The Cabrillo Festival concludes with a symphonic journey featuring works by composers Clarice Assad, Erollyn Wallen, Pierre Jalbert, and Juan Pablo Contreras. A powerful communicator renowned for her musical scope and versatility, Brazilian-American Clarice Assad is a significant artistic voice in the classical, world music, pop, and jazz genres. Her work, Baião ‘N Blues is inspired by Brazilian music’s lively rhythms and infused with American blues’ soulful essence. In its West Coast premiere, Baião ‘N Blues showcases the power of music to transcend cultural boundaries and connect people through the traditional rhythm and dance of the Brazilian Baião with the Blues. Belize-born British composer Errollyn Wallen‘s West Coast premiere Violin Concerto, a years-long collaborative effort between the composer and violinist Philippe Quint, encapsulates Quint’s childhood memories and technical prowess. Born in Belize and based in the UK, Wallen melds styles and musical thoughts, drawing inspiration from Quint’s recollections of church bells and a lullaby. This concerto showcases Quint’s spellbinding playing and personal narrative woven into the music. “The American composer Pierre Jalbert writes music of considerable elegance,” wrote Joshua Kosman in the San Francisco Chronicle. In its West Coast premiere, Jalbert’s Passage pays homage to Beethoven’s Fourth Symphony. Transforming Beethoven’s musical passages, Jalbert’s composition unfolds in three contrasting movements, moving us between centuries and grounding us in the present. Mexican composer Juan Pablo Contreras combines Western classical and Mexican folk music in a single soundscape. A fitting end to the season, Mariachitlán transports listeners to the vibrant streets of Jalisco, Mexico, where the spirit of mariachi music thrives. Inspired by the region’s landscapes and traditions, Contreras transforms the orchestra into a firework display of mariachi color, traveling to an imaginary place called Mariachitlán (Mariachi-land).