{"id":409723,"date":"2026-07-23T18:22:33","date_gmt":"2026-07-23T18:22:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/409723\/"},"modified":"2026-07-23T18:22:33","modified_gmt":"2026-07-23T18:22:33","slug":"remembering-robert-cole-who-turned-cal-performances-into-a-global-powerhouse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/409723\/","title":{"rendered":"Remembering Robert Cole, who turned Cal Performances into a global powerhouse"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Robert Cole. Credit: Susan Muscarella<\/p>\n

Renowned performing arts impresario Robert W. Cole, who transformed the UC Berkeley-based presenting organization, Cal Performances, into one of the most distinguished performance centers in the world from 1986-2009, died on Saturday, July 11 from complications following a stroke. Cole was 95.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Under Cole\u2019s visionary leadership, Cal Performances became the place to hear and see world\u00a0class music, opera, dance, and theater. For 23 years he scoured the globe to find virtuosic and cutting-edge artists, bring them to Berkeley, and uplift West Coast audiences. A conductor and\u00a0musician by training, Cole brought a performer\u2019s instinct and an institution-builder\u2019s imagination\u00a0to every initiative he undertook. In doing so, he shaped not only what happened on Cal\u00a0Performances stages, but also profoundly influenced the national arts scene.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Robert Cole was born on March 15, 1931, in San Jose, California. His father died in an\u00a0 automobile accident before he was born \u2014 a tragedy that cast a shadow over his entire life. His only keepsake from his father was a quarter-size violin \u2014 a student-level instrument which became an\u00a0important springboard for his multifaceted decades-long performing arts career.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Cole played clarinet and saxophone in middle school. In high school, he proudly played\u00a0 saxophone six nights a week at the Hawaiian Gardens nightclub in San Jose, successfully\u00a0 disguising his age with a pair of lens-less eyeglasses.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Cole graduated from San Jose State University with a degree in music and then spent four\u00a0years in the U.S. Air Force directing marching bands. A ranking sergeant, he was posted to the\u00a0 Northeast Air Command headquarters in St. John\u2019s, Newfoundland. In addition to conducting the\u00a0air force band and orchestra, he also conducted live music for Canadian Broadcasting Company\u00a0radio plays and other programs. In 1956, he enrolled in graduate school at the University of Southern California as a musicology\u00a0 major. Allured by the institution\u2019s resident composers Igor Stravinsky and Arnold Schoenberg,\u00a0as well as distinguished conducting professors Richard Lert and Ingolf Dahl, Cole took every music course that was offered, but said he soon realized that \u201che was leaning towards being a performer rather than sitting in a library the rest of his life.\u201d He later studied conducting\u00a0with Leonard Bernstein and Leon Barzin at Tanglewood and with Hans Swarowsky in Europe\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

While at USC, Cole taught high school in Tulare, where he also founded the Tulare County\u00a0Symphony, a community-based orchestra, and served as its conductor from 1960 to 1973. The\u00a066-year-long success of the Tulare County Symphony, now the Sequoia Symphony Orchestra, is\u00a0a testament to Cole\u2019s foundational efforts. In 1963, he joined the music faculty at North\u00a0Hollywood High School. Serendipitously, one of his most gifted students was high school senior\u00a0Michael Tilson Thomas (former music director of the San Francisco Symphony), who would become a lifelong friend and professional colleague for the next 70 years.<\/p>\n

Cole\u2019s early professional career was a whirlwind of activity. Married with two children in\u00a0Los Angeles, he led four different orchestras while finishing his studies at USC. He also began working with Ballet Society of Los Angeles founded by David Lichine and Tania\u00a0 Riabouchinska, stars of the original Ballets Russes. He served as both conductor and executive\u00a0director of their company, generously supported by Paul Newman and his wife, Joanne\u00a0Woodward.\u00a0<\/p>\n

With Michael Tilson Thomas, Cole also founded the North Hollywood Chamber Orchestra, where Thomas served as associate director under Cole; Thomas credited Robert Cole with giving him his first conducting gig \u2014 the Siegfried Idyll of Wagner.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Not long afterward, in 1971, Michael Tilson Thomas was appointed music director of the\u00a0 Buffalo (NY) Philharmonic. In an unforeseen reversal of roles, Thomas later invited Cole to\u00a0serve as associate conductor of that orchestra. Cole remained with the Buffalo Philharmonic from 1973 to 1977.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Robert Cole with dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov. Courtesy of Cal Performances<\/p>\n

