2001 Season Overview

Marin Alsop is an artist who likes to think big! And who, some may ask, can resist that? After the successes of Cabrillo Music Festival’s last two seasons of large scale productions she is not only undaunted, she’s energized and determined to produce rarely performed works that will give artists and audiences unforgettable, once-in-a-lifetime opportunities.

So the millenium continues with not one, but two large-scale productions — which include opera, theatre, dance, video, film and chorus — plus two big orchestra concerts which capture the essence of CMF’s dedication to modern symphonic works performed consistently with "both the excitement of discovery and the assured presence of repertory pieces," says the San Francisco Chronicle. So hold onto your seats, it’s going to be a remarkable ride.

The excitement begins with the West Coast Premiere of Philip Glass and Robert Malasch’s mixed media work The Photographer, on Friday and Sunday, August 3 and 5. A nationally renowned artistic team partners with Music Director Marin Alsop to create an original production that Bay area audiences won’t want to miss. It promises to be an evening which will stimulate the senses and challenge the intellect. About the life and work of photographer Eadweard Muybridge, who invented motion pictures, this fully staged work in three acts integrates music, theatre, and dance, with the visual imagery of Muybridge’s photographs. Opening Night, Friday, August 3, you can plan to join Marin Alsop early for a Pre-Concert Talk and a special Dinner served outside the Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium. It’s the Festival’s way of slowing the pace, setting the scene, and building anticipation for a truly seamless evening of theatre. (See Back Page for more on The Photographer.)

On Saturday night, August 4, at 8 p.m., the award-winning Festival Orchestra is the unequivocal star of the show, "Fearful Symmetries." It’s a big Saturday night out on the town when the Festival becomes ground zero for new music in our nation and presents the works of two of the greatest contemporary American composers of our time! John Adams’ Fearful Symmetries is a masterful work that combines "passion and precision into a huge dynamo" and does so with thrilling results. Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Christopher Rouse is a perennial favorite at the Festival, and conducting his work gets Maestra Alsop’s artistic adrenaline flowing. Concertmaster Yumi Hwang-Williams will be the featured soloist in Rouse’s Violin Concerto, a work that mixes modernism with romanticism and challenges the orchestra and soloist to some amazingly virtuosic playing. As Marin salutes the giants of American music, she also ushers in the emerging talents of our time. And tonight she opens the program with Jennifer Higdon’s Fanfare Ritmico, a work commissioned by The Women’s Philharmonic that celebrates the rhythm and speed of life.

Saturday and Sunday, August 4 and 5 see the return of the Cabrillo Music Art & Wine Festival. Now in its tenth year, the two-day "festival within the Festival" continues with an ever-expanding array of activities that offer an inspiring reflection of the arts in Santa Cruz. World and ethnic music and dance will once again grace the outdoor Church Street Stage as more than seventy artists and craftspeople display their treasures along Church Street outside the Civic Auditorium. The Festival’s new "Creativity Tent for Kids" returns with hands-on music and art workshops all day long, Saturday and Sunday. Adding to the excitement, this year the Festival partners with the Santa Cruz City School District to create an "Instruments for Kids" donation program. The community is encouraged to resurrect its neglected musical instruments and bring them to the "Instruments for Kids Donation Booth" alongside the "Creativity Tent" to be donated (as a tax-deductible contribution) for use by school children in Santa Cruz. Sunday, August 5 is Family Day once again with family performances on the Church Street Stage, and our Free Family Concert 2001. "A Space Odyssey" includes a video production featuring NASA space footage and takes place at 2 p.m. in the Civic Auditorium. And that jewel of an event, Lunch with the Composers, returns at 1 p.m., Saturday, August 4 inside the Civic.

The second music-filled weekend begins on Friday, August 10, with the Festival’s annual benefit chamber concert featuring concertmaster Yumi Hwang-Williams and members of the Festival Orchestra. "Music at the Millpond" includes perfectly partnered wine and food tastings followed by a chamber music concert at twilight in a magnificent redwood cathedral. Full subscribers have priority for this event, which is limited to 125 guests.

On Saturday, August 11, the evening begins at 6:30 p.m. As afternoon gives way to evening, you’re invited to listen to music on Church Street and enjoy another delightful dinner al fresco outside the Civic Auditorium. At 8 p.m. the Festival presents you with a truly fantastical program "Rapunzel and the River." It opens with Lou Harrison’s 1952 opera Rapunzel, based on the classic fairy tale and using the text of William Morris. A truly magnificent work, Rapunzel, features an all-star cast of singers including baritone Sanford Sylvan (featured at the 1991 Festival in John Adams’ Wound Dresser), soprano Jennifer Foster (making her Festival debut), and mezzo-soprano Wendy Hillhouse (featured at CMF in 1998 in Gorecki’s Third Symphony); under the baton of Marin Alsop, conducting the Festival Orchestra and with an artistic team including Stage Director Michael Scarola (The Tender Land) and Scenic and Lighting Designer Matthew Antaky (Mass and The Tender Land). Sets, lighting, costumes, and these remarkable voices will bring the story to life as never before, in honor of composer Harrison who has held the hearts of local audiences for decades and was recently honored nationally with the prestigious McDowell award. The second part of the evening features the work of Lou Harrison’s lifelong friend and mentor, Virgil Thomson (to whom Rapunzel is dedicated). The Festival will present the Pultizer Prize-nominated film "The River" by Pare Lorentz accompanied by Virgil Thomson’s original film score performed live by the Festival Orchestra and narrator Milton Williams. Aaron Copland called Thomson’s score, "a lesson on how to treat Americana" — high praise from a true master of the medium.

Sunday, August 12 is San Juan Day and the final day of the 2001 Cabrillo Music Festival. For the 27th year, the season’s grand finale concerts will take place in the magnificent sanctuary of Mission San Juan Bautista. An unparalleled setting for unparalleled programming,"Music at the Mission" features Christopher Rouse’s Rapture, which he describes as being "about a state of spiritual ecstasy — ever more blinding and active." From a composer whose work typically confronts the darker aspects of life, comes a work which explores the notion of limitless bliss. Scottish composer James MacMillan’s work often delves into his religious roots and has been featured at the Mission for the past several seasons. This year he joins us in person for the very first time for the performance of his Symphony No. 2. And closing the program will be Finnish composer Einojuhani Rautavaara’s ethereal work Angel of Light. Always magnificent, always compelling — the music, the Mission and the spirit of the Festival’s day at San Juan Bautista leads us, like travellers, on a journey from our everyday lives.

Cabrillo Music Festival wishes, once again, to express our deep appreciation to Mission San Juan Bautista and Father Edward Fitz-Henry for their generous use of the Church. In the San Juan Day tradition, audiences are invited to enjoy "between-concert" picnicking in the Mission Olive Grove.

It is a huge season when every day for weeks musicians, directors, dancers, designers, singers, actors, costumers, composers, and artists of all types, will be buzzing around Santa Cruz with their artistic passions blazing. Come warm yourself in the glow of their energy. Come see what amazing things happen at "America’s Contemporary Music Festival." Every performance will offer an exciting and unique adventure in music, and Marin Alsop and the Festival Orchestra invite you to share in the fun. So buckle up and come along for the ride. Hold tight for the thrill of a lifetime!

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