Hugo Kauder was born in Austrian Tobitschau (today´s Tovačov in the Czech Republic) where his father was the headmaster of the local middle school. He acquired his preliminary musical training locally before moving to Vienna in 1905. He studied at the city´s Technical University, while giving up his technical education in order to do research on Early Music. From 1907 to 1911, he successively played the violin, then the viola in Wiener Tonkünstler-Orchester, one of the orchestras that would eventually merge to become the Vienna Symphony. Kauder became a musical authority gaining prominence as a composer, teacher and writer. With Austria´s annexation by Nazi Germany, Kauder escaped first to the Netherlands, where he edited the papers of poet Albert Verwey, then to Great Britain. In 1940 he arrived in New York where he taught composition and music theory at Hermann Grab´s music school, The Music House, and wrote reviews for the Austro-American Tribune. 

Kauder composed over 200 works including five symphonies, nineteen string quartets, plus plenty of vocal music including a large opera, Merlin, based on a libretto by the philosopher Rudolf Pannwitz. His extensive body of lieder includes poems by Joyce, Goethe and Nietzsche set to music. In 1928, he won the Art Prize of the City of Vienna. His early work was published with Universal Edition. In addition, he is the author of Entwurf einer neuen Melodie- und Harmonielehre (1932) and of Counterpoint, An Introduction to Polyphonic Composition (MacMillan, 1960).

https://www.hugokauder.org/

• Emmanuel Chabrier España
• Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto
• Mason Bates Alternative Energy

• Eric Kujawsky, conductor
• Karen Bentley Pollick, violin
• Mason Bates, electronica

From Music Director Eric Kujawsky:

I founded Redwood Symphony in October 1985 and here I am, forty years later, looking forward to many more years with my dear friends and colleagues! I programmed this anniversary concert especially because: the Chabrier is one of my favorite concert openers, the chance to work again with friend, Palo Alto native and magnetic soloist Karen Bentley Pollick and, most importantly, the performance of one of my favorite pieces, Mason Bates’ Alternative Energy. This four-movement symphony incorporates car parts in the percussion and also a huge solo part for electronica, ie the use of synthetic, processed sounds.

When I last performed Alternative Energy, we used electronica supplied by the composer, to be played automatically on a laptop. For this very special anniversary occasion, Redwood Symphony is honored to have Mason Bates himself, appearing as our guest and guest soloist and playing in his capacity as “DJ Masonic.”

 

 

Saturday, December 13, 2025 at 2:00 pm

Zellerbach Hall, UC Berkeley Campus

Ensemble Cherubim Chamber Chorus

Carols of Birds, Bells, and Peace from Ukraine: A Holiday Celebration

 

Marika Kuzma, director
with
Frederica von Stade, mezzo-soprano
L. Peter Callender, narrator
Piedmont East Bay Children’s Choir
Eric Tuan, director
Karen Bentley Pollick, violin
Patrick Russell, actor
Cookie Segelstein, violin

 

Esteemed choral director Marika Kuzma, a first-generation Ukrainian American and professor emerita of music at UC Berkeley, returns to campus with her acclaimed Ensemble Cherubim, joined by a selection of renowned Bay Area artists who share in their admiration of Ukrainian culture.

The stirring program of songs, hymns, carols, and spoken word captures the intimacy of music traditionally sung in Ukrainian homes, churches, and town squares during the holiday season, and includes Mykola Leontovych’s renowned “Shchedryk” (“Carol of the Bells”) and a host of musical treasures from ancient times to the present day.

Projections of the varied Ukrainian landscape will immerse you in the beauty of the country and the culture, lifting your spirits for the holidays and into the new year.

All works sung in Ukrainian, Church Slavonic, Crimean Tatar, and Yiddish, with English supertitles.

The run time for this performance is approximately 2 hours and 15 minutes, including intermission.