Arts & culture, Performing arts

Media Advisory: Kick-off event for Campanile’s 100th birthday

By Gretchen Kell

ATTENTION: Bay Area reporters, editors, photographers, TV crews
NOTE: GREAT VISUALS

WHAT: The first event of the year for the Jane K. Sather Campanile’s centennial will be celebrated with “Natural Frequencies,” an outdoor, new-media performance based on real-time seismic activity on the nearby Hayward Fault. A seismometer inside the fault will modulate a spectacular light show on the Campanile’s west-facing exterior wall and activate synthetic bells playing alongside live carillon music.

Three free, 10-minute evening performances will be held for the public.

WHEN: Tuesday, Feb. 3, at 6:30, 7:00 and 7:30 p.m.

WHERE: Audiences should gather on the brick promenade at the top of Campanile Way, between the Bancroft Library and South Hall, Hot cocoa and cookies will be served.

WHO: The performance combines the efforts of the UC Seismological Laboratory, Center for New Music and Audio Technologies, the Department of Music, and the Berkeley Center for New Media.

DETAILS: At more than 300 feet tall, the Campanile is among the world’s largest free-standing clock-and-bell towers. Construction began in summer 1913 and was completed toward the end of 1915. The landmark’s fascinating history, its 61- bell grand carillon and some 20 tons of California fossils stored on five levels of the tower make it a unique and beloved structure in the Bay Area.

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