Berkeley Festival & Exhibition

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"The Berkeley Festival & Exhibition has become a remarkable institution on the American musical scene." - The New York Times

Come and experience the magnificence of Italian music in and around 1610, from the glories of St. Mark's Cathedral in Venice to the haunting spiritual cloisters of Milan, a golden age filled with the glorious sounds of centuries past.

The Main Stage

At this year's twentieth anniversary festival we have a very exciting Main Stage performance calendar featuring some of the world's finest early music performance ensembles.

Main Stage tickets are available online from the BFX Ten Box Office or by calling 510.642.9988.

Main Stage Festival Highlights

AVE will probe the heart and mind in a performance of the awe-inspiring and terrifying Tenebrae Responsoria by Carlo Gesualdo.

¡Sacabuche! With Paul Elliott & Nigel North will offer a program that explores the stunningly beautiful double-choir writing of the composers associated with St. Mark's Cathedral in Venice in the decades surrounding the turn of the seventeenth century.

The Marion Verbruggen Trio will appear in a dazzling concert of masterpieces from the Baroque: a musical tour of music from Germany and France.

Magnificat will recreate the angelic voices of nuns singing Chiara Margarita Cozzolani's passionate and ecstatic motets. Recognized during her lifetime as one of the finest composers in Italy, Cozzolani spent her entire adult life within the four walls of the musically famous convent of Santa Radegonda in Milan.

Music's Re-creation will present the most distinguished English composers in the mid-seventeenth century before Henry Purcell. Included will be English fantasias and suites by John Jenkins, William Lawes and Matthew Locke.

ARTEK will present an exciting, dramatic and fluid exploration of "The Perfection of Modern Music" as expounded in a reading from Zarlino's Rules of Composition (1558) and exemplified by Claudio Monteverdi's Madrigals, Book V.

Festival Finale Celebration Concert will explore Vespers in Venice from Monteverdi to Vivaldi in a program designed to showcase each of the ensembles participating in the festival and include soloists Marion Verbruggen, Laura Heimes, Jennifer Ellis Kampani, Barbara Hollinshead, Meg Bragle, Christopher LeCluyse, and Peter Becker.

The Fringe

One of the most exciting components of BFX Ten is the Fringe – a series of self-produced concerts by soloists and ensembles from around the world. The Fringe concerts are listed on the calendar of all BFX Ten events.

If you are a performer or group interested in listing your Fringe event, here's how to do it.

The Early Music America (EMA) Conference & Exhibition

As part of BFX Ten, Early Music America (http://www.earlymusic.org/) will hold an early music conference June 10-12, 2010. The conference, "400 Years of Vespers," will commemorate the 400th anniversary of Claudio Monteverdi's Vespers of 1610, a masterpiece that has sparked numerous performances across North America in 2010. The conference, which will be part scholarly "academy" and part participatory workshop, will provide an opportunity for scholars, teachers, professional and amateur performers, and early music enthusiasts to interact with and learn from each other in an informal setting. Check Early Music America for details.

The exhibition, as part of the Berkeley Festival & Exhibition (June 6-13, 2010), features publishers, instrument builders, service organizations, universities and other early music practitioners. Free and open to the public, the exhibition is presented by Early Music America.

Thursday, June 10
12noon-6pm: Exhibition Open
Friday, June 11
10am-6pm: Exhibition Open
Saturday, June 12
10am-5pm: Exhibition Open

EMA is also presenting Early Music Discovery for Children, ages 5-15, on Saturday June 12, 10am-12noon. This is an opportunity for kids to try out early music instruments, supervised by skilled practitioners. Free and open to the public. For more information, contact Early Music America at 888.SACKBUT (888-722-5288) or visit www.earlymusic.org.

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The Berkeley Festival & Exhibition is presented by San Francisco Early Music Society in association with Early Music America, Cal Performances, Magnificat, Ave, Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, and the American Recorder Society.

Last updated 06/10/2010.