2026 - 2027 Season | Concerts at a glance
The intimacy of a chamber music experience is like nothing else — a close connection between audience and performers invites a variety of perspectives while also finding our common humanity. Like mosaics, or carefully crafted quilts, our concerts will weave together music of all different colors, shapes, and sizes into a surprising and yet complete whole.
Our second Winter Wandering Festival juxtaposes old and new music to explore timeless themes of home and belonging. With guest artists, speakers, and connections to the community, the festival will be a weekend of thought-provoking music, discussion, and friendship.
We look forward to welcoming you at our concerts this season!
— Matilda Hofman, Artistic Director
FALL CONCERTS
Impossible Inventions
Saturday, September 19, 2026, 7:30 PM (Noe Valley Ministry, San Francisco)
Sunday, September 20, 2026, 4:00 PM (Berkeley Piano Club, Berkeley)
Music full of youthful brilliance and optimism opens our season: we celebrate the music of the new generation through our Pathways Program, alongside Mendelssohn’s beautiful E-flat major quartet and music from Paul Novak, the winner of Left Coast’s 2025 composition contest.
Mozart Clarinet Quintet
Saturday, November 21, 2026, 7:30 PM (Noe Valley Ministry, San Francisco)
Sunday, November 22, 2026, 4:00 PM (First Church of Christ, Scientist, Berkeley)
A paean to all the many different personalities of the clarinet, this program sets Mozart’s quintet, written for his dear friend Anton Stadler, alongside a new quintet written specially for Left Coast clarinetist Jerome Simas by his friend and fellow clarinetist, Jonathan Russell.
WINTER WANDERING FESTIVAL
Saturday, January 16 - Sunday, January 17, 2027
In Left Coast’s second Winter Wandering Festival, contemporary explorations of the themes of home and displacement meet similar preoccupations in the music of Mahler and Janáček. Guest artist Hesam Abedini imagines these ideas through Persian and contemporary improvisation while guest speaker and historian Sheer Ganor discusses ideas of home through the lens of those who have lost it. Left Coast gives the west coast premieres of seven new works! Join us for a thought-provoking weekend of music, community, and discussion.
Maps
Saturday, January 16, 2027, 11:00 AM (First Church of Christ, Scientist, Berkeley)
Left Coast connects with community members to perform Brittany J. Green’s Maps and a special performance with Iranian composer and improviser, Hesam Abedini for a sonic exploration of physical space and our place within it.
In collaboration with the Amateur Music Network.
Displacement: Talk & Music
Saturday, January 16, 2027, 6:00 PM (First Church of Christ, Scientist, Berkeley)
Guest speaker and historian Sheer Ganor discusses ideas of home through the lens of those who have lost it, alongside music by Iranian composer and improviser, Hesam Abedini.
Join us after the presentation for a festive reception with complimentary refreshments!
On an Overgrown Path
Saturday, January 16, 2027, 7:30 PM (First Church of Christ, Scientist, Berkeley)
Six newly-composed miniatures for ensemble on the theme of What Is Home? are placed alongside Janáček’s wistful and moody vignettes of place and memory.
Songs of a Wayfarer (East Bay)
Sunday, January 17, 2027, 4:00 PM (First Church of Christ, Scientist, Berkeley)
Songs by Joni Mitchell and Hildegard von Bingen are remixed in new versions by Kurt Rohde. They meet Ty Bloomfield’s poignant exploration of love and beauty and Gustav Mahler’s songs about wandering and heartbreak, weaving together common themes over the centuries.
For our sf subscribers…
Songs of a Wayfarer (San Francisco)
Monday, January 18, 2027, 4:00 PM (Noe Valley Ministry, San Francisco)
Six new miniatures exploring the nature of Home are set alongside Gustav Mahler’s Songs of a Wayfarer.
(For $70, add all of the Berkeley Festival concerts to your SF subscription)
SPRING CONCERT
Ephemera: Rebecca Clarke and Friends
Saturday, May 22, 2027, 7:30 PM (Piedmont Center for the Arts, Piedmont)
Sunday, May 23, 2027, 4:00 PM (Noe Valley Ministry, San Francisco)
On the threshold of impressionism, romanticism, and modernism, Rebecca Clarke’s imaginative compositions are now at the heart of chamber music and the viola repertoire. This concert puts her music in the perspective of other British and American composers who followed in her footsteps.
Image credit: Copyright Sally K. Smith, used by permission of Artist. The banner image is a detail of The Shortest Day Is Not the Earliest Sunset.
