This essay is part of Marilyn DuHamel’s Wayfinder Series about people, art works, and events that can help us find our way in these lost times.

It was a great treat to sit down with Maya and get an idea of where her work sprung from, as well as how the concepts she explained before the performance of her work manifested within the composition.

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 was a member of the Festival’s Student Staff Program.

In the 21st century, we often become aware of the universality of our experience and feelings through artistic conversations happening online and in the media.

From Open Rehearsals to Student Staff projects, Megan Levad’s poetry workshop, and the astounding In the Works concert, this Festival is brimming with personal and collective creative growth.

We’re just one day away from the first Open Rehearsal, meaning, the Festival season is upon us!

Music marks time—gathers, embraces, endures it. Thunder in the tympani, nectar in the run of a flute; arpeggios of wonder, terror, and desire. When the orchestra plays, the world flies at us on a fierce wind.

For composers and musicians, labels can be limiting. They usually aren’t coined and settled until after a musical movement is past, but they stick around long after they would have been useful.

Ask your average classical concertgoer what they think of when they hear the phrase “new music” and after a moment of trepidation, their answers are likely to fall along a few well-worn narratives.

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.

Composers are famously isolated creatures who treasure solitude, and not without good reason.