Cal Performances is the performing arts presenting, commissioning and producing organization based at the University of California, Berkeley.
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The San Francisco earthquake and fire of April 18, 1906 proved momentous to the rise of this arts institution in Berkeley. Sarah Bernhardt's landmark performance in Jean Racine's Phèdre on May 17, 1906, at the William Randolph Hearst Greek Theatre was a testament to the restorative powers of the performing arts for the thousands of citizens who had been impacted by the earthquake, and the atmosphere of expectancy surrounding the appearance of "The Divine Sarah" was rewarded by her decision to donate the proceeds of her performance to the Emergency Relief Fund. Bernhardt's wild popularity combined with the Greek Theatre's spectacular design and atmosphere, set in motion the tradition of performing arts presentation in Berkeley. In the words of theater director Samuel Hume, it was the event that "placed the Greek Theatre definitely in the field of the commercial theatre."
William Dallam Armes, Chair of the Musical and Dramatic Committee, realized that the Theatre's large seating area (of about 6,500) made it economically feasible to invite big-name artists of national and international standing such as Bernhardt. Major stars of the time such as Margaret Anglin and Maude Adams brought notoriety to the campus through the Hearst Greek Theatre, in conjunction; the theatre also burnished their reputations as well.
Soon after the Greek Theatre opened, University faculty and administration realized the need for a smaller stage suited to productions requiring an intimate setting. In 1917, the campus gained a 1,050-seat (now reduced to 700) auditorium with the opening of Wheeler Hall, in the heart of the university campus. Wheeler Hall's auditorium immediately became a vital performance venue overseen by the Musical and Dramatic Committee, where it was possible to increase the variety of chamber music and recital programs offered, as well as drama, lectures and other entertainments.
Though members of the Drama, Music and Dance departments realized that Wheeler Auditorium was not the ideal venue for the performing arts on all occasions, several uncompleted projects and, later, the financial strains of The Great Depression delayed the completion of a venue designed for such performances. The opening of Alfred Hertz Memorial Hall in 1958, with its formidable collection of organs and superior acoustics, was marked by the May T. Morrison Music Festival, a presentation of 11 programs between April 15 and May 22, 1958, presented by the Committee on Drama, Lectures and Music. Music critic Alfred Frankenstein claimed Hertz Hall to be the finest auditorium in California.
Seeing that Wheeler Auditorium and Hertz Hall were not suited for presenting drama and dance, Zellerbach Hall was built in 1968. Zellerbach Hall consists of two main theaters: the 2,015-seat Auditorium and the 500-seat, multiform Playhouse. The Playhouse was conceived as a laboratory in which students can learn all aspects of the dramatic arts.
Cal Performances descends from a lineage of people and organizations both within and outside the committees to make UC Berkeley an epicenter for the performing arts. Phoebe Apperson Hearst and her son, William Randolph Hearst, first facilitated the university's ambitions through their donation of funds that enabled the erecting of Hearst Greek Theatre. What the Greek Theatre made possible was realized through numerous persons who served as Chair of the multi-monikered Committee of faculty members that oversaw performing arts presentation on campus.
William Dallam Armes (1903-1918), Associate Professor of American Literature, Director of the Greek Theatre and Chair of the Musical and Dramatic Committee: Armes was responsible for moving the Hearst Greek Theatre from the realm of campus functions to a nationally known stage for renowned artists. After the success of Sarah Bernhardt's first visit, Armes rallied to bring the top artists to the Greek Theatre.
Samuel J. Hume (1918-1924), Director of the Greek Theatre and Chair of the Musical and Dramatic Committee: As a student at UC Berkeley, Hume had developed strong roots in theater. Succeeding Armes after his death, Hume established year-round programming for the Greek Theatre, Wheeler Hall and Harmon Gymnasium, as well as various off-campus sites. He created fall and spring seasons of modern and classic drama productions at Wheeler Hall, and created the Prize Play Contest to stimulate new work among California playwrights, enlisting George Jean Nathan, Eugene O'Neill and Susan Glaspell to judge the entries. Hume also organized the Western Association of Art Museum Directors to route the touring of exhibits to the western states.
