What if the Giants opened up AT&T Park for a day of games against the Dodgers, Red Sox and Yankees, absolutely free? This Sunday, September 26, Cal Performances presents the artistic equivalent of that heavenly baseball event when opening its season with the inaugural Fall Free for All, a full day of free performances on the Berkeley campus featuring some of the best acts from around the Bay Area.
Cal Performances will open the doors to all three of their performance spaces — Zellerbach, Hertz and Wheeler Halls — and set up a stage in Sproul Plaza to give the Cal community a chance to hear, see, and in some cases be a part of the groups that will perform during their upcoming season. Matias Tarnolopolsky, who is starting his second season as Director of Cal Performances, says, “We are throwing open our doors to all who live in the Bay Area. It’s our gesture to the community, a way of welcoming everybody and introducing our new season.”
Most of the performers involved are based in the Bay Area, so filling the bill was an easy task, but the roster is definitely world-class: Kronos Quartet, Mark Morris Dance Group, Linda Tillery and the Cultural Heritage Choir, Melody of China, members of the San Francisco Opera Adler Fellows, Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra Ensemble, Word for Word, and many more. There’s definitely something for everyone on the day’s programs.
In many ways, it’s about time. The trend these days is to find new ways to bring events to the people, instead of expecting the people to come to the events, in the old “church of the holy symphony” model. Events like this may not entirely meet the audience on their own turf, but they at least meet them halfway, which for most performing arts organizations is a huge step. And with price still a barrier to many — even if it’s more psychological than actual — a free event like this does more than just make high culture available to the underserved; it entices the curious, who may be inclined but hesitant to make the commitment. Everyone benefits, on both sides of the box office. And while many of these groups already give free performances each season, bringing them all together in an event like this makes for an extraordinary day of entertainment.
Kronos Quartet