It was in Buffalo that the lure of performing arts presenting emerged, when Cole was asked by community members to help re-open Shea\u2019s Buffalo Theater, a touring venue for diverse performances.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

His success in restoring Shea\u2019s Buffalo Theater came to the attention of the Bardavon 1869\u00a0 Opera House in Poughkeepsie, New York, the state\u2019s oldest opera house and one that was in need of\u00a0restoration and reopening. From 1979 to 1983, Cole brought a full range of performing arts to the Bardavon \u2014 opera, dance, musical theater, children\u2019 theater, chamber music and more. He\u00a0spent four years there and then the next three running the performing arts program at Brooklyn College.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Cole became the director of Cal Performances in 1986 and served in this capacity for 23 years. While he based his many years of success on the operational philosophy \u201cif you have the right lineup, you can sell tickets,\u201d Cole was, at heart, a risk-taker. To many, hiring avant garde artists seemed risky at first, but it was Cole\u2019s unwavering ability to recognize\u00a0 extraordinary artistry that was key to Cal Performances\u2019 success for over two decades. Combined\u00a0with an educated and sophisticated understanding of what makes a work of art truly great, his\u00a0eye for talent propelled the organization to the top ranks of performing arts institutions, regularly mounting world, American, and West Coast premieres in dance, music, opera, and theater.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Early on Cole began forging the long-term artist partnerships that would define Cal\u00a0 Performances\u2019 identity for generations. One of the most celebrated was with choreographer Mark\u00a0Morris, whom Cole first invited to Berkeley in 1987, and who has premiered a substantial body\u00a0of work at Zellerbach Hall, including the world premieres of \u201cWorld Power\u201d (1995), \u201cFalling Down Stairs\u201d (1997), and \u201cRhymes With Silver\u201d (1997) \u2014 as well as the U.S. premieres of Morris\u2019s staging\u00a0of Jean-Philippe Rameau\u2019s \u201cPlat\u00e9e\u201d (1998) and \u201cKing Arthur\u201d (2006), and the West Coast premieres\u00a0of \u201cL\u2019Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato\u201d (1994), \u201cThe Hard Nut\u201d (1996), and \u201cMozart Dances\u201d (2007).\u00a0<\/p>\n

Cole commissioned new works from an impressive range of artists, including theater and opera director Peter Sellars, choreographers Twyla Tharp, Bill T. Jones, Merce Cunningham, and\u00a0Pascal Rioult; the Kronos Quartet; actor and director Robert Lepage; and performance artist Laurie Anderson. Among the highlights of his tenure were the world premiere of John Adams\u2019\u00a0songplay \u201cI Was Looking at the Ceiling, and Then I Saw the Sky\u201d (1995), with a libretto by UC\u00a0 Berkeley poet June Jordan and directed by Peter Sellars; the U.S. premiere of \u201cNur Du (Only You)\u201d by German expressionist choreographer Pina Bausch and her Tanztheater Wuppertal (1996); the first West Coast performances of Yo-Yo Ma\u2019s Silkroad Ensemble in a 10-day festival held on\u00a0 the UC Berkeley campus; and the final performances of the acclaimed Berliner Ensemble before the company disbanded in 1999.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Robert Cole with his wife, Susan Muscarella, and Yo-Yo Ma. Courtesy of Cal Performances<\/p>\n

The international companies he brought to Berkeley \u2014 Lyon Opera Ballet and Orchestra, the\u00a0Royal Court Theatre, the Grand Kabuki Theater of Japan, the Abbey Theatre and the Gate Theatre of Dublin, the Bolshoi Ballet and Orchestra, and William Christie and Les Arts Florissants, to name a small selection \u2014 made Cal Performances a genuine destination for the world\u2019s most celebrated artists and companies, and attracted new audiences within the Bay Area.\u00a0Among the U.S. debuts Cole presented were tenor Ian Bostridge, violinist Julia Fischer, and the\u00a0early music ensemble Il Giardino Armonico.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Under his leadership, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater came to perform in Berkeley more\u00a0than anywhere else in the world outside of New York. The roster of artists who made Cal\u00a0Performances a regular home included cellist Yo-Yo Ma, the Tak\u00e1cs Quartet, Mikhail Baryshnikov,\u00a0 Cecilia Bartoli, Ravi Shankar, Salif Keita, Philip Glass, Jordi Savall, Ces\u00e1ria \u00c9vora, Paco de\u00a0Luc\u00eda, and Sweet Honey in the Rock. Yo-Yo Ma once observed that Cole was an artist\u00a0himself, and that he \u201cunderstands what artists need to do their best work\u201d \u2014 an insight that\u00a0explains much about why so many of the world\u2019s great performers trusted him and returned to\u00a0Berkeley again and again.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In addition to Cal Performances\u2019 regular presenting season, in 1990, Cole, along with\u00a0 Musical Offering proprietors Joseph and Jean Spencer and the Department of Music at UC\u00a0 Berkeley, founded the biennial Berkeley Festival & Exhibition of Early Music. Top early music artists travelled across the globe to perform including, but not limited to, Gustav Leonhardt, Jordi\u00a0Savall, Stile Antico and Vox Luminis. One of the most notable events, in 2000 and 2002, was the\u00a0 revival of a lavish 17th-century French equestrian ballet first produced in 1612 for King Louis XIII, \u201cLe Carrousel du Roi.\u201d Recreated by musicologist Kate van Orden, the historically accurate production featured elaborate dressage performed by costumed horses, ponies, riders and acrobats accompanied by the original score.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

