Arts & Events

A team of Bay Area filmmakers has produced a gripping animated tale of human courage and loss that has garnered a great deal of praise—including awards at 15 international film festivals and an Oscar nomination (Best Documentary Short) from the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences.

Last Day of Freedom is a 31-minute animated collaboration by British-born UC Santa Cruz art professor Dee Hibbert-Jones and Nomi Talisman, a freelance editor and animator born in Israel.

Last Day of Freedom offers an unusual and visually arresting film experience. Using the simplest of pen lines (covering more than 32,000 hand-drawn frames) the filmmakers sketch their story with faultless economy and surprising depth.

Anyone who is a fan of the Moth Radio Hour and National Public Radio's StoryCorps will relish this film.
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This coming Saturday night the Verismo Opera company brings its performance of Verdi’s Otello to the intimate performance space of the Hillside Club in Berkeley, with Fred Winthrop as Otello, Eliza O'Malley as Desdemona and Michael Moran conducting. -more-

Berkeley Symphony’s Music Director Joana Carneiro was unable to conduct this program due to illness, so Tito Muñoz, Music Director of The Phoenix Symphony, was called in to replace her at the last minute. Muñoz arrived in time to conduct the first rehearsal on Tuesday, and the performance itself took place Thursday evening in Zellerbach Hall. Featured on the program were Witold Lutoslawski’s Concerto for Orchestra (1954) and Ludwig van Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 5 in E-flat Major, “Emperor,” with Conrad Tao as soloist. -more-