Press Announcements

CABRILLO FESTIVAL OF CONTEMPORARY MUSIC
WINS 2008-2009 ASCAP AWARD: THE JOHN S. EDWARDS AWARD
FOR STRONGEST COMMITMENT TO NEW AMERICAN MUSIC

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APRIL 15, 2009

SANTA CRUZ, CA—April 15, 2009—The Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music is pleased to announce its 47th season, led by Music Director and Conductor Marin Alsop, August 2-16, 2009.

Most recently named Musical America’s 2009 Conductor of the Year, Alsop’s vision for her 18th season at the Cabrillo Festival spans across the globe—and features works by the hottest composers from Argentina, Australia, Finland, Israel, Mexico, Scotland, the UK and the US. This season includes one World premiere, five US premieres and three West Coast premieres in what the Wall Street Journal has hailed as “two of the most thoughtful and original summer musical weekends anywhere in America."

 “The Cabrillo Festival remains an artistic oasis in the world,” said Festival Music Director and Conductor Marin Alsop. “It’s all about the creative process and individuals expressing themselves in the here and now. I believe it is at the core of who we are as human beings, and everyone who experiences the Festival—musicians, composers, and audiences—comes away with their own personal revelation. It’s an incredibly inspiring and life-affirming experience. And my programming this year reflects that sense of celebration and expansiveness.”

The ten composers-in-residence for 2009 include: Enrico Chapela (Mexico), 2009 Grawemeyer Award-winner Brett Dean (Australia), Avner Dorman (Israel), Grammy-award winner Osvaldo Golijov (Argentina), David Heath (United Kingdom), Matthew Hindson (Australia), Lee Johnson (US), Ingram Marshall (US), Kevin Puts (US), and Joby Talbot (UK). The season will also feature works by composers, James MacMillan (Scotland), Pulitzer-Prize winner Aaron Jay Kernis (US), and Grawemeyer Award-winner George Tsontakis (US).

The roster of guest artists this season is equally impressive and includes cellist Alisa Weilerstein, hyper-accordionist Michael Ward-Bergeman, percussionists Jamey Haddad, Cyro Baptista, Galen Lemmon and Steve Hearn, trumpet player Craig Morris, and assistant conductor Carolyn Kuan.

“Each year the Cabrillo Festival produces four, first-rate, symphonic programs of new works," said Festival Executive Director Ellen Primack. "Nowhere else in the world are so many new pieces performed at one time, to such a warm and devoted audience. Composers, professional orchestra players, and audiences travel from across the globe to participate in two weeks of exhilarating, intense, and wonderful music-making.  Open rehearsals, composers' forums, pre-rehearsal talks, and a chance to meet and hear from the greatest contemporary composers of our time make the Festival a profoundly meaningful educational and social experience.”  

And in true Santa Cruz spirit, Maestra Alsop and the Cabrillo Festival Orchestra mark the 14th Anniversary of Jerry Garcia’s death on August 9 with Lee Johnson’s orchestral tribute to the Grateful Dead, Dead Symphony, no. 6. Encompassing some of the Grateful Dead’s most popular melodies while staying true to the band’s magical jams, Dead Symphony no. 6 is a work in 12 movements.

Opening Night: Azul - Friday, August 7, 2009, 8pm - Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium
The 47th season of the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music kicks off on Friday, August 7 with Azul, at the Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium. Maestra Marin Alsop leads the Cabrillo Festival Orchestra in the US premiere of Brett Dean’s Amphitheatre. Winner of the prestigious 2009 Grawemeyer Award, Dean was a permanent member of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra for 15 years, after which he returned to his native Australia, where he currently serves as Artistic Director of the Australian National Academy of Music. The evening also features the World Premiere of Rise from the Dark, by British composer David Heath. Based rhythmically and harmonically on the music of John Coltrane and Miles Davis, and structurally on classical music, Rise from the Dark is a triumphant work that honors a life taken too soon. The evening concludes with Grammy-award winner and MacArthur fellow Osvaldo Golijov’s celebrated work, Azul. Featuring cellist Alisa Weilerstein, hyper-accordionist Michael Ward-Bergeman, and percussionists Jamey Haddad and Cyro Baptista, Azul is a work in four movements inspired by the color of the night sky, and influenced by The Heights of Macchu Picchu by poet Pablo Neruda. This concert is preceded by a Pre-Concert Dinner & Talk on Church Street outside the Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium, beginning at 6:30pm.

