Arts & culture, Performing arts

Tarnopolsky stepping down at Cal Performances

By Public Affairs

Matias Tarnopolsky
Matías Tarnopolsky (Cal Performances photo by Todd Rosenberg)
Matias Tarnopolsky

Matías Tarnopolsky (Cal Performances photo by Todd Rosenberg)

After nine seasons as the energetic and engaged leader of Cal Performances, Matías Tarnopolsky is stepping down as executive and artistic director at the end of June.

He is leaving to take over as president and CEO of the Philadelphia Orchestra.

Tarnopolsky arrived at Cal Performances in August 2009. Under his leadership, Cal Performances launched Berkeley RADICAL (Research and Development Initiative in Creativity Arts and Learning) to cultivate the artistic literacy of future audiences and connect the most innovative artists in the world with the intellectual capital of UC Berkeley. He brought Gustavo Dudamel and the Simon Bolivar Orchestra of Venezuela to Berkeley to launch the initiative.

Just last week, Front Row — the annual student-curated show designed to draw more young people into the arts as part of Berkeley RADICAL— filled Zellerbach Hall for a show featuring comedian Margaret Cho and two other comics.

Cal Performances reaches more than 150,000 people annually through concerts and campus and community events, including talks, lecture demonstrations, and academic courses created to connect with performances on the season. Its orchestral residencies, among other programs, are linked closely with Berkeley music courses and students.

“As I embark on an exciting new chapter I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to the board and staff of Cal Performances, and to my colleagues on the campus of UC Berkeley,” says Tarnopolsky. “The last nine years have been extraordinary, surrounded by an inspiring cultural and intellectual environment, appreciative and engaged audiences, and artists and ensembles who give their best when they perform under our auspices. Doing this kind of work, at the heart of UC Berkeley, our great public university, is a rare privilege and one which I have treasured.”

Read the Cal Performances press release