After nearly three years of advance planning, world-renowned composer Kaija Saariaho took up residence in Berkeley as the 2015 Bloch Professor in Music. Everybody pitched in including the Department of Music, The Townsend Center for the Humanities, the Center for New Music and Audio Technologies (CNMAT), The Berkeley Symphony, The University Symphony, The San Francisco … Continue Reading »
Piano Institute 2015 at Hertz Hall!
The Piano Institute 2015: David Kim, Sezi Seskir, Andrew Willis, Hertz Hall, Sunday October 25, 10am–6pm including a NOON CONCERT with Schumann, Chopin, Beethoven, and Brahms. Calling all pianophiles! Hertz Hall hosts a full day of piano recitals, lectures, masterclasses, lessons, and discussion on Sunday October 25, featuring a noon concert recital on period instruments … Continue Reading »
Beyond the Valley of the Ninth
Berkeley RADICAL, a new Cal Performances initiative to “uncover new means of revealing our shared human potential” included two significant events with significant contributions by the Music Department. Associate Professor of Music Nicholas Mathew organized the symposium, “Beyond the Valley of the Ninth‚ The Afterlives of Beethoven’s ‘Choral’ Symphony” held in Hertz Hall on Friday, … Continue Reading »
Visiting Professor Carol Vernallis lectures on October 9
Carol Vernallis’s areas of specialization are music video and recent film; her research deals more broadly with questions of sound and image in moving media. Her first book, Experiencing Music Video (Columbia University Press), attempts to theorize the genre. Her second, Unruly Media: Youtube, Music Video, and the New Digital Cinema (Oxford University Press), takes … Continue Reading »
Welcome new teaching faculty Professor Matthew Hough
Matthew Hough Assistant Teaching Professor Matthew Hough is excited to join the Music Department as an Assistant Teaching Professor after spending the last sixteen years in New York City. In addition to his work as a composer and guitarist, Hough enjoys writing about a diverse range of music subjects including musicianship, music theory and composition … Continue Reading »
Zakir Hussain, Crossing Borders
Zakir Hussain, one of the foremost percussionists of the contemporary world, was Regent’s Lecturer at the Institute of Southeast Asia Studies in Spring 2015. As a performer of Indian classical jazz and a composer, he is a brilliant example of border crossing music, and is widely considered a chief architect of the contemporary world music … Continue Reading »
Bach B Minor Mass
The University Chamber Chorus, directed by Marika Kuzma, performed Bach’s monumental masterpiece, the B Minor Mass in April 2015 at UC Berkeley’s Hertz Hall. Oakland Tribute reviewer Martin Snapp writes: “It is the first time they’ve performed it since 1999 (and it might very well be the last as it is such a massive undertaking). … Continue Reading »
In Memoriam: Alan Curtis, Professor Emeritus (1934–2015)
From Cindy Cox, Jul 15, 2015, at 4:10 pm: I’m very sad to let you know that Alan Curtis died earlier today. For those of you that didn’t know him, he was a Professor in the Music Department from 1960-1994. Jennifer Cushing Curtis called us this morning with the news. She said that her daughter … Continue Reading »
Georgianna Moe
src=”http://music.berkeley.edu/files/2015/04/Moe_Georgianne-cr.jpg” alt=”Georgianna Moe” width=”225″ height=”310″ align=”right” />Georgianna Moe, widow of the late Professor Lawrence Moe, passed away at St. Paul Towers on April 7, 2015. Through the years Georgie hosted many gatherings of department faculty and friends at their home in Berkeley and invited many a newly-arrived colleague or graduate student for a meal on … Continue Reading »
Morrison Hall: Watch this space
“It looks so different! It’s great!” “I love the new office!” These are some of the comments we have been hearing as we near completion of a remodeling project that has completely altered the shape and feel of half of Morrison Hall’s top floor. Planning to renovate the space began even before the library moved … Continue Reading »
HookTheory, what makes pop, pop?
As UC Berkeley’s iconic music venue, Hertz Hall was selected as a photo backdrop for a musically related article pun-tastically titled, “What makes pop, pop?.” The piece features the research of three Engineering graduate students, bridging the world of technology research and application with music. In a recent article in NewsCenter, Nate Seltenrich described how … Continue Reading »
Distinguished Visitors, 2014–2015
Donatienne Michel-Dansac French soprano Donatienne Michel-Dansac, was the Music Department’s Regent’s Lecturer in spring 2015. In addition to meetings with students, she gave a colloquium in the Music Department and appeared in a Cal Performances/Eco Ensemble concert in April. Michel-Dansac has worked closely with composers at France’s IRCAM since 1993, and has premiered significant works … Continue Reading »