Arts & Events

It has been nearly seventeen months since the outbreak of Covid 19 halted music events performed for live audiences. On Saturday, August 21, I attended at Berkeley’s Greek Theatre a concert by Yo-Yo Ma on cello, Stuart Duncan on fiddle, Edgar Meyer on double bass, and Chris Theile on mandolin as well as guest artist Aiofe O’Donovan on vocals. In homage to this group’s award-winning 2011 album, they billed this event as Not Our First Goat Rodeo. A “goat rodeo,” they explain, is airplane pilots’ slang for a situation so unimaginable that countless parts must come together to avert disaster. 

Musically, this group performs music that combines elements of bluegrass, classical, and folk, with a heavy emphasis on bluegrass. For me, bluegrass music rarely draws me in or moves me to do more than appreciate the virtuosic dexterity of fast-moving fiddle solos. Sure enough, such solos were provided in abundance by Stuart Duncan, and they were rollicking, impressive tours de force. By contrast, Yo-Yo Ma’s solos on cello were often achingly beautiful and meditative, as were the double-bass solos by Edgar Meyer. Chris Thiele played a variety of string instruments, including mandolin, banjo, guitar, and, on one piece, violin. Ever the showman, Chris Thiele bounced around the stage in boyish exuberance while energetically rocking back and forth as he strummed his instruments. 

The musicians opened the concert with bluegrass selections. I was struck by a similarity I’d never noticed before between bluegrass and klezmer music. Both feature frenetic, wildly exuberant music that is quite repetitious. When Aiofe O’Donovan joined the group she added a more subdued, reflective musical voice to the mix, and I found it welcome. The out and out highlight of this concert was, to my mind, Aiofe O’Donovan’s plaintive rendering of a song about a young woman who remains faithful to her sea-faring lover. O’Donovan began this song by singing a capella before being joined by her fellow musicians. Another highlight was the tune humorously titled “Waltz Whitman.” 

Edgar Meyer switched from double bass to piano for one piece, which he introduced as 

“more esoteric than the others,” and which contains nineteen different chords. Aside from this fairly modern piece, the only truly classical work came as the group’s first encore, and it was J.S. Bach’s “Wachet auf,” which Yo-Yo Ma movingly dedicated to all those we’ve lost, in one way or another, throughout this pandemic. 

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Speaking of those we’ve lost, I wish to express my sadness at news of Michael Morgan’s death at age 63 on August 20 at Kaiser Hospital in Oakland. Morgan, the illustrious conductor of Oakland Symphony, was a much-admired spokesman for community involvement in music. Whenever I encountered Michael, whether after a concert in which he conducted or as a fellow member of the audience at San Francisco Symphony, he was always a gracious, approachable individual who combined great knowledge and great humility. He will be greatly missed.