Get a sneak peek of the Festival 2026 and enjoy some delicious bites & wine while supporting the Festival—it’s a taste of what’s to come! A Taste of the Festival – Cabrillo Festival 2026 Preview and Benefit Come join us for a delicious sneak peek at what the Cabrillo Festival has in store for 2026! […]

The Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music presents its 64th season, We the Dreamers, running July 26 through August 9, 2026. Framed by the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, this transformative season asks one of the most resonant civic questions of our time: Who is the “we” of America—and who are “we” still […]

Conducted by Cristian Măcelaru Vivian Fung: America the Beautiful? (Festival Commission & world premiere) Pedro Emanuel Pereira: Clarinet Concerto (Carlos Ferreira, Clarinet) (Festival Commission & world premiere) Philip Glass: Symphony No. 15 Lincoln (Zachary James, Baritone) (West Coast premiere) 6:30PM • PRE-CONCERT PICNIC + TALK: A free outdoor pre-concert experience featuring a brass sextet and […]

Conducted by Cristian Măcelaru Leilehua Lanzilotti: of light and stone (West Coast premiere) James Lee III: Shades of Unbroken Dreams (Alexandra Dariescu, Piano) (West Coast premiere) Sarah Hennies: The Grain House (Festival Creative Lab Commission & world premiere) Centering voices of resistance and cultural continuity, this program explores the act of dreaming as a form of defiance.   Leilehua […]

Conducted by Cristian Măcelaru Clarice Assad: Kontrol (Philippe Quint, Violin) (Festival Commission & world premiere) Jackson A. Waters: Defending Greenwood (West Coast premiere) Hannah Ishizaki: Spin (West Coast premiere) Dan Dediu: Concerto for Orchestra (U.S premiere) A genre-expanding program examining power, agency, and the forces that shape contemporary life.  Clarice Assad‘s Kontrol (Festival Commission, world premiere), featuring violinist Philippe Quint, is […]

Conducted by Cristian Măcelaru Eunike Tanzil: Ascending Creatures (West Coast premiere) Lisa Bielawa: Pulse (Tessa Lark, Violin) (West Coast premiere) Elena Kats-Chernin: Rainbow Promise (U.S. premiere) Sean Shepherd: Wanderlust (West Coast premiere) The season concludes with a luminous program looking toward collective possibility, resilience, and belonging. Ascending Creatures (West Coast premiere) by Festival newcomer, Eunike Tanzil, draws inspiration from the coordinated flight […]