Evolving I
Cabrillo Festival Music Director Cristian Măcelaru joins Music Director Laureate Marin Alsop in a warm and lively conversation that touches upon matters of diversity in the symphonic field, the importance of mentoring young conductors, composer Christopher Rouse’s music, the Cabrillo Festival Orchestra, and much, much more. Then composer Anna Clyne introduces her work, RIFT: a symphonic ballet commissioned in 2016 by the Festival for Marin Alsop’s 25th and final season as Music Director. Created in collaboration with choreographer Kitty McNamee, Clyne’s music is brought to life by the Cabrillo Festival Orchestra and six stunning dancers in a performance that speaks with power and grace about the times in which we live.
PROGRAM NOTE
Anna Clyne: RIFT a symphonic ballet (2016) | Festival Commission
World Premiere August 5, 2016
Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium, Santa Cruz, CA
Cabrillo Festival Orchestra, conducted by Marin Alsop
Kitty McNamee choreographer
Tom Ontiveros lighting and visual designer
Hunter Hamilton costume designer
Hysterica Dancers: Katherine Cowgill, Stephanie Kim, Derek Memchek, Baden Silva, Liz Walker, Ty Wells
Commissioned by the Cabrillo Festival with generous support from Prue Ashurst in memory of Marjorie O’Connor; Michael Good & JoAnn Close; Ellen Kimmel; Carole & Henry Klyce; Alan Ritch, Margaret Brose & Hayden White; Cherrill Spencer; and an anonymous donor.
The world premiere performance was supported by New Music USA.
In creating RIFT, myself and choreographer Kitty McNamee, have used music and dance as a voice to reflect upon the chaos and destruction that is so prevalent in the world today. Whilst RIFT is presented in one large brushstroke, we have, in our imaginations, divided the journey into three acts.
Act 1 – dust
A song of reflection – a meditation on the sadness, which, throughout this act, escalates into a chaotic mass of sound that snaps into Act 2.
Act 2 – water
Covered in the dust of destruction from Act 1 we now move into a more ethereal world of rituals. A snaking duet emerges from the ruptures that sever Act 1 and introduce Act 2, which is then interrupted by a wild outburst of energy. From here, we move into a more serene ritual – bathed in water, softly washing away the dust and debris.
Act 3 – space
From this cleansing we are then propelled back in time to a period of more refined and orderly beauty – a sacred and harmonious space. From here we are then propelled into the future where, through our journey, we find ourselves in a more optimistic sonic and visual world.
We would like to express our deepest thanks to Marin Alsop and the staff and musicians at the Cabrillo Festival for offering such a wonderful opportunity to create this work.
—Anna Clyne
COMPOSER BIOGRAPHY
London-born Anna Clyne (b. 1980) is a Grammy-nominated composer of acoustic and electro-acoustic music. Described as a “composer of uncommon gifts and unusual methods” in a New York Times profile and as “dazzlingly inventive” by Time Out New York, Clyne’s work often includes collaborations with cutting-edge choreographers, visual artists, filmmakers, and musicians.
This season features multiple premieres of new works by Clyne, including Sound and Fury and Overflow with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, where Clyne serves as Associate Composer. Spring 2020 sees the world premiere of Clyne’s COLOR FIELD, an orchestral work inspired by Mark Rothko’s paintings, with Marin Alsop and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra; and Breathing Statues with the Calidore String Quartet.
Other recent premieres include Clyne’s Rumi-inspired cello concerto, DANCE, premiered by Inbal Segev at the 2019 Cabrillo Festival, conducted by Cristian Macelaru; Three Sisters, her mandolin concerto for Avi Avital and the Kremerata Baltica; Restless Oceans with the Taki Concordia Orchestra and Marin Alsop at the World Economic Forum; and Beltane with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and Thomas Dausgaard. In July 2019, Clyne wrote and arranged music from Nico’s Marble Index for The Nico Project, a theatrical work presented by the Manchester International Festival. Clyne has been commissioned by such renowned organizations as Carnegie Hall, Houston Ballet, Los Angeles Philharmonic, and the Southbank Centre.
From 2010–2015, Clyne served as a Mead Composer-in-Residence for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Music Director Riccardo Muti lauded Clyne as “an artist who writes from the heart, who defies categorization, and who reaches across all barriers and boundaries. Her compositions are meant to be played by great musicians and listened to by enthusiastic audiences no matter what their background.” She has also been in residence with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, L’Orchestre national d’Île-de-France, Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music, and Berkeley Symphony. Clyne serves as the mentor composer for the Orchestra of St Luke’s DeGaetano Composer Institute. Clyne is currently serving as Associate Composer with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, a three-year residency lasting through the 2020-2021 season. The residency includes plans for a series of new works commissioned over three years.
February 2020 – Reprinted by kind permission of Boosey & Hawkes.