One of the coolest musical experiences available in the Bay Area is the Berkeley Symphony, which only offers a few concerts a year, but they’re almost always really interesting.

The group is conducted by Kent Nagano (pictured at left), a northern California native who has become one of the world’s foremost conductors.

You have the chance to see the Berkeley Symphony for half price for their December and January concerts, including works by Shostakovich, Pärt and Stravinsky.

In addition to essentially donating his first-class talent to the Berkeley group, Nagano is:

Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the Deutsches Sinfonie-Orchester Berlin and Principal Conductor of Los Angeles Opera (a position he holds until 2006). In 2006 he will take over from Zubin Mehta as Music Director of the Bavarian State Opera, and also becomes Music Director of the Orchestra Symphonique de Montreal.

Whew! What it doesn’t say is that Nagago is exciting to watch, and that he works miracles with what is essentially a semi-pro orchestra in Berkeley.

This half-price deal is a great deal on some great music.