Selected for their craftsmanship, rarity, age, and beauty, the works in “Tesoros Escondidos” offer exquisite examples of Mexico’s material culture, including masks, jars, serapes, sombreros, votive bowls, and paintings. Admission to the public is free on Thurs-days, and free every day for museum members and UC students, staff, and faculty. 102 Kroeber Hall

Lawrence Hall of Science
A hands-on center where children and adults learn about science, Lawrence Hall of Science’s exhibits include “Beakman’s World on Tour,” a science lab where you can see, touch, and try things out for yourself; “NanoZone,” where you can explore the latest research on nanotechnology; “ChemMystery,” where you play detective and follow the clues to solve a mystery; and a new outdoor science park on the Lawrence Hall site, “Forces That Shape the Bay.”