Bay Area’s Siesta Valley Bowl Announces Partnership with Blue Note Ent., Chatterjee Named GM, Lefkowitz To Book

Just this Monday, Siesta Valley Bowl, Inc. announced their partnership with Blue Note Entertainment and the appointment of two critical leaders to spearhead the Spring/Summer 2026 reopening of the Orinda venue, an East Bay suburb just minutes outside Oakland and Berkeley. Blue Note Entertainment Group’s SVP of Talent, David Lefkowitz, will head up booking and programming at the intimate outdoor amphitheater, and former General Manager of the SF Masonic, Suman Chatterjee, will serve as the General Manager.

Blue Note Entertainment Group, of the storied New York City Jazz club of the same name, recently opened a Los Angeles location in August, 2025—in addition to their venues in cities across the world, from Napa, Milan, and Tokyo, to Beijing, Shanghai, and São Paulo. They produce festivals in New York and Los Angeles, and book and promote shows at third-party vendors, including the Bay Area’s own Henry J. Kaiser Center for the Arts in Oakland and Blue Note Summer Sessions at The Meritage Resort in Napa

With his experience booking and managing artists across the Bay Area, Lefkowitz is an industry and community heavyweight, with decades of expertise to bring to the venue’s operations. Recently, he’s booked artists from Emmylou Harris and Jason Isbell to Peach Pit and Young the Giant, and previously managed Les Claypool and his pioneering funk-metal outfit Primus. Lefkowitz has also held VP roles at AEG Presents and Live Nation. He hopes to bring 75-100 annual performances to the Siesta Valley Bowl, honoring both local and international artists across rock, blues, jazz, funk, soul, bluegrass, country, Latin, classical, and pop.

About the Bay Area, Lefkowitz says, “There’s a sophistication and appreciation for live music here that’s unmatched. Siesta Valley Bowl gives us the opportunity to create something really special – an intimate venue with festival-quality production in one of the most beautiful natural settings you’ll find anywhere. Artists are going to love performing here, and audiences are going to love experiencing music in this environment.”

General Manager Suman Chatterjee previously managed the 3,000-capacity San Francisco Masonic, where he was in charge of logistics and guest and staff-facing coordination. As Live Nation’s operations manager, he oversaw the logistical side of many Bay Area venues, including the Shoreline Amphitheater in Mountain View.

“This venue has incredible potential,” he says, “The natural setting is breathtaking, the capacity is perfect for creating intimate connections between artists and audiences, and the vision for combining exceptional entertainment with environmental stewardship really resonates with me.”

The 1,000-seat Siesta Valley Bowl plans to double its capacity, offering 2,000 attendees breathtaking views of the redwoods in the Berkeley-Orinda hills and world-class music programming. The historic amphitheater, previously known as the Bruns Amphitheater, was home to the California Shakespeare Theater for 50 years. Along with Blue Note, the Siesta Valley Foundation is ushering the space into a new era of live performance, environmental stewardship, and community engagement—under the leadership of Bay Area stalwarts Lefkowitz and Chaterjee.