Press Info

April 14, 2008 Media Contact: Ellen Primack, Executive Director
(831) 426-6966 This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

For interviews:
If you wish to interview a composer, guest artist or Music Director Marin Alsop in support of your article, please contact us immediately at (831) 426-6966 to make arrangements. We will be happy to assist.

For photo images:
For photos to accompany an April 14th or later publication date, please contact us directly at
(831) 426-6966.

For a quick scan of the season:
Please see SEASON HIGHLIGHTS at the end of this Press Release for lists of composers, guest artists and a condensed concert schedule.

Cabrillo Festival Maestra Marin Alsop (Music Director of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra) returns for her 17th season to conduct the Cabrillo Festival Orchestra, which has quickly become the ‘orchestra of choice' for composers to premiere their newest works. 2008 includes five World Premieres including a Festival commission, three United States Premieres, and five West Coast Premieres. There will be twelve composers-in-residence including: Academy Award-winner John Corigliano, Pulitzer Prize-winner Christopher Rouse, Mason Bates, Alla Borzova, Dorothy Chang, Chiayu, Matthew Cmiel, Michael Daugherty, Avner Dorman, Eric Lindsay, Stephen McNeff, and David Sanford. A stunning roster of soloists will appear, including the return of Grammy Award-winning percussionist Dame Evelyn Glennie, cellist Matt Haimovitz, and clarinetist Bharat Chandra. The Festival's reputation as the center of modern symphonic music in our nation continues to grow, as its dedication to new music for orchestra and a new experience for audiences propels it forward.

Opening Night Concert: FIRST NIGHT
Friday, August 1, 8:00pm Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium

Stephen McNeff: Sinfonia (U.S. Premiere)
Eric Lindsay: Darkness Made Visible (World Premiere)
David W. Sanford: Scherzo Grosso (Matt Haimovitz, cello)
Christopher Rouse: Concerto for Orchestra (World Premiere/Cabrillo Festival Commission)

This very First Night is itself full of firsts. Composer Stephen McNeff of Great Britain will join audiences for the U.S. Premiere of Sinfonia, a fast-paced concert opener commissioned and premiered by the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, under the baton of Marin Alsop. Twenty-eight year old composer Eric Lindsay hails from a bit closer to home—born in Santa Cruz and raised on Whidbey Island, Washington—his music is described by Other Minds' Artistic Director Charles Amirkhanian as "lush, evocative, with unusual lines...completely inventive." Tonight Lindsay attends the World Premiere performance of his newly revised Darkness Made Visible, a work described as a collision of two opposing musical forces: one angular, aggressive and disjointed; the other conservative and harkening back to a "Lisztian bravura." Renowned cellist Matt Haimovitz has become a legend in the music world for pushing beyond conventions—be it performances in surprising venues or collaborations with unexpected partners around unpredicted genres. Tonight he makes his Festival debut with composer David Sanford's Scherzo Grosso—a "classical-funk-jazz-bebop-hip-hopping" work originally composed for cello and big band, then rescored for full orchestra. The evening ends with a Festival milestone: the World Premiere performance of the third in a series of recent Festival commissions. Pulitzer-prize winner Christopher Rouse is among the most respected composers of his generation, and among Marin Alsop's favorites. His Concerto for Orchestra was commissioned by a group of Cabrillo Festival patrons in dedication to the Festival's longtime staff members. Four composers in the house, a Festival commission, World and U.S. Premieres, and a stellar soloist make this a First Night to remember! (The 2008 opening night begins with an outdoor Pre-Concert Talk by Marin Alsop and a special ticketed dinner prepared by Feast for a King and served alfresco at the Civic Auditorium. Reservations required.)


Concert: TRIPLE PLAY
Saturday, August 2, 8:00pm Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium

Dorothy Chang: Strange Air (World Premiere/Women's Philharmonic Commissioning Initiative)
Mason Bates: Liquid Interface (Mason Bates, electronica) (West Coast Premiere)
John Corigliano: Conjurer (Evelyn Glennie, percussion) (West Coast Premiere)

Three remarkable composers join tonight's audience for three new works, each promising to hit it out of the park! The program opens with the World Premiere of composer Dorothy Chang's Strange Air, the first commission of the Women's Philharmonic Commissioning Initiative (supported in part by Festival patron Russell Irwin) and representing a new Festival partnership with Meet the Composer. Mason Bates' Festival debut last season created a "buzz," literally and figuratively, when he performed his Rusty Air in Carolina. He returns to once again perform on electronica with the Festival orchestra in a work titled Liquid Interface. Bates became consumed with the idea of water as the influence of a musical endeavor when he experienced living on Berlin's enormous Lake Wannsee. "Over the course of barely two months, I watched this huge body of water transform from an ice sheet thick enough to support sausage vendors, to a refreshing swimming destination heavy with humidity." Liquid Interface begins with glaciers and moves through all the forms of water, inhabiting an increasingly hotter world in each of its four progressive movements. The work is dedicated by Bates to his mentor and friend, John Corigliano. So how appropo that Academy, Grammy, and Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Corigliano should join us for Bates' West Coast Premiere, as well as the West Coast Premiere of his own Conjurer, a percussion concerto featuring soloist Dame Evelyn Glennie. A work for string orchestra and percussionist, Corigliano's Conjurer is in three movements, each restricted to a particular type of percussion: wood, metal, and skin. The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review said of the Pittsburgh Symphony's premiere, "[Conjurer] proved to be a brilliant compositional achievement, one blessed by the full dimension performance by soloist Dame Evelyn Glennie, conductor Marin Alsop and the orchestra." Few soloists have evoked as effusive a response by Festival audiences as Glennie, and tonight marks her third visit. (A Talkback Session with Marin Alsop, guest artists, and composers follows the concert.)

