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First Church Berkeley UCC

Since 2014, Resonance @ First Church Berkeley has brought world-class performances to the East Bay! From classical music to jazz and everything in between, savor our historic Sanctuary's inimitable acoustics.

firstchurchberkeley.org/resonance

Please note that the time/date above may vary depending on the time zone in which you view the event&mdash;the local time of the event is this:EVENT TIME: October 22, 2025 &bull; 7:00pm Pacific Time Don&#39;t miss this special performance from the Yale Whiffenpoofs&mdash;the oldest and most renowned collegiate a cappella group in the United States. Founded in 1909, the &quot;Whiffs&quot; are a select group of 14 Yale seniors who perform more than 200 concerts annually. Their characteristic white tie and tails, paired with their enthusiasm and humor, have made them iconic for audiences all around the United States and across the world. Recent Whiffenpoofs performance venues include Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, the White House, the Rose Bowl, and Lincoln Center. The Whiffenpoofs have reached a television audience of more than 175 million via appearances in NBC&#39;s The Sing Off, The West Wing, The Today Show, 60 Minutes, Gilmore Girls, Jeopardy!, Saturday Night Live, the Season 4 finale of Glee, and most recently, Hell&rsquo;s Kitchen. The Whiffenpoofs have sung for multiple sitting Presidents of the United States and have toured over twenty countries on six continents almost every year for the last several years.

The Yale Whiffenpoofs in Berkeley (Resonance @ First Church Berkeley)

Join us for our season opener with some of the most iconic pieces written for organ! First Church&#39;s beloved organist Elizabeth Forsyth will open the program with Johann Sebastian Bach&#39;s indelible Toccata and Fugue in D minor and close it with Charles-Marie Widor&#39;s majestic Toccata from his Fifth Symphony. In between, you&#39;ll hear more famous works from Bach and Widor, as well pieces by &nbsp;Felix Mendelssohn, the boy genius who was responsible for bringing Bach back into the spotlight after eight decades of obscurity. You won&#39;t want to miss this one-night-only concert on First Church&#39;s majestic 4,873-pipe organ&mdash;one of the largest in the East Bay.

Organ Favorites with Elizabeth Forsyth (Resonance @ First Church Berkeley)

&Uacute;nete a nosotros para encontrar paz a trav&eacute;s del esp&iacute;ritu calmante de la m&uacute;sica meditativa mientras nos conectamos con nuestro yo interior, nos alineamos con el universo y despertamos el poder interior que gu&iacute;a nuestra curaci&oacute;n. Juntos, a trav&eacute;s de este evento, estamos recaudando fondos para apoyar a un miembro de la comunidad de FCCB, hermano y solicitante de asilo al que acompa&ntilde;amos en su viaje. Todas las donaciones ir&aacute;n directamente a su apoyo y bienestar. &iexcl;Se aceptan donaciones de cualquier cantidad, sugerimos $20 para empezar!

Sound Bath—¡Un evento de recaudación de fondos para un miembro de la comunidad de FCCB!.

Join us in finding peace through the calming spirit of meditative music as we connect with our inner selves, align with the universe, and awaken the inner power that guides our healing. Together through this event, we are raising funds to support an FCCB community member, sibling, and asylum seeker whom we accompany on her journey. All donations will go directly to her support and well-being. Donations of all amounts are welcome&mdash;we suggest $20 to start!

Sound Bath—A Fundraiser for an FCCB Community Member!

Please note that the time/date above may vary depending on the time zone in which you view the event&mdash;the local time of the event is this:EVENT TIME: February 12, 2026 &bull; 7:00pm Pacific Time Masters of the art of unusual encounters, world-renowned Canadian ensemble Constantinople returns to the Bay Area in an epic program: &quot;Bach and Khayyam,&quot; featuring the exceptional soprano Hana Blaž&iacute;kov&aacute;. In this genre-bending program, we invite you to imagine the unlikely meeting of two extraordinary people: the Persian poet and scholar Omar Khayyam (1048&ndash;1131) and the composerJohann Sebastian Bach (1685&ndash;1750). A mathematician and astronomer, Omar Khayyam had a lasting influence on the West in the Middle Ages before being rediscovered in the 19th century for his quatrains, which eloquently remind one of the beauty and importance of living in the present moment. Johann Sebastian Bach remains an undisputed musical genius whom everyone still refers to today. The iconic German composer lived a colorful existence; one can point to the trials and tribulations of his love life, his many children, and his pronounced taste for certain beverages&mdash;in particular, beer and a drink that could hardly have been more luxurious at the time: coffee.&nbsp; If both Khayyam and Bach are characterized by their free and original approach to life and to artistic creation, this musical program brings them together first and foremost because of their deep spirituality. Although more than 600 years separate them, their geniuses were destined to meet in this compelling program by Ensemble Constantinople.

Bach and Khayyam with Ensemble Constantinople (Resonance @ First Church Berkeley)

Spend an Beethoven-filled afternoon with historical clarinetist Dominic Giardino, cellist Erik Andersen, and fortepianist Derek Tam! You&#39;ll hear two iconic trios from the master of Bonn: his tuneful Op. 11, nicknamed the &quot;Gassenhauer&quot; (street tune) for its variations on a famous melody of the day; and his Op. 38, a self-rearrangement of his iconic septet for winds, brass, and strings. The sounds of period instruments and techniques will bring fresh life to this already vivacious music. And there will be other Beethoven bonbons as well!

First Church Berkeley UCC

First Church Berkeley UCC

Events

Events

Bach and Khayyam with Ensemble Constantinople (Resonance @ First Church Berkeley)

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A Bounty of Beethoven (Resonance @ First Church Berkeley)

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