2019 PRESS QUOTES “‘When There Are Nine,’ a 45-minute orchestral song cycle with chorus, presents a surge of principled outrage — by turns lyrical and ferocious, resolute and tender — against the inequities of the American legal and political system. It’s part biography, part anthem and entirely compelling. … Mezzo-soprano …read more »
2019
The Muse Visits Santa Cruz
By Marilyn DuHamel This essay is part of my Wayfinder Series about people, art works, and events that can help us find our way in these lost times. The Muse recently revealed herself in the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music, a sumptuous Dionysian feast lasting fourteen days in a humble …read more »
The Festival Through My Eyes: The Student Staff Program
If you attended any of the concerts this season, you likely received a program book from a person wearing a blue Cabrillo shirt. Chances are, this person looked to be around the age of a high school or college student, and was a member of the Festival’s Student Staff Program. …read more »
Wynton Marsalis and Cristi Macelaru In Conversation
Listen to a conversation with Wynton Marsalis, pioneering musician and 2019 Cabrillo Festival composer-in-residence. In this fascinating one-hour session, Marsalis and Cabrillo Festival Music Director and Conductor Cristian Macelaru share stories about collaborating on the Violin Concerto in D with Nicola Benedetti; Marsalis talks about growing up in New Orleans …read more »
The Festival Through My Eyes: Expressions of Community
During the open rehearsal of Concerto in D for violin and orchestra (2015), which will be a part of tonight’s concert, Wynton, Wynton gave the orchestra many notes which approached technical specificities through larger ideas having to do with the emotions behind the work, as well as the communal experience of …read more »
The Festival Through My Eyes: Works in Process
It is Thursday of the first week of the Festival, and there has been so much to take in that I’ve had trouble deciding where to begin this post. From Open Rehearsals to Student Staff projects, Megan Levad’s poetry workshop, and the astounding In the Works concert, this Festival is …read more »
Clarice Assad talks about her new Family work E Gol!
The Festival Through My Eyes: The Place of the Civic Auditorium and the Space of the Listening Body
Part one: The Festival in Production We’re just one day away from the first Open Rehearsal, meaning, the Festival season is upon us! I’m working on this post today from the staff lounge, where I can inconspicuously listen to Michael Sheppard rehearse on the piano. I’d be lying if I …read more »
Inbal Segev gives a preview of Anna Clyne’s new cello concerto
Inbal Segev took some time to record a little preview for us! Heralded by The New York Times as a “composer of uncommon gifts and unusual methods,” Anna Clyne returns to the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music with DANCE for cello and orchestra, co-commissioned with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. Based …read more »
The Festival Through My Eyes: An Introduction
Coffee in one hand, bike helmet in the other, and a pounding chest accompanying my steps up the stairs and through the door, I enter the building which houses the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music Office—my destination. In the entryway, I observe a row of potted and hanging plans which …read more »
Esteli Gomez of Roomful of Teeth is excited to come home!
It turns out Esteli Gomez of Roomful of Teeth is a Santa Cruz native! She sent us a sweet greeting via this video… enjoy! And then join Esteli and her “band” for their two concerts: Notorious (Aug. 2) and Roomful of Teeth in Concert (Aug. 4), and for a free …read more »
David Murray and Elise Blake unbox 2019 music!
Cabrillo Festival Orchestra musicians come to us from across the country and beyond, where they play in some of the best orchestras around. Our music librarian, also based remotely, has the gargantuan task of acquiring, organizing, and distributing scores to all the players. Once the musicians receive their music, usually …read more »
WYNTON Program Notes
The following notes accompany the August 11, 2019 WYNTON concert. Concerto in D for violin and orchestra (2015) Wynton Marsalis (b. 1961) This piece was written for Nicola Benedetti. It takes inspiration from her life as a traveling performer and educator who enlightens and delights communities all over the world …read more »
SECRET SONGS Program Notes
The following notes accompany the August 10, 2019 SECRET SONGS concert. God Music Bug Music (2011) Hannah Lash (b. 1981) West Coast Premiere God Music, Bug Music uses the same cell of five notes in both movements of the piece, though very differently in each. In God Music, this cell …read more »
ROOMFUL of TEETH Program Notes
The following notes accompany the August 4, 2019 performance: Roomful of Teeth In Concert Partita for 8 Voices (2009-11) Caroline Shaw (b. 1982) Composed over three summers from 2009-2011, in collaboration with Roomful of Teeth during their residencies at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (MASS MoCA), Caroline Shaw’s Partita …read more »
Free Family Concert: E Gol ! Program Note
The following note accompanies the August 4, 2019 Free Family Concert. É Gol ! (2019) Clarice Assad (b. 1978) World Premiere | Festival Commission É Gol ! is inspired by female Brazilian soccer player Marta Vieira da Silva, who is often regarded as the best female footballer of all time. The piece is scored for …read more »
CONTRASTS Program Notes
The following notes accompany the August 3, 2019 CONTRASTS concert. Kraken (2012) Du Yun (b. 1977) West Coast Premiere In 2009, I began to use a series of titles that are based on fables from mythology. A kraken is a sea dragon or sea serpent that might have a hump …read more »
NOTORIOUS Program Notes
The following notes accompany the August 2, 2019 NOTORIOUS concert program Agnosco Veteris (2016) Nina C. Young (b. 1984) West Coast Premiere In book IV of Virgil’s Aeneid, Dido, long in grief over her late husband Sychaeus’s death, is suddenly awakened from emotional slumber by the visiting Trojan hero Aeneas. In …read more »