William Popper (1924-1945), Chair of the Committee on Music and Drama: Following Hume's departure, the University merged the Greek Theatre management and the Musical and Dramatic Committee, to form the Committee on Music and Drama. The eight-member group of faculty members selected Popper as chair and, illicitly, the director. During Popper's tenure, due to the rise of campus art clubs, there was an increase in the number of artists visiting campus and the expanded use of the University space for performance. The new Committee established basic ideals and procedures, with priority of performing arts presentation set upon education. Popper's assiduous record-keeping kept the program on budget, even throughout the Depression and World War II. He was the first director to suggest that an endowment be established to supplement the budget, in order to reduce the pressure for financial success.
Betty Connors (1945-1979), Director of the Committee for Arts and Lectures: Following suggestions that the campus have a distinct concert presenting unit, the University approved the position of Director (initially "Secretary") through the University Extension; the first salaried position devoted exclusively to the management of concerts on campus. The first person to fill the position was Betty Connors, a recent UC Berkeley graduate of the Department of Music. Throughout her tenure, Connors sought to prioritize the educational aspects of the performing arts while also steadily increasing the scope of arts presentation. Lectures by poets and writers, including Thomas Mann, Dylan Thomas and W.H. Auden, came to the fore, and the campus saw a broadening of musical tastes as represented by folk, jazz and early-music events. Connors was also able to facilitate the expansion of the performing arts program thanks to the addition of Hertz and Zellerbach Halls. The artists she brought to campus included harpsichordists Ralph Kirkpatrick and Gustav Leonhardt, cellist Mstislav Rostropovich, pianists Glenn Gould and Rudolf Serkin, soprano Birgit Nilsson, mezzo-soprano Marilyn Horne, French mime Marcel Marceau, theater artists Jean-Louis Barrault and Madeleine Renaud, Jerzy Grotowski's Polish Theatre Lab, sitarist Ravi Shankar, Maurice Béjart's Ballet of the 20th Century, the Joffrey Ballet, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Merce Cunningham Dance Company, and jazz artists Dave Brubeck and Louis Armstrong, among many, many others. Also during Connors's tenure, the organization was renamed the Committee for Arts and Lectures—or "CAL"—in 1959.
Susan Farr (1980-1986), Director of Cal Performances: With 35 years of Betty Connors's success preceding her, Farr believed her priority for the campus was to sustain the existing presenting program. She sought out resources to meet the increasing costs of presenting, and negotiated contracts with Bill Graham Presents and other promoters of popular music for the use of the Hearst Greek Theatre. Farr also supported the touring of contemporary dance ensembles and brought to Berkeley a variety of troupes including Bella Lewitzky Dance Company, Lar Lubovitch Dance Company and Pilobolus Dance Theater, in addition to classical dance ensembles. Cal Performances, as it then began to be called, introduced Bay Area audiences to numerous folk dance and music ensembles. Additionally, Farr founded the Student Committee for the Arts to encourage campus participation in Cal Performances.
Robert Cole (1986-2009), Director of Cal Performances: Cole, a musician and conductor, was selected by a committee of the Academic Senate who felt that both the University and Cal Performances would be best served by the appointment of an individual with a specialty in the field. Cole's appointment relieved the former faculty Committee for Arts and Lectures of programmatic responsibility and moved artistic authority to the newly hired Director of Cal Performances. Chancellor Michael Heyman established a new advisory committee to guide Cole and appointed former Executive Vice Chancellor and Dean of the Haas School of Business, Earl Cheit, to chair.
