Have you subscribed yet to our new arts and culture newsletter, The Scene, yet? Each week we round up the best of local events and send it to your inbox on Thursday morning.
Around Berkeley
➤ Retired Berkeley Fire Department fire captain Christy Warren will give a talk about her new book, Flash Point: A Firefighter’s Journey Through PTSD. Thursday, June 22, 7 p.m. Pegasus Downtown. FREE
➤ Author Elissa Sussman will discuss Once More With Feeling, her new friends-to-lovers meets enemies-to-lovers young adult novel about a pop star, at Mrs. Dalloway’s. Register in advance. Thursday, June 22, 7 p.m. FREE
➤ Join Friends of Five Creeks on a small-group nature observation walk during the midsummer’s daytime low tides. Friday-Sunday, June 23-25. Email f5creeks@gmail.com to join.
➤ Habitot Children’s Museum mobile museum is making a stop in Berkeley. Saturday, June 24, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. North Branch Berkeley Library, 1170 The Alameda.
➤ The Lawrence Hall of Science is celebrating the opening of its new exhibit, “Making Music: Math and Science Out Loud.” You’ll be able to build rhythmic patterns on top of your heart beat, play a virtual harp by waving your arms, and compose melodies by arranging blocks on tracks. Saturday, June 24, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. $20
➤ Award-winning graphic novelist and filmmaker James Spooner discusses his coming-of-age graphic memoir The High Desert: Black. Punk. Nowhere. with Bay Area cartoonist and educator Justin Hall at Berkeley’s iconic 924 Gilman Street. Saturday, June 24, 2-5 p.m. FREE (registration required)
➤ BAMPFA will show Secret Garden, a charming film based on the children’s novel, as a part of its series on Berkeley film producer Tom Luddy. Ages 8+ recommended. Saturday, June 24, 4 p.m. $5-$14
➤ Luna Dance Institute will present an online panel highlighting four BIPOC dance researchers and practitioners. Saturday, June 24, 5 p.m. FREE
➤ Berkeley-reared, Brooklyn-based tenor saxophonist Kazemde George studied under East Bay maestros Kahil Shaheed and Susan Mascarella as a teenager, and has emerged in the past five years as a creative force with a diasporic vision encompassing various corners of the Caribbean. The band he brings to Jupiter features Elé Howell, an astonishing drummer heard recently with jazz stars Ravi Coltrane and Chief Adjuah (formerly Christian Scott). Saturday, June 24, 7-10 p.m. FREE
➤ In an ideal pairing of artists and repertoire, vocalist Roberta Donnay celebrates the songbook of the inimitable pianist and singer Blossom Dearie at the Back Room with ace bassist Ruth Davies and supremely tasteful and swinging pianist Mike Greensill, who also wrote the arrangements for her recent album Blossom-ing! Saturday, June 24, 8 p.m. $25
➤ Malian kora star Karamo Susso returns to Ashkenaz, playing an acoustic set followed by a set with his band. Saturday, June 24, 8 p.m. $15-$25
➤ Berkeley Humane is hosting a Doggy Pride Parade in West Berkeley. Adoption fees will be waived that day. Sunday, June 25, 12:30 p.m. Third Culture Bakery, 2701 8th St.
➤ Over the past two decades Oakland’s Keith Terry has gathered a far-flung international menagerie of traditional and contemporary music and movement practices under the body music umbrella. Terry and the ensemble Crosspulse host a guided body music jam session inspired by the vocal improv practices of Brazil’s Fritura Livre movement at Ashkenaz. Sunday, June 25, 1-3 p.m. FREE
➤ A triple bill of California country music brings absolute torch and twang to Freight & Salvage with the Western swing of Santa Rosa’s the Familiar Strangers, the classic country sound of Oakland’s Jill Rogers & Crying Time, and cowboy country of the Santa Cruz-based Carolyn Sills Combo. The dance floor will be open, with a two-step lesson before the show. Sunday, June 25, 7 p.m. $20
➤ Dick Bright, San Francisco’s preeminent purveyor of party music for some five decades, shares hard-won wisdom from the frontlines of the music biz at Pegasus Books on Solano Avenue, celebrating the release of new book Workin’ For A Livin’ — Makin’ it in the Music Business with a talk and a musical performance with a trio. Monday, June 26, 7 p.m. FREE (registration requested)
➤ Downtown Berkeley Association’s annual Pride on the Plaza event features local vendors, live music, and drag performances and is open to all ages. Thursday, June 29, 4-7 p.m. FREE
➤ Out of Character, a solo show by Tony Award winner Ari’el Stachel that chronicles his experience growing up in Berkeley as an Israeli American of Yemeni Jewish descent in the aftermath of 9/11, runs from June 23 to July 30 at Berkeley Rep. $39-$119
➤ Catch Berkeley Rep’s bloody, beautiful vampire play, Let the Right One In, before it closes on Friday, June 25. $43-$119
➤ Berkeley Playhouse’s Becoming Robin Hood is a family-friendly musical comedy about the famous outlaw who tries to redistribute wealth. Through Friday, June 25. 7 p.m. $30-$49
Beyond Berkeley
➤ The Oakland Public Library’s Insect Discovery Lab, a partnership with wildlife preservation organization Save Nature, goes from branch to branch teaching kids about the world of arthropods and the role the critters play in our daily lives. This week’s lab will be at the Melrose and Cesar Chavez public library branches. Saturday, June 24, 11:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. FREE
➤ Universal Chan, a Berkeley-based meditation center, will hold a tea tasting at its Kensington location at 445 Colusa Ave. Saturday, June 24. 2 p.m. $25
➤ The Oakland Prevention Coalition is hosting a Citywide Peace Summit at Laney College. Speakers include Cesar Cruz, the co-founder of Homies Empowerment, Antoine Towers of YouthALIVE!, and Oakland rapper Kamaiyah. Saturday, June 24, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Laney College. FREE
➤ Learn the basics of Sashiko, a meditative form of embroidery that developed in Japan in the 1600s, during a workshop led by Berkeley artist Lena Wolff. You’ll learn how to make a hand-sewn coaster and lavender-filled pouch. Saturday, June 24, 10 a.m. Western Hills Garden, Occidental. $90
➤ Two East Bay natives, harpsichordist Arthur Omura and cellist William Cayanan, will be joined by violinist Heeguen Song, an Albany resident, in a recital consisting of Baroque music by Rameau, Bach and Vitale presented under the auspices of Calliope: East Bay Music & Arts. Sunday, June 25, 4 p.m. St. Alban’s Episcopal Church. $15-$25
➤ Berkeley-born composer Gabriela Lena Frank’s first opera, “El último sueño de Frida y Diego” (The Last Dream of Frida and Diego), will run through June 30 at the San Francisco Opera. $26-$464
➤ The Oakland Black Pride Festival is meant for Black members of the LGBTQ+ community and will include a series of seven events, including workshops on grief and loss, a benefit dinner at Forage Kitchen, queer kickball tournament, and more. June 28 to July 2.
The Oaklandside’s Arts and Community reporter Azucena Rasilla contributed reporting to this story.
