Tuesday, May 28
Berkeley Baroque Strings, Kati Kyme, Director
A spring evening concert with works by Antonio Vivaldi and Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, son of Johann Sebastian. Program includes Antonio Vivaldi, Concerto Rustica, Sonata a 4 al Santo Sepolcro in E Flat Major, Sonata a 4 al Santo Sepolcro, b minor; and C.P.E. Bach, Symphony in C Major and Cello Concerto in A Major, William Skeen soloist.
7:30 PM
St. Clement’s Episcopal Church
2837 Claremont Blvd., Berkeley
Free/donation gratefully accepted
[email protected], www.berkeleybaroquestrings.org
Friday, May 31
Cut Circle, Jesse Rodin, Director
Vocal ensemble Cut Circle (Sonja DuToit Tengblad, Jonas Budris, Bradford Gleim, and Paul Max Tipton) will present “Hard Songs,” featuring music that at one time or another has given musicians a headache. The centerpiece of the concert is the Missa L’ardant desir, an anonymous four-voice mass based on a now lost anonymous song, as well as excerpts from another hard mass (Gross senen) and songs by Johannes Ockeghem. Most of this music hasn’t been heard since the fifteenth century.
Directed by Jesse Rodin (Stanford University), the concert is connected to an international conference hosted by Emily Zazulia (UC Berkeley) on the concept of difficulty in late-medieval and Renaissance music. The main questions on the table are: How should we define difficulty, then and now? How can we clear away issues like bleed-through on manuscript pages and an unfamiliarity with an old notational system in order to channel a musician for whom “complex fifteenth-century polyphony” was just “music?” How extreme did the music need to get before it was hard even for an expert singer of the period? Read more . . .
8 PM
Hertz Concert Hall
101 Cross-Sproul Path, on the UC Berkeley campus
To purchase tickets ($10–$25), visit https://secure-tickets.berkeley.edu/14450/14451. For more information on the conference (May 31–June 1), visit http://music.berkeley.edu/hard-songs/.
Saturday, June 1
Berkeley Baroque Strings, Kati Kyme, Director
A spring evening concert with works by Antonio Vivaldi and Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, son of Johann Sebastian. Program includes Antonio Vivaldi, Concerto Rustica, Sonata a 4 al Santo Sepolcro in E Flat Major, Sonata a 4 al Santo Sepolcro, b minor; and C.P.E. Bach, Symphony in C Major and Cello Concerto in A Major, William Skeen soloist.
4 PM
St. Mark’s Episcopal Church
2300 Bancroft Way, Berkeley
$20 (students $10, under 12 free)
[email protected], www.berkeleybaroquestrings.org
Foothill Community Concert Series presents The Peralta Consort
Bringing the beauty of early music to life for a new generation, the Peralta Consort fills the air with the intricate patterns of music written before 1800 using a mixture of period and modern instruments. The Peralta Consort is our cornerstone group for Foothill’s early music series.
3 PM
Foothill Presbyterian Church
5301 McKee Road, San Jose
Admission: $10.00 advance / $12.50 door. Children 12 and under are admitted free. Admission includes a post-concert reception with a chance to meet the artists. Tickets are available at the door, or online at www.foothillpc.org/fccs. Online tickets are available up to 48 hours prior to concert start. Tickets purchased online will be waiting for you at the door.
www.foothillpc.org/fccs, [email protected], 408-258-8133
Sunday June 2
Alameda’s Sing-It-Yourself Messiah (parts II and III)
For the first time, Alameda’s Sing-It-Yourself Messiah will present parts II and III of of George Frideric Handel’s Oratorio Messiah, with chamber orchestra, harpsichord, soloists, organ, and of course with a Sing-It-Yourself chorus! Parts II and III are the “Easter” portions of the oratorio, including the sing-along choruses: Behold the Lamb of God, Surely, He hath borne our griefs, And with His stripes we are healed, All we like sheep, Lift up your heads, The Lord gave the word, Hallelujah! Since by man came death, Worthy is the Lamb, and Amen. Come sing or come listen!
Alameda’s Sing-It-Yourself Messiah was organized in 1995 by volunteer choir directors, choir members, and community members to provide Alamedans with a Messiah of their own. Since that time, soloists and musicians from all over the Bay Area have participated in the annual free performances.
3 PM
St. Joseph Basilica
1109 Chestnut Street (corner of Encinal and Chestnut), Alameda
The church is accessible by BART and bus: Take BART and get off at Fruitvale Station; then board AC Transit Bus # 51A to Alameda; get off at the corner of Santa Clara and Chestnut, and walk 2.5 blocks south to the church, which is located just off of the corner of Encinal.
Admission is free, and everyone is welcome — this event is open and welcoming to all, of any (or no) religious orientation. Those who wish to can give a free-will offering to help offset the expenses of the event; donations are happily accepted but utterly not required! If you can, bring a canned or dry food item, we’ll have a barrel for the Alameda Food Bank.
Please bring a copy of the Messiah if you have one. There will be a limited number of scores available on-loan if you don’t.
For more information, and a poster, please visit www.alamedasingityourselfmessiah.org online, or email Gesine Lohr, harpsichordist [email protected].
Continue reading next week’s calendar . . .
