Arts & Events

CLICK HERE for a comprehensivve calendar of arts and cultural events in Berkeley and beyond, today and in the future. -more-

Worth Noting

Election Campaigns are in full swing. The last day to register to vote in California is Oct 22, you can register or check your registration online https://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/upcoming-elections/general-election-november-6-2018/ To help with campaigns outside our borders go to Indivisible Berkeley and Wellstone Democratic Renewal Club for information. -more-

From Wednesday, October 3 through Sunday, October 7, Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra and Chorale presented concerts throughout the Bay Area of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s early religious music. Included on this program were Litaniae Lauretanae, K. 195, Exsultate jubilate, K. 165, and the Mass No. 15 in C Major, K. 317 “Coronation.” I attended Saturday’s concert at Berkeley’s First Congregational Church. -more-

On Sunday, October 7, under the aegis of Cal Performances, world-renowned tabla virtuoso Sandeep Das brought to Hertz Hall the HUM Ensemble, a group of four musicians who performed music that, as the concert was dubbed, spanned from “Delhi to Damascus.” Sandeep Das, who often performs with Yo-Yo Ma and the Silkroad Ensemble, here traced the musical and linguistic interchange between India and Syria. It is indeed a rich heritage, one that includes a Syrian origin of the ancient Indo-Iranian and Indo-European Sanskrit language. Musically, the nod to Syria came in the form of the oud, played here by Syrian artist and composer Issam Rafea, who chairs the Arabic music department at the High Institute of Music in Damascus. The other members of the HUM Ensemble were, in addition to Sandeep Das on tabla, Suhail Yusuf Khan on sarangi, and Rajib Karmakar on sitar. The sarangi is of the same family as the Persian kamencheh. It is held upright and bowed, producing an eerie, often ethereal sound. Suhail Yusuf Khan is from a musical family in India, and he is an eighth generation sarangi player. -more-