“Have you ever heard a parhelion? What does the Santa Cruz lighthouse sound like, translated into symphonic form? How does music made in West African refugee camps connect to that of the US? Is the concept of immigration holding back our development as a species? Prick up your ears and head down to Santa Cruz over the next two weeks to explore these questions with hundreds of other curious listeners.” -Marke B, 48Hills

“. . .the festival reaches beyond the usual performer-audience encounter into something both larger and deeper.” -Marke B, 48Hills

“Boosted by a surge of interest in eclectic sounds, contemporary music festivals keep sprouting up like fairy finger mushrooms through the fertile Redwoods forest floor. But the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music (July 29-August 11), now in it 62nd year, is unlike any other.” -Marke B, 48Hills

“In case you’re vibing on a certain ethereal creative energy in the air in downtown Santa Cruz these days — I mean, of course, beyond the normal ethereal creative energy in downtown Santa Cruz — that spidey sense is telling you that the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music is back.” -Wallace Baine, Lookout Santa Cruz

“Every mid-summer, for a period of two weeks, many of the world’s most creative minds in orchestral and chamber music meet up in Santa Cruz for a bracing reminder that classical music isn’t always “classical” (from long-dead white European men) and that contemporary music can be something beyond Taylor Swift and K-pop.” -Wallace Baine, Lookout Santa Cruz

“Cabrillo doesn’t just pay lip service to the new. It lives it.” -Paul Riley, BBC Classical

“. . . hats off, too, to a festival orchestra never able to fall back on the tried and tested.” -Paul Riley, BBC Classical

“For 62 years, the Cabrillo Festival has served contemporary classical music, often introducing composers who have later became known worldwide.” -Janos Gereben, San Francisco Classical Voice

“A new-music enthusiast’s dream destination in Santa Cruz, Calif., that for 62 years has distinguished itself among summer festivals for its exclusive focus on living composers.” -Esteban Meneses, I Care If You Listen

“The biggest little festival of all might just be the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music, which for years has featured living composers’ output exclusively while garnering dozens of ASCAP awards for adventurous programming.” -Paul Hertelendy,  ArtsSF

“This cutting-edge orchestral package of national impact performs over two midsummer weekends in music that is complex, audacious and often brand new, with most of the composers present to witness their music from start to finish.” -Paul Hertelendy, ArtsSF