Arts & Events

—Berkeley Chamber Performances will present the San Francisco Chamber Players—violinists Dan Carlson & Nancy Severance, cellist Peter Wyrick (all three of the San Francisco Symphony) & pianist June Choi Oh (of the SF Conservatory)—at 8 p. m. this Tuesday, January 13, in the ballroom at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant Avenue, in a program of Telemann's Quartet in D minor, Beethoven's Piano Quartet in E flat major Opus 16, two movements from contemporary Northern California composer David Smith's 1913 Street Scene (At the Fountain in the Plaza & At a Busy Intersection)—& Piano Quartet in D major Opus 23 by Dvorak. The audience is invited to a complimentary wine & cheese reception following the concert, with opportunity to meet the musicians. Tickets: $25; high school students free; post-high school students, $12.50. 525-5211; berkeleychamberperform.org -more-

—'Grapes of Wrath' chronicled those who left the Dust Bowl during the Depression; 'Panhandle' shows the ones that stayed on. Actors Ensemble of Berkeley presents a musical drama by Emmy winner Walter Halsey Davis, with music by Marc Ream & Jeremy Sullivan, directed by Michael R. Cohen. opens this Friday, January 9 at 8, reception following, & runs Fridays & Saturdays till January 31, with 2 p. m. Sunday matinees on January 18th & 25th. Preview at: http://vimeo.com/115046736 $15-$20. LiveOak Theatre in Live Oak Park, Shattuck at Berryman. 649-5999; aeofberkeley.org -more-

Marion Fay's unusual Theater Explorations & Music Appreciation classes have just started up for this year. Theater Explorations meets either Monday, 1-3 p. m. for 9 more sessions & four plays, featuring post-performance discussions with guest speakers, including actress Janet Keller. Plays include Stoppard's Indian Ink at ACT (on February 2, 2 p. m.--bring $27 to class for mezzanine seat, $44 for orchestra seat), Molière's Tartuffe at Berkeley Rep & plays at the Aurora & SF Playhouse. $85, discounted theater tickets additional. -more-

Killing Trayvons: An Anthology of American Violence is a new collection of essays, poetry and documents relating to the death of Trayvon Martin and the acquittal of his killer George Zimmerman. Edited by journalist and CounterPunch editor Jeffrey St. Clair; CounterPunch, The Nation and Harper's contributor JoAnn Wypijewski; and veteran civil rights activist Kevin Alexander Gray, the book looks at the Martin case as an example of an ongoing pattern of police, and wanna be police, killing of African-American youth. In the editors' words, the book “tracks the case and explores why Trayvon’s name and George Zimmerman’s not guilty verdict symbolized all the grieving, the injustice, the profiling and free passes based on white privilege and police power: the long list of Trayvons known and unknown.” -more-