Contact: Mona Baroudi | 415.615.2735 | mona.baroudi@sbcglobal.net
Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music Announces that
Music Director/Conductor Marin Alsop will step down after her 25th Season, August 2016
SANTA CRUZ, CA—September 17, 2015—Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music announced today that Maestra Marin Alsop will step down from her role as Music Director and Conductor in August 2016, following her 25th anniversary season. The Cabrillo Festival’s 54th season runs August 5-13, 2016 in Santa Cruz, CA.
America’s longest running festival dedicated to new music for orchestra, the Cabrillo Festival is a preeminent force in new music, both nationally and internationally. Celebrated as a “summer mecca for musicians and a premier musical destination for audiences,” (San Jose Mercury News) the Festival attracts some of the world’s top contemporary composers whose compositions are shared with an award-winning orchestra and an enthusiastic audience.
Long-time Executive Director Ellen Primack and the Cabrillo Festival Board of Directors have initiated a strategic process to identify new artistic leadership.
“It is with great sadness and after much contemplation that I make this decision but I believe this is the right time for me and for the Festival,” said Alsop. “I look forward to the 2016 season when we’ll celebrate all that we have accomplished together. This Festival has always been about the new and is championed by audiences and musicians who embrace a sense of discovery and risk and so I am confident and excited about what the future holds for this extraordinary institution.”
Alsop, who conducted Last Night of the BBC Proms in London earlier this week, also serves as Music Director of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and the Sao Paulo Symphony Orchestra, and last month assumed the post of Director of the Graduate Conducting Program at Johns Hopkins Peabody Institute.
With a focus on the next generation of composers, Alsop’s final season in August 2016 will be a celebration of her artistic imprint and the musical legacy she leaves on the Festival. Among the highlights will be the world premiere commission of a new symphonic ballet by Anna Clyne, created in partnership with choreographer Kitty MacNamee of Hysterica Dance Company.
“Marin’s contribution to the Cabrillo Festival has been profound and we are forever grateful,” said Primack. “We thank her for devoting 25 years of her remarkable career to building the Cabrillo Festival into the indispensable musical force it has become. We have been privileged to have her artistic leadership and brilliant guidance for so long. She will leave us at the strongest point in our organizational history and with excitement and possibility for a vibrant new era.”
“We look forward to experiencing the thrill of Marin’s 25th and final season program in 2016,” said Board President Jim Petersen. “Under Marin’s extraordinary leadership, Cabrillo Festival has emerged as the premier center of new music for orchestra in the world, and now we are envisioning a future for the Festival that will be as exciting as its present.”
Since taking the artistic helm at Cabrillo Festival in 1992, Alsop has supported the work of some of the world’s most exciting composers of contemporary music; she has cultivated an orchestra who are now the foremost experts in the performance of new music; and she has built a devoted audience for progressive music. In her tenure Alsop has invited more than 100 composers to join her at Cabrillo, to participate in the rehearsals and performances, and to share their compositions with an audience eager to listen to new music. Some of the preeminent composers she has consistently supported throughout her tenure include Christopher Rouse, John Adams, Michael Daugherty, John Corigliano, James MacMillan, Joan Tower, Philip Glass, and Jennifer Higdon. Alsop has also afforded incredible opportunities to young emerging composers, including Kevin Puts, Michael Hersch, Chiayu, Clarice Assad, Zosha di Castri, Mason Bates, Avner Dorman, Dylan Mattingly, Mark O’Connor, Anna Clyne, Missy Mazzoli, Mark-Anthony Turnage, and Greg Smith. The Festival is now seen as a career milestone for composers from around the globe; and a leader in the field, advancing our modern symphonic heritage.
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