UC Alumni Chorus

Join the UC Alumni Chorus and UC Choral Ensembles (UCCE) on December 3 at 7:30pm for an evening of American spirituals and other selections for the holidays. The Alumni Chorus will perform some well-known spirituals, and the celebrated tenor, Alex Taite, will perform several of his solo spiritual arrangements. UC Choral Ensemble groups, including the UC Men's Chorale and University of California Women's Chorale, the California Golden Overtones, the Cal Jazz Choir, the UC... Men's Octet, Noteworthy, and UC Berkeley's Perfect Fifth will also sing a number of holiday themed works. The concert will begin at 7:30 at the First Presbyterian Church of Berkeley at the corner of Channing and Dana near the UC Berkeley campus. The evening promises a moving and exhilarating array of music. We hope to see you there. $5 suggested donation at the door. No advance ticket sales. ------- Dec 3, 7:30pm at First Presbyterian in Berkeley --------

"But for me, without question, the film experience of the entire festival was the presentation of Carl Theodor Dreyer’s ageless The Passion of Joan of Arc. An austere rendering of the French national heroine’s trial by fire (literally), this essential film has made Sight and Sound’s exclusive Top Ten Films list every twenty years since the poll’s inception (‘52, ‘72, ‘92, ‘12). Having previously only seen Dreyer’s film on the small screen (I had been impressed, but not overwh...elmed), I was faced with my own slight ‘Sophie’s Choice’ moment of the fest. The two must-see events of TCM Fest 2016, for me, had unfortunately been scheduled at the same time a 50th anniversary poolside screening of the original feature Batman with the Batman (Adam West) and movie Catwoman (Lee Meriwether) on hand to present or alternately Dreyer’s Joan of Arc presented with a live fifty-piece orchestra and vocalists performing Richard Einhorn’s 1994 oratorio Voices of Light in accompaniment. Stumbling upon the film in the early ’90s, composer Richard Einhorn was so inspired that he set about creating his unique oratorio to accompany the film, basing it entirely on Latin and French texts, which included Joan’s own words from the 1431 trial as well as the writings of various medieval mystics. He entitled this work Voices of Light and to see it performed live to a pristine 35mm print inside the overflowing Egyptian theatre was a completely unforgettable, transformative experience. (Holy Correct Choice, Batman!) Sitting dead center in the nearly 100-year-old movie palace helped me become immersed in Dreyer’s groundbreaking film, in the intimate struggle of Joan’s faith and suffering. This tiered, central vantage point proved to be essential for the overwhelming coda Einhorn staged at the end of the film. Without going into specifics (the element of surprise here is crucial), I will just say that the emotional finale elicited the strongest response from me of any film since the conclusion of Kieslowski’s Three Colors trilogy. An overwhelming communal reaction, not just to Joan’s tragic demise, but to the artistry of Dreyer, Falconetti, and the singers and musicians below the screen, brought the audience to its feet for a sustained, minutes-long standing ovation. As with Anna Karina’s character’s deep personal connection to the film in Vivre sa Vie, this combination of the pinnacle of Silent cinema with the emotional immediacy of the oratorio melded to create a cinematic experience for the ages. Tears drying on my cheeks, I headed back out to the neon excess that is uniquely Hollywood Blvd., numbly withstanding the tectonic culture shock I was experiencing."

Soloist on April 4: Crystal Philippi! Mezzo-soprano Crystal Philippi’s depth of color, lyricism, and embodiment of a work’s emotion and dramatic physicality hav...e earned her critical acclaim for bringing life to the characters she portrays. Equally comfortable in contemporary and traditional repertoire, some of Crystal’s career highlights include performing the roles of Carmen, Charlotte (Werther), Mallika (Lakmé), and creating the title role in the workshop presentation of Mary Pleasant: At Land’s End by David Garner. Also trained as an actor, expert ethnic ballroom dancer, swimmer, and clown, Crystal’s performance expression is truly diversified, making her a sought after performer across genres. More information available at www.crystalphilippi.com. See more

The orator for the Ondine Smith Moore "Scenes from the Life of a Martyr" oratorio in our April 4 concert is going to be Noah Griffin!! "Multi-talented Noah Grif...fin Jr. has had a concomitant many-faceted career: historian, writer, newspaper columnist, radio and television talk show host, law editor, press secretary, campaign manager, lyricist, and vocalist. Griffin was born in San Francisco, California, on January 31, 1946, to Noah Webster Griffin Sr., an early civil rights pioneer, and Terressa E. Ballou, an educator. Griffin and his brother, Gilbert, grew up in San Francisco’s Richmond District. Demonstrating an early love of music, Griffin began singing professionally at age seven with the San Francisco Boys Chorus (19531958). In 1955 he was the first black youngster to perform a solo with the San Francisco Cosmopolitan Opera in La Bohème. That same year, Griffin sang with the chorus at the opening of the original Disneyland in Anaheim, California. By the time he was twelve, Griffin had shared the stage with Paul Robeson, Leontyne Price, Johnny Ray, Nat King Cole, and performed in Carmen, Turandot, and Boris Godunov. Griffin was student body president at George Washington High School (GWHS) in San Francisco. Before he graduated in 1963, Griffin became the first black athlete to letter in tennis in San Francisco High School sports, and he received GWHS’s Most Valuable Player in Tennis Award. Following in the footsteps of his father, Griffin attended Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee, where he sang with the famed Fisk Jubilee Singers. He received a B.A. in History from Fisk in 1967 and a law degree from Harvard Law in 1971. While spending nearly four decades in government and politics in and around San Francisco, Griffin continued to sing at the Venetian Room of the Fairmont Hotel, at the legendary Purple Onion, and at other venues. Griffin’s public affairs career began with his appointment by Mayor Joe Alioto to the Mayor’s Council on Criminal Justice. In 1973 Griffin became the first administrative aide to a non-black political figure, then San Francisco City Supervisor Dianne Feinstein. He was also the first African American to break the color barrier to live at the city’s Press Club, and the first and only black press secretary to a San Francisco mayor, Frank Jordan (1993-1996). Griffin became the first full-time black talk show host on KGO Radio in San Francisco from 19801982, where he continued to work as weekend host until 1985. He was the first black op-ed columnist for the San Francisco Examiner (19891992), the first African American on the then Examiner editorial board, the first black San Francisco nationally syndicated columnist through Scripps-Howard, and the first San Francisco columnist ever to appear on the PBS News Hour. The CORO Foundation Fellowship in Public Affairs in San Francisco (19721973), and a Phelps-Stokes History Fellowship (1991) are among the many awards Griffin has received. In recent years, Griffin’s work in public affairs has tapered off, but his involvement in music is still going strong. With Bob Voss, who wrote the music, Griffin wrote the lyrics to The Bridge: Golden Gate, the official ballad of the iconic bridge. Griffin also founded the Cole Porter Society, a group that is dedicated to keeping the Great American Songbook alive for future generations. Griffin and wife Meredith Browning Griffin, to whom he has been married since 2006, live in Tiburon, California. Between the two of them they have five grown children: Noah III, Mark, Taylor, Alex, and Kate." (Also: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/Scenes_from_the_Life_of_a_Martyr )

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