For Cole, one of the chief attractions of the position of Director of Cal Performances was the organization's proximity to the UC Berkeley Department of Music. Cole made it a priority to seek the music faculty's advice in expanding the presenting program on campus and, in particular, enlisted their ideas to develop a festival of early music. In 1990, Cole founded the Berkeley Festival & Exhibition of early music, now a biennial weeklong festival presented in association with the UC Berkeley Department of Music, the San Francisco Early Music Society and Early Music America.
By establishing long-term relationships with university faculty and important artists, commissioning and producing new works and discovering new talent, Cole wanted to position Berkeley to become a major arts hub. His programmatic philosophy is reflected in the relationship that Cal Performances has built with artists such as Mark Morris Dance Group, which has appeared at Cal Performances annually since 1987. Under Cole's leadership, Cal Performances also commissioned or co-commissioned new work from artists including Peter Sellars; choreographers Merce Cunningham, Twyla Tharp, Bill T. Jones and Pascal Rioult; the Kronos Quartet; actor/director Robert Lepage; and storyteller/musician Laurie Anderson. Notable commissions and world premieres presented by Cole include John Adams's song-play, I Was Looking at the Ceiling, and Then I Saw the Sky, with libretto by UC Berkeley poet June Jordan, directed by Peter Sellars (1995); and 1996's Nur Du (Only You) by German expressionist choreographer Pina Bausch and her Tanztheater Wuppertal. In 2004, Cal Performances hosted the world premiere of Silk Road, co-commissioned with Yo-Yo Ma's Silk Road Project.
Cole spotted and presented numerous artists before their rise to fame. In 1991 Cole presented the mezzo-soprano Cecilia Bartoli. Then a little-known singer who did not fill Hertz Hall when she made her West Coast recital debut, today she is one of the most sought-after stars on the opera stage. Among the artists Cole presented in their first U.S. or West Coast appearances early in their careers are Bryn Terfel, Ian Bostridge, Maxim Vengerov and Vadim Repin, and Jonathan Lemalu.
Cole has been recognized within campus and worldwide for his achievements at Cal Performances. David Littlejohn wrote, "Cole's programming of Cal Performances has been more adventurous than Lincoln Center's and broader in scope than that of the Brooklyn Academy of Music." In 1997 UC Berkeley Chancellor Chang-Lin Tien awarded Cole the Berkeley Citation, the campus's highest administrative award. In 1995 Cole was made Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters by France's Minister of Culture and Francophilia, and he received the William Dawson Award for Programmatic Excellence from the Association of Performing Arts Presenters in 1998.
In 2007, Cole announced his retirement, effective at the end of the 2008/2009 season.[1]
MatĂas Tarnopolsky was appointed as the new Director of Cal Performances in 2009.[2] He was previously the Vice President of Artistic Planning at the New York Philharmonic[3], and prior to that the Senior Director of Artistic Planning at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
At the New York Philharmonic, Tarnopolsky worked extensively with Music Director Lorin Maazel, Music Director Designate Alan Gilbert and other pre-eminent conductors and artists in creating the artistic profile of the New York Philharmonic. From 1999 to 2006, Tarnopolsky was Director of Programming, and later, Senior Director of Artistic Planning, at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO) where he collaborated with Music Director Daniel Barenboim on all aspects of the CSO's programming, and was responsible for Symphony Center Presents, the CSO's prominent presenting series, which programs some 60 piano recitals, visiting orchestra performances, chamber music, contemporary music, and other programs annually. There he also created the CSO's new music series, MusicNOW; brought the West-Eastern (Arab-Israeli) Divan Workshop and Orchestra to Chicago; spearheaded collaborative projects with Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Northwestern University and University of Chicago, among others; and he programmed the CSO's training orchestra, the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, and led the artistic planning of the CSO's education and community programs. Tarnopolsky was previously a producer for the BBC Symphony Orchestra and BBC Singers (1997-1999), and has written extensively about music, including material for liner notes, program notes, and articles for magazines and other publications. He received bachelor's and master's degrees in music and musicology, respectively, from the University of London, King's College.