Arts & Events

Eva-Maria Zimmermann of Switzerland (familiar to those who've attended Other Minds concerts) & Keisuke Nakagoshi from Japan (in residence at both the SF Conservatory of Music & Opéra Parallele--will perform Musical Gems of the Piano Four-Hands Repertoire, including Terry Riley's G-Song (with jazz chord progression, from 1973 but arranged for ZOFO last year); a world premiere of Ryan Brown's composition of this year, I Heard Bells from My Rotating House; Samuel Barber's collection from 1951 of six dances from 1951 (later orchestrated for a ballet); Estonian composer (known for his musical cosmologic references) Urmas Sisask's The Milky Way, 1990; & well-known Berkeley composer Gabriela Lena Frank's Sonata Serrana No. 1, commissioned by ZOFO in 2012, presented by Berkeley Chamber Concerts, 8 p. m. Tuesday at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant Avenue, between Ellsworth & Dana. $30 general admission, post-secondary school students $15. (510) 525-5211. (A complimentary wine & cheese reception & chance to meet the artists follow the concert.) -more-

Berkeley faces a housing crisis. Rents are soaring and home prices are out of reach for most of us. The city is an increasingly unaffordable place for low and moderate income households and for students, which is threatening the city’s valued diversity. People can't find housing and live in fear of eviction.

A teach-in on Berkeley's housing crisis will be held on Sunday, November 22 at 2 PM at the Berkeley Arts Festival, 2133 University Ave, Berkeley. -more-

The East Bay Media Center is wrapping up its 24th Berkeley Video and Film Festival (BVFF) this weekend with screenings drawn from more than 75 independent films from the US, Switzerland, Russia, and Ireland. Thanks to an exclusive partnership with the University of Southern California's School of Cinematic Arts the BVFF will also spotlight a host of "masters-degree" short films and animations. In addition to an array of Jury-selected features and documentaries, the BVFF also includes outstanding shorts and experimental cinema.

The last three days of festival's offerings will be held at the East Bay Media Center's performance space at 1939 Addison Street in Berkeley's Downtown Arts District. Space is limited so it's advisable to secure tickets in advance. Tickets are also available at the door at a 'pay what you can' rate.

Email maketv@aol.com, or call 510-843-3699 for more info and to order tickets. -more-

Back in 1974, I wrote my very first opera review for the Berkeley Barb about the Merola Opera Program’s production that summer of Mozart’s The Magic Flute, which was sung in English. In that production, director Richard Pearlman staged this opera as a mystical exploration of the psychedelic world of “non-ordinary reality.” Setting The Magic Flute in Mexico, Pearlman cast the earthy Papageno as a kinky-haired hippie traveler consorting with Aztec peasants and getting high on magic mushrooms and peyote, while seeking to turn on his straight friend Tamino. Sarastro was depicted as a benevolent advocate of The Teachings of Don Juan as told by Carlos Castaneda. In this production, the use of W.H. Auden’s English translation seemed utterly justified, if only for the reason that it dovetailed so perfectly with our generation’s quest for self-knowledge through exploration of altered states that might lead to higher spiritual consciousness. -more-