Arts & Events

The Berkeley Activists' Calendar, June 5-12

Kelly Hammargren
Sunday June 05, 2022 - 03:26:00 PM

Worth Noting:

Monday morning at 10:30 am the Public Safety Committee will hear the City Manager’s request on Police Equipment. There are no documents attached revealing the content of the request. The entire nature of a request from the City Manager to a policy committee is highly unusual and has never happened previously at any council committee. This bears watching. P&J Commission meets at 7 pm.

Tuesday no meetings so we can finish turning in our ballots by 8 pm.

Wednesday evening all three meetings Homeless Commission, Parks, Recreation and Waterfront Commission and Police Accountability Board start at 7 pm. Homeless Commission will have Q &A on moving homeless to the Roadway Inn and shutting down homeless trailers/vehicles at 701 Harrison. The PAB will receive an update from the BPD on the mass shooting plot.

Thursday morning at 10 am the biennial budget for years 2023 & 2024 planning continues at the Budget Committee. The BART Board meeting starts at 9 am with Item 9.B. on agenda Authorize the Executive Decision Documents for the Ashby and North Berkeley BART developments.

Saturday the Berkeley Neighborhoods Council meets at 10 am.



Sunday at 5 pm is the production of ROE at the Brower Center by the Actors Ensemble of Berkeley. The staged reading of ROE is free (thanks to donations), seating is limited, reservations are highly recommended. A second final reading of ROE is at the Marsh, June 16th at 7 pm.



The June 14th City Council regular 6 pm meeting agenda is posted on the city website and included after the list of city meetings with key items highlighted and underlined.

Roe at The Marsh

Check https://berkeleyca.gov/ for late/short notice postings of city meetings -more-


Echos from Ukraine at Herz on Sunday. June 12, at 2:30

Monday June 06, 2022 - 12:52:00 PM

On Sunday afternoon June 12, from 2:30-3:30, Berkeley residents will have the rare opportunity to hear the music and poetry of Ukrainian culture voiced by some of the Bay Area's best choral singers and most celebrated actors: Peter Callender, Joy Carlin, and Patrick Russell. They will also be joined by the beloved vielle-player Shira Kammen. -more-


Daniil Trifonov & SF Symphony in A New Piano Concerto by Mason Bates

Reviewed by James Roy MacBean
Sunday May 22, 2022 - 03:50:00 PM

The Piano Concerto by Mason Bates was co-commissioned by the Philadelphia Orchestra and San Francisco Symphony, and it was written specifically for pianist Daniil Trifonov. It premiered with the Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin in January, 202. Currently, it is receiving its West Coast premiere in four performances at Davies Hall, Thursday through Sunday, June 2-5. Ruth Reinhardt, a highly touted young German conductor, is making her San Francisco Symphony debut in these programs. -more-


SF Opera’s Misguided Mozart-Da Ponte Trilogy Ends in Shambles with DON GIOVANNI

Reviewed by James Roy MacBean
Tuesday June 07, 2022 - 08:05:00 PM

The operatic collaboration of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Lorenzo Da Ponte brought into the world three immensely vital, dynamic works — Le Nozze di Figaro, Don Giovanni, and Così fan tutte. These three amazing operas have continued to grace the world’s operatic stages ever since their creation in the 1780s. Recently — let us say, in the past twenty to thirty years — many new productions have set these operas in periods other than their original settings. Often, as in Peter Sellars’ adventuresome Mozart-Da Ponte trilogy staged at SUNY Purchase in 1987-88, the settings chosen were contemporary ones. Peter Sellars set Le Nozze di Figaro in New York’s Trump Tower, Don Giovanni in a New York City ghetto like the South Bronx or Spanish Harlem, and Così fan tutte in a chrome-lined diner. Of these three Sellars productions, his Don Giovanni was boldly harrowing and magnificent, while his other two Mozart-Da Ponte operas were often gimmicky, though endlessly inventive. -more-


The Berkeley Activists' Calendar, May 29- June 5

Kelly Hammargren, Sustainable Berkeley Coalition
Saturday May 28, 2022 - 04:58:00 PM

Worth Noting – Big Week Ahead after Monday off for Memorial Day Holiday:

Tuesday morning at 11 am the Police Accountability Board (PAB) subcommittee will continue work on police equipment policies and reporting. Tuesday evening is City Council the budget and with more budget referrals on the agenda.

Wednesday evening at 7 pm the Planning Commission will have a presentation on standards for middle size multi-unit housing. These are duplexes to eight plus units in projects up to three stories in height. The size of the packet is misleading as there is a lot to absorb in the 16 pages on middle housing.

Thursday at 6 pm is the special City Council meeting on the Ashby and North Berkeley BART housing projects. Be prepared for a long night as the two opposing sides make their case, the "build it tall 12 stories to twenty stories or more" and the "build it moderate size 7 stories with lots of affordable housing." The Planning Department staff recommended 7 stories as did the Community Advisory Group (CAG).

Bad news on tracking approved projects in the appeal period. Samantha Updegrave, Zoning Officer, Principal Planner wrote the listing of projects in the appeal period can only be found by looking up each project individually through permits online by address or permit number https://berkeleyca.gov/sites/default/files/2022-03/Online-Building-Permits-Guide.pdf

Tuesday, May 31, 2022 -more-