Below you will find a collection of historic interviews, panel talks, and in-depth musical analysis that demonstrate the sweep of the Festival’s influence under artistic leaders Carlos Chavez, Dennis Russell Davies, Marin Alsop, and Cristian Macelaru; and composers Lou Harrison, Aaron Copland, John Adams and others. Composer Lou Harrison provides …read more »
Artist Interviews
Meet the Composers videos
The Festival Through My Eyes: An Interview with In the Works Composer Maya Miro Johnson
On Tuesday, July 30th, I had the pleasure of attending In the Works, a concert which showcased the new compositions of three emerging composers: Costas Dafnis, Maya Miro Johnson, and Annika Socolofksy. Each work was performed twice with a different conductor. This gave concert-goers the opportunity to experience the variations …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: 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!
Evelyn Glennie prepares for Assad’s AD INFINITUM
Renowned percussionist Dame Evelyn Glennie talks about her process in preparing for the premiere of Clarice Assad’s percussion concerto AD …read more »
Karim Al-Zand on his work The Prisoner
Composer Karim Al-Zand talks about his work The …read more »
Christopher Rountree on his work La Haine
Composer Christopher Rountree talks about his inspiration in writing Overture to La …read more »
David T. Little pays tribute to Lou Harrison
Composer David T. Little talks about writing his tribute to Lou Harrison, The Conjured …read more »
Clarice Assad video on AD INFINITUM
Composer/pianist Clarice Assad talks about writing AD INFINITUM for Evelyn Glennie and the Cabrillo Festival …read more »
Cristi Macelaru prepares for the 2017 season
Cristian Macelaru talks about preparing for his first season as Music Director and Conductor of the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary …read more »
Music Director Cristian Macelaru announces 2017 program
Music Director Cristian Macelaru announces his inaugural 2017 season Cabrillo Festival …read more »
7th Avenue Project interviews Huang Ruo [audio]
Huang Ruo’s career wasn’t his to choose. His fortune-teller grandfather and composer father did that for him, and at the age of 12 he was packed off to a distant music conservatory in Shanghai as his mother wept. Sad as that may sound, it all worked out remarkably well. Huang …read more »
Missy Mazzoli on her new piece for Cabrillo and the changing contemporary music landscape
By Ricky O’Bannon Missy Mazzoli first came to Cabrillo Festival in 2007 to participate in the Composer Workshop. On Saturday, Aug. 15, her piece River Rouge Transformation will receive its West Coast debut, which was commissioned and premiered in 2014 by Leonard Slatkin and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and inspired …read more »
7th Avenue Project interviews Hannah Lash, Nico Muhly, and Missy Mazzoli [audio]
Robert Pollie interviews three young composers from our Wish You Were Here …read more »
Colin Currie on his return to Cabrillo [video interview]
Percussionist Colin Currie first came to Cabrillo Festival at 19 years old to perform James MacMillan’s first percussion concerto, Veni, Veni Emmanuel. Since then he has become a leading solo percussionist who has performed MacMillan’s concerto more than 150 times all over the …read more »
David T. Little talks guilty pleasures and finding his voice as a composer
In classical music, we think about time differently than rock, pop or things like jazz. I worry that because we’re working off of printed music, we can lose that deep sense of time. So I try to play around with that, and it’s something I think about …read more »
