Arts & Events

AROUND AND ABOUT MUSIC:Berkeley Symphony, Choral works by Mozart and Adams; Schedule Announced for Next Season

Friday April 24, 2015 - 02:13:00 PM

This coming Thursday, April 30th, at 8 in Zellerbach Hall on the UC campus, Berkeley Symphony will present the last concert of this season, two choral works: Mozart's Requiem Mass in D minor and John Adams' Choruses from 'The Death of Klinghoffer,' conducted by music director Joana Carneiro.  

San Francisco Opera Adler Fellows Jacqueline Piccolini (soprano), Zanda Svede (mezzo), Michael Dailey (tenor) and Anthony Reed (bass) will join the Symphony for the Mozart Requiem. The combined choruses of the University and Chamber Choruses of the University of California, Berkeley, directed by Marika Kuzma, will perform in both the Adams and Mozart works. 

Adams' opera, 'The Death of Klinghoffer,' based on the 1986 hijacking of the Italian cruise ship the Achille Lauro by Palestinian militants and the subsequent killing of US citizen Leon Klinghoffer, has been controversial since its debut in 1991, commissioned by a consortium of opera companies, including San Francisco Opera.  

The Symphony has also just announced its 2015-16 season, featuring the West Coast premieres of works by Kaija Saariaho (Laterna Magica) and Mark Grey's Frankenstein symphony--and the US premiere of Sofia Gubaidulina's Fachwerk (featuring the Bay Area debut of Geir Draugsvoll, the bayan classical accordion player from Norway her piece was written for)--as well as works by Beethoven, Berlioz, Tchaikovsky, Ravel, Lutoslawa and Gabrieli. 

The new season will also see the Bay Area debuts of Canadian soprano Simone Osbourne, violinist Simone Porter and the Symphony debut of pianist Conrad Tao.  

For Thursday's performance, tickets are $15-$74. berkeleysymphony.org or 841-2800 ex. 1