Editorials

Orchestra to perform 

The Berkeley High School Concert Orchestra will present its gala spring concert at 7:30 p.m. Friday. 

The concert, which will be held in the Berkeley Community Theater, will feature a mix of old and new music, including works by Dvorak, Mozart, Saint-Saens, and Stravinsky. It marks the re-establishment of the strong and diverse music curriculum at Berkeley High School. 

Because the orchestra has grown from approximately 15 students to over 60 in the last six years, the Little Theater stage can no longer comfortably accommodate the concert. Instead, the orchestra will perform at the 3,000-seat Community Theater for only the second time in decades. 

Admission is $4 for adults, $1 for students age 13-18, and children under 12 are admitted free. 

Congresswoman to speak 

The Zonta Club of Berkeley/North Bay’s spring luncheon on May 31 will feature guest speaker Congresswoman Barbara Lee. 

The luncheon will be from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the Santa Fe Bar and Grill Restaurant, 1310 University Ave. in Berkeley; tickets are $40. All proceeds from the event will benefit programs sponsored by Zonta, a club focused on advancing the status of women worldwide. 

Lee will discuss issues affecting women’s legal rights and economic advancement, both from a local and national perspective. She will also speak about her views on the traditional “women’s issues” of education and healthcare. 

Zonta has approximately 36,000 members in more than 1,150 clubs in 67 countries. 

The Berkeley/North Bay sector has contributed to a number of local scholarship funds for young women, including the Merritt College of Nursing program and the Tech Trek program for middle school girls. It has also donated books to the Berkeley Reads project of the Berkeley Public Library. 

Reservations are required; call 510-845-6221 or 510-644-4480 for more information. 

City to sell boats 

On June 3 at 11 a.m. the City of Berkeley Marina will auction off approximately nine boats. Eight sailing vessels are being sold to pay for the delinquent berthing fees owed to the City of Berkeley, and a power vessel is surplus equipment once belonging to the Department of Boating and Waterways will also be auctioned. For more information, contact the Marina Office, at 510-644-6376. 

French music featured 

“Frightfully French,” a classical music event associated with the Berkeley Early Music Festival will take place on June 5 at 3 p.m. at the St. Joseph of Arimathea Chapel, located at 2316 Bowditch St. The performance includes music from the French Baroque, including the cantatas “Arion” by Campra and Monteclair’s “La Bergere.” Requested donation is $12. For more information, call 415-586-5285. 

Friends will host Bock 

Audie Bock, independent Assemblywoman from California’s 16th district, will speak at the Berkeley Friends Meeting on June 7 at 7:30 p.m. Her subject will be “Challenges to an Independent Legislator.” 

As an assemblywoman, Bock holds the highest office yet to be won by a Green Party candidate. She has since withdrawn from the Green Party and re-registered as an Independent. She has introduced 30 bills in the Assembly to date. 

The meeting will be located at 2151 Vine St. There will be an opportunity to ask questions and no charge for admission. 

MFA works displayed 

An exhibition of works by candidates for the Master of Fine Arts degree at UC Berkeley has opened at the UC Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive. 

“Now: The 30th Annual MFA Graduate Exhibition” marks three decades that one of the museum’s galleries has been devoted to a selection of new work by Master of Fine Arts graduates. Seven student artists will present their work through a wide range of media, including photography, painting, found-object sculpture, and installation. 

“This annual exhibition of work by MFA graduate students is a highlight of the strong relationship between the UC Berkeley Art Museum and the campus,” Heidi Zuckerman Jacobson, Phyllis Wattis MATRIX Curator and curator of this exhibition said in a press release. “‘Now’ provides an exceptional opportunity for MFA students to present their work within a professional museum context, and to a wide and diverse audience that includes their fellow students.” 

The exhibition runs through July 2. 

Youth training offered 

Bay Area Wilderness Training will offer two Wilderness Leadership workshops in the Sierra Mountains for adults serving youth in the Bay Area. The workshops will be May 24-28 and June 7-11. The course is designed to give adult youth workers the tools needed to take youth on multi-day backpack adventures. There is a mandatory pre-trip meeting prior to each session. For information, call Victoria Ryder, Program Director at 415-788-3666, ext. 126. 

– Daily Planet Staff