Rising pianist Tom Borrow makes his Cal Performances appearance with a program pairing Mozart and Liszt. A protégé of Murray Perahia and a former BBC New Generation Artist, Borrow came to international attention through acclaimed orchestral debuts and performances noted for a touch that can be both light and powerful.Mozart’s Piano Sonata in A minor, […]

Tenor Ben Bliss joins pianist Christopher Allen for an intimate recital showcasing Bliss’ agile lyric voice and Allen’s richly colored, orchestral approach to the keyboard. Bliss is particularly admired as a Mozart interpreter and has appeared at the Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera, and major European houses.Recent roles have ranged from Jeanine Tesori’s Grounded to […]

Countertenor Iestyn Davies and harpist Oliver Wass travel through four centuries of music from Europe and the Americas. Davies, a Grammy and Gramophone Award-winning Handel interpreter, brings vocal beauty and technical dexterity to music spanning Monteverdi, Cavalli, Purcell, Handel, Schubert, Poulenc, Amy Beach, Nico Muhly, and Anna Meredith. Wass, the first harpist to win the […]

Mezzo-soprano Ema Nikolovska returns to Berkeley with guitarist Sean Shibe for Orlando Variations, an eclectic journey through acoustic and electric music across genres and centuries. The project draws on the character and shifting identity of Virginia Woolf’s Orlando, with echoes of the medieval Chanson de Roland and Ariosto’s Orlando Furioso.Exploring love, conflict, transformation, and identity, […]

French harpsichordist Jean Rondeau returns with an all-French Baroque recital that treats the instrument as a living source of color, imagination, and expressive freedom. A leading international advocate for the harpsichord, Rondeau draws on historically informed practice without allowing convention to limit the music’s freshness.The program includes Louis Couperin’s Suite in D major; Rameau’s Prelude […]