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	Honoring Robert Cole
	Cal Performances announces our 2009/10 Season!
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Honoring Robert Cole
On Saturday, May 9, Bay Area performing arts lovers gathered at Zellerbach Hall to honor Cal Performances' Director Robert Cole, who steps down from his post in August 2009 after 23 years of inspired leadership. It was "[a]n A-list gala all the way" (San Francisco Chronicle; Read entire article).

UC Berkeley Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost George Breslauer awarded Cole the Chancellor's Citation for his "unwavering, visionary devotion" to the arts. "Mr. Cole has made Cal Performances an international creative center worthy of equal standing alongside Berkeley's top academic departments." Cole, who had previously received the Berkeley Medal and Berkeley Citation, has now been given the University's three top awards.

Cole, in turn, awarded Bill Zellerbach with the Cal Performances Award of Distinction in the Performing Arts. The award is a University of California, Berkeley honor given to an individual whose contributions demonstrate exceptional achievement in the performing arts, at Cal Performances and throughout the world. "Bill Zellerbach and the Zellerbach Family Foundation have been significant and steadfast supporters of Cal Performances for many years," said Cole. "Beginning in the late 1960s with the funds necessary to complete Zellerbach Hall through the present day, Bill's support is a major factor in Cal Performances' success."

The festive event included a menu by culinary icon Alice Waters and décor by party planner supreme Stanlee Gatti. Musical divertissements included the illustrious mezzo-soprano Frederica von Stade and the award-winning composer/pianist Jake Heggie performing three musical offerings. Pianist Susan Muscarella, Cole's wife and founder of Berkeley's Jazzschool, performed "My One and Only Love" with her trio.

The evening ended with Cole doing what he loves best, conducting. He lead the combined voices of the UC Alumni Chorus, UC Men's and Women's Chorales, University Chorus plus the famed Cal Marching Band. Although the evening was a joyous event, it was not without its misty-eyed moments. "The passing of an era is quickly approaching," lamented partygoer Carol Upshaw. "It's hard to imagine Cal Performances without Robert Cole." Those sentiments were voiced by numerous guests. As his time at Cal Performances comes to an end, Cole has received a number of additional honors, including the Bay Area Critics Circle Award and citations from the City of Berkeley and the State of California Senate and Assembly.

Cal Performances announces our 2009/10 Season!
Subscriptions are on sale now for our 2009/10 Season! As you've come to expect, some of the biggest stars of the music world will grace our stage, including Renée Fleming, Ian Bostridge, Pat Metheny, Joshua Bell, Youssou N'Dour, and Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra. We'll once again have the opportunity to revel in joy and laughter during the holiday season as Mark Morris's incomparable The Hard Nut returns to Zellerbach Hall. London's Globe Theatre will entertain us in timeless fashion with its hit production of Shakespeare's Love's Labour's Lost, while the Merce Cunningham Dance Company will expand our artistic horizons with the premiere of a bold new work next spring. Artists that we've come to know and embrace through Cal Performances will return, including Jordi Savall, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Laurie Anderson, Ira Glass, the Tallis Scholars, and the Takács Quartet. And we will bring you the American premiere of a new opera, A House in Bali, by the gifted American composer Evan Ziporyn. And much more!

As always, priority for the most desirable seating locations will be given to our most generous Donors, Subscribers, and Email Club members. To ensure your seating priority, please place your order by the following dates: