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Cal Performances – UC Berkeley

  • UC Berkeley - Zallerbach Hall 101 Zellerbach Hall Berkeley, CA, 94720 United States (map)
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It took a long year of waiting, but our Berkeley debut has finally arrived! The wonderful team at Cal Performances co-commissioned one of our favorite new works with us, Samuel Adams’ Current, and we can’t think of a more perfect place to present the world premiere of this mesmeric quartet.

FROM THE CAL PERFORMANCES WEBSITE

In its innovative programs, Chicago’s Spektral Quartet is widely praised for illuminating the connections between beloved works in the canon and fresh new repertoire by living composers. The ensemble’s Berkeley debut features the world premiere of a new electroacoustic composition by Samuel Adams, a bespoke work created especially for the quartet that explores, in Adams’ words, “the relationship between the minimal digital language of resonating snare drums and the warm, acoustic complexity of the string quartet.” Its title, Current, refers to “both the electric currents that activate the resonating snare drums as well as the intense, weather-blasted quality of the work’s sound world.”

Schubert’s haunting Rosamunde Quartet, and Philip Glass’ Company Quartet, originally composed for a theatrical production of Samuel Beckett’s 1979 novella of the same name, round out the expansive program.

“Spektral Quartet likes to put on performances that are not so much concerts as high-energy thrill rides for musically inquisitive listeners” (The Chicago Tribune).


PROGRAM

String Quartet No. 2, Company (1983)Philip Glass
String Quartet No. 13 in A minor, D. 804, Rosamunde (1824) Franz Schubert
Current (2019) [World Premiere, Cal Performances co-commission] – Samuel Adams


VENUE COVID GUIDELINES

  • Proof of Vaccination is required for entrance

  • Mask-wearing is required indoors

  • We highly recommend that you plan to park and arrive at the performance venue at least one hour prior to performance time, as there may be lines to enter the facility