Spices, Perfumes, Toxins! - Saturday, August 8, 8pm - Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium
On Saturday August 8, the Cabrillo Festival Orchestra, under the direction of Alsop, perform the West Coast premiere of composer Enrico Chapela’s hit symphonic poem, ínguesu, based on the infamous 1999 FIFA Confederations Cup soccer match between Mexico and Brazil. The Mexican-born Chapela is one of the most exciting young talents to emerge from Latin America, with a growing number of international performances and commissions. The Dallas Morning News  describes how the composer “transmutes the cheers and jeers of the 1999 Mexico vs. Brazil soccer match into an Ivesian collage of chatter, blast and slide.”

Israeli-born Avner Dorman, who at 25 was the youngest composer to ever win Israel's prestigious Prime Minister's award, and most recently was recognized by the Israel Cultural Excellence Foundation as a chosen artist, joins the evening’s roster of superstar composers. His concerto, Spices, Perfumes, Toxins!, features Festival Orchestra principal percussionists Galen Lemmon and Steve Hearn in a high-energy work that combines Middle-Eastern drums, orchestral percussion, and rock drums with orchestral forces. Zubin Mehta wrote of the work: “This music is just going to sweep the audience. The Indian influence in the first movement makes me feel at home. The Middle Eastern atmosphere of the second movement is just magical, and the third movement is a tour de force.” The evening concludes with another work by Australian composer Brett Dean, Moments of Bliss. Awarded “Best Composition” at the Australian Classical Music Awards, Moments of Bliss is an orchestral precursor of the esteemed composer’s forthcoming opera Bliss.

The evening is followed by a Talkback Session with Marin Alsop, featured composers, and soloists.

Free Family Concert - Sunday, August 9, 1pm - Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium
The Cabrillo Festival hosts its annual Free Family Concert on Sunday, August 9 at the Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium. The Cabrillo Festival’s Free Family Concerts have become legendary—a staple in the musical education and upbringing of area youngsters, and a no less entertaining and engaging experience for their parents. The concert begins with the popular petting zoo-style Tour of the Orchestra, where kids get to meet the orchestra players—up close and personal! This is followed by a grand concert experience with Maestra Marin Alsop, Assistant Conductor Carolyn Kuan and the Cabrillo Festival Orchestra. This year the Family Concert features excerpts from two wonderful, accessible works, Matthew Hindson’s Rave-Elation and Avner Dorman’s Spices, Perfumes, Toxins! featuring the lively sounds of percussionists Galen Lemmon and Steve Hearn.

Sugar Magnolia: A Special Benefit Concert/A Tribute to the Grateful Dead - Sunday, August 9, 8pm - Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium
In honor of the 14th Anniversary of Jerry Garcia’s death, conductor Alsop and the Cabrillo Festival Orchestra delve into the psychadelic world of the Grateful Dead with American composer Lee Johnson’s popular Dead Symphony no. 6. The first orchestral tribute to the legendary band responsible for sparking a cultural revolution, Dead Symphony no. 6 has been a hit with audiences and critics alike. Dead Symphony no. 6 dedicates separate movements to Grateful Dead hits Saint Stephen, Here Comes Sunshine, Mountains of the Moon, Blues for Allah, Sugar Magnolia, To Lay Me Down, If I Had the World to Give, Stella Blue, Bird Songs and China Doll. The work includes a symphonic jam session. The concert also features the US premiere of Australian composer Matthew Hindson’s Rave-Elation (Schindowski Mix), another work that uses popular music as a starting point—this time techno music. Hindson’s inspiration for this work came from dance and rave parties—particularly the partygoers’ single-minded indulgence in physical enjoyment.

The evening is followed by a Q&A with Composer Lee Johnson; Dennis McNally, longtime publicist and biographer of the Grateful Dead; and David Gans, author and host of the nationally-syndicated Grateful Dead Hour. The China Cats, a Grateful Dead cover band, will perform that evening on the outdoor Church Street Stage as part of the Cabrillo Music Art Food & Wine Festival.

