Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music powers up for its 53rd season with an international roster of young talent
Like a well-oiled machine that keeps adding shiny new parts, the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music rolls into town for the next two weeks, fully loaded and ready to amaze. Think of the entire festival—which opens officially on Friday, Aug. 7 at the Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium—as sonic seduction for inquiring minds that are not completely sure how to navigate contemporary music.
By now maestra Marin Alsop and company have got the beat down. After all, this is the 53rd season. Gifted newcomers, vintage virtuosi, world premieres, commissioned works and that atmospheric finale in the acoustically sacred Mission San Juan Bautista—here is a formula that never plays as formulaic.
Some Highlights
The stellar Kronos Quartet will be back, bringing new magic with them. This year’s intimate Kronos concert, which takes place at 8 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 9, is crowned by selections honoring Terry Riley on the occasion of the minimalist composer’s 80th birthday. At 8 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 15, look for a world premiere of Eating Flowers, commissioned for the festival by renowned composer John Adams for young harpist/composer Hannah Lash. The work of three other composers under the age of 35 will be featured as well, and the concert closes with a Double Concerto for Violin and Cello from postmodern master Philip Glass.
Yet More Highlights
On opening night at the Civic, percussion virtuoso Colin Currie performs MacMillan’s Percussion Concerto No. 2. The opening concert also marks the Festival return of composer Mason Bates, bringing his surreal symphonic suite Anthology of Fantastic Zoology, based upon the book by magic realist author Jorge Luis Borges. Bates was recently named the first ever composer-in-residence at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
The Aug. 8 concert explores Chinese culture in The Color Yellow, by Huang Ruo, written for orchestra and sheng (an ancient Chinese mouth organ) with sheng master Wu Wei performing.
Festival-goers who never miss the special Music at the Mission garden concert at the Mission San Juan Bautista will be treated to the rare phenomenon of female trumpet soloist Tine Thing Helseth. The 27-year-old Norwegian trumpeter returns for the festival’s final concert, performing in the U.S. premiere of Scottish composer James MacMillan’s Epiclesis on Sunday, Aug. 16.
Concluding the entire Festival is the work of Mexican composer Ana Lara, Angeles de llama y hielo (Angels of Flame and Ice). Inspired by poems of Francisco Serrano, Lara’s work will be performed in the sanctuary at Mission San Juan Bautista, also on Aug. 16.
The Hot Spots
This year’s concert is well stocked with composers and artists from around the globe, including China, Mexico, England, Scotland and Norway. Each concert bursts with youthful energy—many of this year’s composers are in their 20s and 30s. Don’t miss the Church Street Fair loaded with live music and dance, art workshops, and food and wine artisans, from 11 a.m.-8 p.m. both Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 8 and 9. And that tasty festival tradition—the Post-Concert Dessert Reception offering plenty of cake and bubbly—immediately follows Saturday, Aug. 15’s Wish You Were Here concert. The post-concert block party is for everyone—audience and performers alike.
The Extra Crispy Bits
Aficionados of the Festival know that performances acquire their final polish at the Open Rehearsals. These free events, beginning on Saturday, Aug. 2 and continue through Aug. 14, give the public a chance to watch the various works come alive and provide fascinating insight into the working rapport between conductor and performers. The Aug. 4 rehearsal at 4 p.m. includes a Conductors Workshop.
At 7 p.m. on Aug. 7, Opening Night, Alsop and featured composers provide a pre-concert introduction to the entire season outside the Civic Auditorium. Not to miss is the Wednesday, Aug. 12 pre-rehearsal talk illuminating the eclectic Wish You Were Here concert program, at 6:15 p.m., presented by New Music Works director Philip Collins. One of the Festival’s enduring gems—Meet the Composers—will be held at 1:30 p.m. on Aug. 8. The informal Q&A panel with composers Sebastian Currier, David T. Little, Jonathan Newman, Huang Ruo and Nathaniel Stookey, will be moderated by Festival conductor Marin Alsop ($12). At 1 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 9, the Free Family Concert features The Composer is Dead, a delightful whodunit narrated by the composer himself, Nathaniel Stookey, plus a chance for kids to meet members of the orchestra.
The Festival is a chance to hear one of the finest orchestras anywhere, magically materializing on our shores for two blazing weeks of new, challenging music. Expect fireworks for the ears! Check the website, cabrillomusic.org, for full schedule and details.
PHOTO: TUNING UP Marin Alsop at the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music’s Open Rehearsals last year. R.R. JONES
