Joana Carneiro launches new era at Berkeley Symphony

Kicking the tires The Berkeley Symphony Orchestra inaugurated their fall season Thursday, Oct. 15, at UC Berkeley’s Zellerbach Hall, and perhaps in deference to the gala dinner afterwards, many wore their finery, sprinkling the hall with gowns and tuxes. A buzz of excitement surrounded the induction of conductor Joana Carneiro, who follows Maestro Kent Nagano. The Berkeley Symphony signaled their on-going commitment to contemporary composers and the choice of one whose...

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San Francisco Contemporary Music Players at Herbst

A view from the top—contemporary mainstays Morton Feldman is a musician’s musician. By this I do not mean that he is concerned with a theoretical approach, or that he references great works of the past. Rather, he is the opposite: he is so “in the moment” with his sound, and his process is so direct, that those steeped in form are thunderstruck by his immediacy. Performing one of his works, each slow, full note engenders the next, so the performer becomes part of the...

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