While at Cal Performances, it was important to Cole to expand his audiences to include K-12\u00a0students. He developed such innovative programs as \u201cSchoolTime\u201d and \u201cCal Performances in the Classroom,\u201d which introduced busloads of K-12 children to the performing arts in Zellerbach Hall at little or no cost. Among the programs Cole counted among his proudest achievements was\u00a0Berkeley\/Oakland AileyCamp, which takes place on the UC Berkeley campus and will celebrate\u00a0its 25th anniversary in 2027. The camp opened locally in 2002 as a free summer program\u00a0through which young people can experience first-hand the transformative power of dance while\u00a0 learning essential life skills. Now well into its third decade, Berkeley\/Oakland AileyCamp has touched more than 1,300 young people \u2014 a legacy that reflects Cole\u2019s conviction that the arts\u00a0belong to everyone, and that the work of a performing arts organization extends far beyond the\u00a0 concert hall.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Supporting all facets of artistic excellence, Cole teamed up with Meyer Sound to use\u00a0 Zellerbach Hall as a prototype for the installation of Meyer Sound\u2019s groundbreaking\u00a0 \u201cConstellation\u201d sound system in 2006. This technological innovation continues to enhance\u00a0 Zellerbach patrons\u2019 acoustical experiences to this day.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Robert Cole with choreographer Mark Morris. Courtesy: Cal Performances<\/p>\n

Robert Cole\u2019s work was recognized with diverse and distinguished awards: in 1995, France\u2019s\u00a0Minister of Culture and Francophonia named Cole a Chevalier of the Order of Arts and\u00a0 Letters; in 1997, UC Berkeley Chancellor Chang-Lin Tien awarded him the Berkeley Citation,\u00a0the campus\u2019s highest administrative honor, given to individuals who have \u201crendered\u00a0distinguished or extraordinary service to the University\u201d; and in 1998, he received the William Dawson Award for Programmatic Excellence from the Association of Performing Arts\u00a0Presenters (APAP).\u00a0<\/p>\n

After stepping down as director of Cal Performances, in 2011 Robert Cole was recruited to\u00a0 launch the Green Music Center on the campus of Sonoma State University. In 2014, he wound\u00a0down his career as the Interim Artistic and Executive Director of the Napa Valley Performing\u00a0Arts Center at the Lincoln Theater in Yountville, the last position he held. He also continued to conduct, notably for international tours of the Perm (Russia) Ballet and Orchestra.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Cole\u2019s closest colleague and confidant Earl F. (Budd) Cheit said it best: \u201cIn his 23 years as director of Cal Performances, Robert Cole took a program lacking in artistic direction,\u00a0 losing money, and urgently in need of leadership, and turned it into the major performing arts presenter and commissioner on the West Coast, one of the most important dance stages in the\u00a0nation and an internationally respected presence in the world of performing arts.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Robert Cole is survived by his son Alex Julian Cole, daughter-in-law Anne Cole and grandson Daniel Cole; and son Thomas Montgomery Cole, daughter-in-law Judy Cole, and grandson\u00a0Charles Cole, and his wife of 24 years, Susan Muscarella.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Robert Cole\u2019s oral history<\/a> is housed in the Bancroft Library at UC Berkeley.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In lieu of flowers, the family requests contributions in Robert\u2019s memory be made to Cal\u00a0 Performances<\/a> or the San Francisco Early Music Society<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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