Cal Performances at the University of California, Berkeley, has announced its 2023–24 concert season, and among the performers taking to its stages are several artists familiar to readers of the Nonesuch Journal: Brad Mehldau (both solo and with his Trio), Cécile McLorin Salvant, Kronos Quartet, Rhiannon Giddens with Silkroad Ensemble, and Attacca Quartet.

The Brad Mehldau Trio—Mehldau on piano, Larry Grenadier on bass, and Jeff Ballard on drums—kicks things off with an evening of original compositions and interpretations at Zellerbach Hall on Saturday, November 11. The Trio’s latest album, Seymour Reads the Constitution!, features Mehldau originals, interpretations of pop songs (Paul McCartney, Brian Wilson), jazz tunes (Elmo Hope, Sam Rivers), and the American songbook (Frederick Loewe). "This is sumptuous, collective improvisation of the highest order," exclaims The Arts Desk. "It's so good, it sounds effortless ... Gorgeous."

Mehldau returns to Zellerbach Hall on Saturday, February 10, at 8pm for a solo program featuring the Bay Area premiere of his 14 Reveries, a Cal Performances co-commission, as well as selections from his 2020 album Suite: April 2020 and other works. In 14 Reveries, Mehldau reflects on the interior experience we create from our own consciousness, independently of those around us.

Cécile McLorin Salvant brings songs from her new album, Mélusine, to Zellerbach Hall on Thursday, January 25, at 7:30pm. Mélusine, a mix of originals and interpretations of songs dating as far back as the 12th century, mostly sung in French along with Occitan, English, and Haitian Kreyòl, is “imaginative and thrilling,” says SPIN, “a creature of soaring majesty … exhilarating.”

Kronos Quartet brings its tour celebrating five decades of music making back home to the Bay Area on Saturday, March 2, at 8pm. On the program are two world premieres co-commissioned by Cal Performances, by Michael Gordon and Peni Candra Rini, who is among the artists to have contributed to Kronos’s Fifty for the Future commissioning project.

Rhiannon Giddens joins Silkroad Ensemble, of which she is artistic director, at Zellerbach Hall on Friday, November 17, at 8pm. The program explores the creation of the Transcontinental Railroad through the contributions of African American, Chinese, Indigenous, Irish, and other immigrant communities, their cultures, and their music.

Just down the way at Hertz Hall, Attacca Quartet performs works by Caroline Shaw, Philip Glass, Gabriella Smith, Beethoven, and others on Sunday, February 4, at 3pm. Attacca’s two albums with Shaw, Orange and Evergreen, won Grammy Awards for Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance.

Cal Performances subscriptions go on sale this Friday, April 21, at 12pm PDT. Single tickets go on sale August 8 at 12pm PDT. For details and tickets, visit calperformances.org.