Behold the Sun - Saturday, August 15, 8pm – Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium
The Cabrillo Festival’s second weekend kicks off on Saturday, August 15 at the Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium with Maestra Marin Alsop leading the Cabrillo Festival Orchestra in the US premiere of Scottish composer James MacMillan’s The Sacrifice: Three Interludes, a symphonic suite taken from MacMillan’s celebrated opera, The Sacrifice, a work based on a medieval Welsh tale and focusing on issues of love and conflict. The US Premiere of British composer Joby Talbot’s Desolation Wilderness, featuring the Festival Orchestra’s principal trumpet Craig Morris, was inspired by the composer’s visit to the Sierra Nevada in Northern California. Desolation Wilderness was celebrated as a "lavish, panoramic piece of Americana inspired by a drive through the untamed expanses of the north Californian landscape, whose musical moods mirror the quicksilver changes of the desert climate." (Guardian). The evening concludes with composer Magnus Lindberg’s Seht die Sonne (Behold the Sun), hailed as “an extravagant and glittering piece on a grand scale, full of bold gestures and big effects” (Financial Times). The most popular Finnish composer since Sibelius, Lindberg is soon to be Composer-in-Residence at the New York Philharmonic.

Music at the Mission: Kingdom Come - Sunday August 16, 4:30pm and 8pm – Mission San Juan Batista
Maestra Marin Alsop, the Cabrillo Festival Orchestra, and American composers George Tsontakis, Ingram Marshall, Kevin Puts and Aaron Jay Kernis bring the 2009 to a resounding close with two concerts and two West Coast Premieres at Mission San Juan Bautista. Tsontakis is the recipient of two of the richest and most prestigious awards in all of classical music: the Grawemeyer Award and the Ives Living award. His work, Clair de Lune is a colorful homage to 20th Century French music. In Ingram Marshall’s work, Kingdom Come, the composer combines taped sounds from the outside world with orchestral sounds in a piece that was celebrated in the New York Times as "some of the most stirring spiritual art to be found in America today." The final concerts conclude with Alsop conducting two anticipated West Coast Premieres: Two Mountain Scenes by young composer Kevin Puts, whose work has been described as “...inventive, clever, haunting and poetic” (Los Angeles Times) and Invisible Mosaic III by Pulitzer-Prize winner Aaron Jay Kernis.

Maestra Marin Alsop conducts the award-winning Cabrillo Festival Orchestra in one World Premiere, five US Premieres, and three West Coast Premieres.

TICKETS:
Festival tickets range from $30-$50 with many events free and open to the public. As of April 15, the public may access information on the 2009 Festival website at www.cabrillomusic.org or call (831) 426-6966. Tickets may be ordered by mail beginning mid-May through the Festival’s Advance Ticket Order Form; and then via phone, walk-up, or on-line beginning June 15.

Opening Night: Azul
Friday, August 7, 2009, 8pm, Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium
Brett Dean:  Amphitheatre (US Premiere)
David Heath: Rise from the Dark (World Premiere)
Osvaldo Golijov: Azul, featuring Alisa Weilerstein, cello; Michael Ward-Bergeman, hyper-accordion; Jamey Haddad, percussion; Cyro Baptista, percussion

(Preceded by a Pre-Concert Dinner & Talk on Church Street outside the Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium, beginning at 6:30pm.)
     
Spices, Perfumes, Toxins!
Saturday, August 8, 2009, 8pm, Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium
Enrico Chapela: ínguesu (West Coast Premiere)
Avner Dorman: Spices, Perfumes, Toxins!, featuring Galen Lemmon and Steve Hearn, percussion
Brett Dean: Moments of Bliss (US Premiere)

(Followed by a Talkback Session with Marin Alsop, featured composers, and soloists.)

Free Family Concert
Sunday, August 9, 2009, 1pm, Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium
Open to all ages, this free event features a “petting-zoo” style tour of the orchestra, and a performance by the Cabrillo Festival Orchestra, led by Maestra Alsop and assistant conductor Carolyn Kuan.

Sugar Magnolia: A Special Benefit Concert/A Tribute to the Grateful Dead
Sunday, August 9, 2009, 8pm, Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium
Matthew Hindson:  Rave-Elation (Schindowski Mix) (US Premiere)
Lee Johnson: Dead Symphony no. 6 

(Followed by a Q&A with Composer Lee Johnson; Dennis McNally, longtime publicist and biographer of the Grateful Dead; and David Gans, host of Dead Radio)

Behold the Sun
Saturday, August 15, 8pm, Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium
James MacMillan:  The Sacrifice: Three Interludes (US Premiere)
Joby Talbot: Desolation Wilderness (US Premiere), featuring Craig Morris, trumpet
Magnus Lindberg: Seht die Sonne (Behold the Sun)
        
