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 of birds, exploring the interplay between individuality and unity through motion and sound. Through interlocking musical lines and evolving textures, Tanzil emphasizes the power of collective movement. 

Lisa Bielawa’s Pulse (West Coast premiere), featuring violinist Tessa Lark, unfolds as a driving, heartbeat-like concerto, weaving rhythmic intensity and American musical threads into a shared sense of motion and momentum. Drawing on Lark’s deep roots in Appalachian fiddle traditions, the work evokes the spirit of folk dance and storytelling, blending vernacular musical language with Bielawa’s contemporary orchestral voice. 

Celebrating marriage equality with both joy and remembrance, Rainbow Promise (U.S. premiere) honors the struggle that made it possible. Composed by Elena Kats-Chernin, the piece rings with a spirit of pure celebration and joy, but not without offering reflection on the struggle that made such celebration possible. 

Sean Shepherd‘s Wanderlust (West Coast premiere) closes the season with an homage to movement and belonging by “an exciting composer of the new American generation” (New York Times). A self-proclaimed “well-treated vagabond,” Shepherd composed Wanderlust as an homage to his cosmopolitan experiences across the U.S., the U.K., and Europe, representing both his paradoxical, palpable sense of rootlessness and his desire to sink roots, pulling inspiration from disparate places and searching for the idea of home.

SEASON REFLECTION  – with support from Bookshop Santa Cruz, in honor of their 60th Anniversary
Former (1993-1995) U.S. Poet Laureate Rita Dove joins the Festival for a special closing reflection, performing original poetry honoring the life and legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. alongside Samuel Barber’s Adagio for Strings. This will be the poem’s West Coast premiere, offering a profound coda to a season of remembering, reckoning, and imagining what comes next.

Stay after  the show for our annual street party and celebration of the season with cake and bubbly!

A Look at the Music Behind the Music

The pieces you’ll hear this summer haven’t been heard here before. Until their premieres, explore these playlists to discover the composers’ musical influences, artistic voices, and the creative worlds from which new works emerge.

You are Welcome at the Cabrillo Festival

Whether you’re a longtime Festival supporter or this is your first orchestra concert, we invite you to experience the music in a way that feels comfortable and inspiring. Enjoy local beer or wine and bring it to your seat, visit our photo booth, and wear whatever makes you feel like you—from Birkenstocks to heels.

More Than a Concert

The Cabrillo Festival is a place to gather, discover, and connect. Throughout the week, free open rehearsals, Meet the Composers, and artist talks offer a unique opportunity to experience the music taking shape before it reaches the stage and engage with the community that brings the music to life. Check out the whole season for more!