Arts & Events

Mezzo-soprano Simone McIntosh, who was a 2018 Merola Opera Program participant, gave a mesmerising performance in the Taube Atrium Theatre on Wednesday, March 4, of the song cycle Harawi by Olivier Messiaen. Harawi, rarely heard, is a major work of the 20th century art song, and it combines Messiaen’s passionate interest in ethnomusicology, nature, and birdsong. Loosely based on a Quechuan folktale of two lovers, Harawi bears some resemblance, though in an abstract way, to the medieval German story of Tristan and Isolde. In both there is a meditation on love and death. Messiaen found inspiration in a book given to him by a friend, comprised of Incan folklore and folksongs. From this unlikely raw material, Messiaen created a multi-hued song cycle of great rhythmic originality. -more-

Music Director Designate Esa-Pekka Salonen led the San Francisco Symphony last week in three performances of a program that featured the conductor’s own Violin Concerto with soloist Leila Josefowicz. I had only heard Josefowicz perform once before, many years ago in San Francisco, and I came away from that concert with a decidedly low opinion of Leila Josefowicz as a violinist. Her tone was thin, and she seemed to have simply gone through the motions, imbuing whatever it was she played with little feeling. Perhaps she played one of the classics — “Brahms, Beethoven, Mendelssohn, etc., etc.” — she now prefers to leave behind, having stated that she “didn’t want to keep performing pieces that everyone else was performing all the time.” So Leila Josefowicz has reinvented herself as a champion of new works she herself often commissions from contemporary composers. -more-

Democracy Is Only Natural: Ask a Meerkat

On March 3, The New York Times carried a Super Tuesday story headlined: "Sneezing Dogs, Dancing Bees: How Animals Vote." Humans are not the only animals that caucus, the Times revealed: "We’re not even the only primates that primary." Looking beyond the cliché of "mindless sheep," scientists have discovered that many animals make group decisions by popular vote. "[F]rom primates all the way to insects [many animals] have methods for finding agreement that are surprisingly democratic."

A 2010 study by Dr. Marta Manser observed that meerkats in South Africa's Kalahari Desert forage on the basis of "move calls"—a "gentle mew" that signals a consensus regarding which direction the herd will head. It takes a minimum of three meerkat mews to move the herd in a new, common direction.

According to the Times: "Biologists call this phenomenon—when animals change their behavior in response to a critical mass of their peers doing something—a quorum response." The same quorum response is exhibited in human decision-making.

The Times article echoes a September 2017 report in The Independent that celebrated the following examples of animal democracy:

• In Africa, wild dogs gather in groups and vote with a sneeze to determine whether to go out on a hunt or sleep in.

• When deciding on a direction to explore, baboons tend to follow whichever fellow baboon "seems to have the most confidence." (Clearly, when it comes to popular elections, most human voters tend to behave like baboons.)

• White-faced capuchin monkeys in Costa Rica rely on "trill calls" to determine which way the majority of the pack will decide to move.

• In England, rock ants will decide to abandon their nests en masse if a sufficient number of individual ants "vote with their feet" and move out to settle in a new location.

• And, when beehives become too crowded, "scout bees" are sent out to search for new homesteads. On their return, each of the scouts performs an aerial dance to promote its recommended plan for the future. Some bees will drop out of the competition and back another bee's "platform." The swarm won't move until all the votes are in and all the remaining bees are dancing in support of the remaining proposal.
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The Coronavirus (COVID-19) will also likely harm Americans indirectly because the U.S. is increasingly reliant on drugs either directly sourced from China or made from intermediate chemicals called Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs), or their chemical precursors, manufactured in China. While 90% of the finished drugs Americans take are generics, most are manufactured overseas, primarily in India and China. Even India, the world’s largest generics producer, relies on China for 80% of the APIs it uses in drug production. -more-

On Saturday evening, March 7, Musaics of the Bay, an organization whose founder and Artistic Director is Audrey Vardanega, gave a chamber music concert at Crowden School in Berkeley. Dubbed “An Evening of Schubert,” the concert featured Franz Schubert’s splendid Piano Trio No. 2 in E-flat Major, D. 929. Also included was Mozart’s Violin Sonata in E-flat Major, K. 481. Performing with pianist Audrey Vardanega were violinist Nigel Armstrong and cellist Tanya Tomkins. This illustrious group of musicians all have local origins and ties, though they each have performed worldwide. -more-

Worth Noting and Responding with phone call or email:

As of this writing, (Saturday morning), no Berkeley City meetings have been cancelled due to Covid-19. In fact, another meeting announcement arrived as this was being finalized. Community meetings and events are being cancelled so check for updates.



Monday – Agenda Committee at 2:30 pm is the plan for March 24 City Council meeting. #22. is the proposed Charter amendment to establish a Police Board. There are no documents in the agenda packet describing the proposed new Police Board.

Tuesday – Regular City Council meeting at 6 pm includes #23. Emergency Outdoor Shelter and 24. Fair Chance Housing (ban the box for housing).

Wednesday – Kate Harrison will be at the Homeless Commission at 7 pm to answer questions about the Emergency Outdoor Shelter

Thursday –.#2 in the 10 am Budget Committee agenda is accepting Cryptocurrency as tax payment. There will be a community meeting at 7 pm on the “revitalization” of North Berkeley.

The Police Commission at 7 pm will be discussing scheduling a special meeting regarding the Charter amendment, not the content of the amendment



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