Music at the Mission: Kingdom Come
Sunday, August 16, 2009, 4:30pm & 8pm, Mission San Juan Bautista
George Tsontakis:  Clair de Lune 
Ingram Marshall: Kingdom Come 
Kevin Puts: Two Mountain Scenes (West Coast Premiere)
Aaron Jay Kernis: Invisible Mosaic III  (West Coast Premiere)

SEASON HIGHLIGHTS

World Premiere
David Heath: Rise from the Dark

U.S. Premiere
Brett Dean:  Amphitheatre
Brett Dean: Moments of Bliss
Matthew Hindson:  Rave-Elation (Schindowski Mix)  
James MacMillan:  The Sacrifice: Three Interludes  
Joby Talbot: Desolation Wilderness (concerto for trumpet)

West Coast Premieres
Enrico Chapela:  ínguesu 
Kevin Puts: Two Mountain Scenes 
Aaron Jay Kernis: Invisible Mosaic III  

Ten Composers-in-Residence
Enrico Chapela
Brett Dean
Avner Dorman
Osvaldo Golijov
David Heath
Matthew Hindson
Lee Johnson
Ingram Marshall
Kevin Puts
Joby Talbot

Guest Artists
Carolyn Kuan, conductor
Alisa Weilerstein, cello
Michael Ward-Bergeman, hyper-accordion
Jamey Haddad, percussion
Cyro Baptista, percussion
Galen Lemmon, percussion
Steven Hearn, percussion
Craig Morris, trumpet

CABRILLO FESTIVAL OF CONTEMPORARY MUSIC is America’s longest running new music festival dedicated to orchestra. Winner of the national ASCAP Award for Adventurous Programming of Contemporary Music for 25 consecutive years, and in 2009 winner of ASCAP's John S. Edwards Award for Strongest Commitment to New American Music.

OCTOBER 10, 2008

Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music awarded James Irvine Foundation Grant

Third Phase of Irvine Foundation’s Arts Regional Initiative Continues Commitment to Leading Regional Arts Institutions

Contacts:
Ray Delgado
Communications Manager, The James Irvine Foundation
415.777.2244 or 415.290.1143 (cell)
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Ellen Primack
Executive Director, Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music
831.426.6966
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SANTA CRUZ, CA — On October 8, The James Irvine Foundation awarded $3.8 million in grants to 14 arts institutions along California’s Central Coast that are committed to broadening and diversifying their audiences and strengthening their financial sustainability. As part of the Arts Regional Initiative, the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music has been selected for a grant of $225,000, disbursed over a 3-year period.

Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music plans to use this grant for the development of its digital and Internet capabilities, for fundraising outreach to communities beyond Santa Cruz County, for staff development, and to continue its role in commissioning new works. “We’re thrilled with the incentive this award gives to so many important initiatives, and the vote of confidence in the leadership role the Festival is beginning to have in our industry,” said Ellen Primack, Executive Director of the Cabrillo Festival. “It challenges us to not only secure the Festival’s long-term organizational health, but to make significant advances in the field of modern symphonic music during the grant period.”

“We are excited to support these institutions because they are producing high-quality arts programming and are ready to continue deepening and diversifying their audience base as the Central Coast becomes increasingly diverse,” noted James E. Canales, the Irvine Foundation’s President and CEO.

The organizations represent a mix of artistic disciplines, including music, dance, opera, literary arts, theater, visual arts and multidisciplinary arts. The grants will be awarded over three years and grantees will share resources, best practices and lessons learned. Grantees will also develop common goals focused on leadership development, operations, marketing, fundraising, technology and audience development.

The first phase of the Arts Regional Initiative in 2006 focused on organizations in the Inland Empire and Orange and San Diego counties. The second phase in 2007 focused on organizations in the Central Valley.

The James Irvine Foundation is a private, nonprofit grant-making foundation dedicated to expanding opportunity for the people of California to participate in a vibrant, successful and inclusive society. The Foundation’s grant-making is organized around three program areas: Arts, Youth and California Perspectives, which focuses on improving decision making on significant state issues. Since 1937 the Foundation has provided over $1 billion in grants to more than 3,000 nonprofit organizations throughout California. With current assets of over $1.8 billion, the Foundation expects to make grants of $81 million in 2008 for the people of California.