The Oakland East Bay Symphony Partners with Blue Bottle Coffee for a CUP OF CLASSICAL Tonight

Members of the Oakland East Bay Symphony will partner with Oakland's beloved Blue Bottle Coffee for "Cup of Classical" tonight, April 2, at 6:30 pm at Blue Bottle's W.C. Morse Café, 4270 Broadway in Oakland.

The casual, mid-week after-work event will pair a coffee-related classical and contemporary music program with tastings and demonstrations of Blue Bottle products by James Freeman, founder of Blue Bottle Coffee, and conversation in the unique Oakland atmosphere of W.C. Morse Café, located in an historic storefront in the Temescal neighborhood. The Pacific Arts Trio--Alice Lenaghan, flute,Dan Reiter, cello, and Natalie Cox, harp-comprising members of the Oakland East Bay Symphony will perform music by Ravi Shankar, Vivaldi, Debussy, Albeniz, Wil Offermans (based on traditional Japanese shakuhachi music) and Dan Reiter's original Celtic Suite. Oakland East Bay Symphony Assistant Conductor Bryan Nies will emcee. Tickets are $25 in advance/$35 at the door and will include coffee (decaf available) and dessert. For more information, visit the Oakland East Bay Symphony at www.oebs.org.

The "Cup of Classical" evening is part of a burgeoning series of performance/social events designed by Oakland East Bay Symphony to bring the orchestra directly to the public, broadening its interactions with Oakland's communities and embedding classical and other forms of music in the social fabric of the East Bay. Other events have included last season's very successful "Bach & Brew", which brought Symphony members to Linden Street Brewery for beer tastings crafted by orchestra members paired with classical music, informal conversation and interaction between musicians and the public. The Symphony will be expanding these offerings in the coming seasons.

"We've always been rooted in our community and pay careful attention to what is uniquely Oakland," says Michael Morgan, Music Director of the Oakland East Bay Symphony. "To this end, we have embarked on a series of community events that bring the Symphony-and music-out of the concert hall and into Oakland in new, engaging and entertaining ways. Our goal is for our music to inhabit Oakland and the East Bay as never before, with members of the orchestra and friends playing, talking and interacting with the rest of our great City."

About Pacific Arts Trio and the Artists - Performing as the Pacific Arts Trio, Alice Lenaghan, flute, Dan Reiter, cello, and Natalie Cox, harp--all recorded artists and members of the Oakland East Bay Symphony--have each explored many musical genres which are infused into their classical performances. The trio performs music arranged for the group by Dan as well as his original compositions which often include exotic elements, textures and improvisations influenced by music traditions from the Middle East and Asia.

Alice Lenaghan, a widely traveled chamber musician, soloist and teacher, performs regularly in the Midwest and has toured in Ireland and throughout the Southwest and Alaska. She often performs the baroque one-keyed flute, recorder, penny whistle, Irish flute, in addition to modern flute.

Dan Reiter studied, performed, and recorded with Indian classical musician Usted Ali Akbar Khan. Dan, a noted composer, recently received rave reviews for his piece Kaddish for cello and orchestra performed by Oakland East Bay Symphony with him as soloist.

Natalie Cox comes from a musical family and started studying both pedal and Celtic harp right from the start. She has a particular interest in French Medieval women composers recording the album, The Romance of the Rose, with singer Joyce Todd and vielle player Shira Kammen.

Bryan Nies has conducted Oakland East Bay Symphony and Oakland Youth Orchestra, touring to Australia and New Zealand. He is an acclaimed opera conductor at Festival Opera and Opera San Jose and on the faculty at San Francisco Conservatory and San Jose State.

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