Concert: FREE FAMILY CONCERT
Sunday, August 3, 1:00pm Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium (Free)

Jennifer Higdon: Machine (Conducted by Carolyn Kuan, Cabrillo Festival Assistant Conductor & Seattle Symphony Associate Conductor)
Michael Daugherty: Troyjam (narrator, TBA)
(West Coast Premiere)

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. Kids start with an up-close-and-personal chance to meet the orchestra players, then return to the theatre for a grand concert experience with Maestra Marin Alsop and the full Cabrillo Festival Orchestra. This year the Festival Orchestra presents the West Coast Premiere of Michael Daugherty's Troyjam, a work commissioned by the National Symphony with a text by Anne Carlson retelling Homer's epic tale The Iliad. Kids will be transported to Ancient Greece when the orchestra recreates the battle between brave warrior Achillles and his arch-nemesis Hektor during the Trojan War. It's a must-see family experience! (Concert begins with the popular petting zoo-style Tour of the Orchestra.)


Special Event: RECITAL by CELLIST MATT HAIMOVITZ, with guest DJ MASONIC
Sunday, August 3, 8:00pm Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium

"Classically trained but keenly attuned to the possibilities of electronica, composer Mason Bates is making waves in both the club scene and the orchestra world," states Symphony magazine. And according to the Boston Herald, "Matt Haimovitz may be the coolest cellist of our time." And so tonight, two mavericks will come together with a common conception about how a classical recital can be quite an uncommon experience. Haimovitz will present a solo cello recital including works by Ned Rorem, Osvaldo Golijov, David Sanford, and Gilles Tremblay; while Mason Bates (a.k.a. DJ Masonica) will create an electronica soundscape between pieces. Introduced during this Cabrillo Festival experience, two brilliant talents—Haimovitz and Bates—will come together for the very first time for an evening that promises to surprise and delight our musical senses.

Special Event: MICHAEL DAUGHERTY@KUUMBWA: MEMOIRS FROM A LOUNGE LIZARD
Monday, August 4, 7:00pm Kuumbwa Jazz Center

Michael Daugherty joins special guest artists (TBA) for a jazz set audiences aren't likely to forget. Last year's Behind the Notes event showed Festival audiences Michael Daugherty's spectacular talent as a jazz pianist and entertainer. Exuberant audiences left quoting his clever banter and praising his colorful and fluid playing. Doors open at 6:00 pm for dinner at Kuumbwa, and the musical fun begins at 7:00 pm, when Daugherty is joined on stage by two local performers. (Co-Sponsored by the Kuumbwa Jazz Center)


Fundraiser: MUSIC IN THE MOUNTAINS @ NESTLDOWN
Thursday, August 7, 6:30pm Nestldown-Los Gatos
(Please do NOT publish street address.)

Chamber music concert featuring Concertmaster Yumi Hwang-Williams, special guest composer/guitarist Matthew Cmiel, and members of the Festival Orchestra, in a program TBA.

New music in a new location. This season Festival-goers will celebrate its beloved Music in the Mountains benefit event in a setting unlike any other. Nestled in the redwoods on acres of lushly landscaped property, Nestldown is an exquisite private retreat located in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Perfect pairings of food and wine by premiere restaurateurs and vintners will be offered on verdant lawns amidst lush gardens beside the koi pond. Guests are invited to explore the picturesque setting, replete with gorgeous views, waterfalls, a redwood Chapel, foxglove meadow, and a Fantasy Garden and Cottage. There's a stunning surprise around every corner, including an antique train surrounding the fruit tree orchards that will offer rides to our guests! Twelve luxury auction baskets featuring unique experiential packages will be included in the mix of pleasures. This is a five-star, enchanted experience that culminates with a chamber music concert in a cathedral-ceiling wood structure that adjoins the garden. Concertmaster Yumi Hwang Williams, special guest composer/guitarist Matthew Cmiel, and members of the Festival orchestra will regale guests with chamber works by our season's featured composers. (Tickets for this special benefit event are $125/pp. Attendance is limited and Full Subscribers will be given priority on a date-received basis.)


Concert: RIFFS AND REFRAINS
Saturday, August 9, 8:00pm Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium

Matthew Cmiel: Sneak in a Window (World Premiere)
Mark Anthony Turnage: Riffs and Refrains (Bharat Chandra, clarinet) (U.S. Premiere)
John Corigliano: The Mannheim Rocket
John Adams: Doctor Atomic Symphony (West Coast Premiere)

The definition of "thrilling": being 19 years old and having Marin Alsop conduct the Cabrillo Festival Orchestra in your newest work, presented on the same program as your mentor John Adams! And so goes the life of Matthew Cmiel, a Bay Area composer/performer who grew up coming to the Cabrillo Festival and was invited by Alsop to write an orchestral work to receive its World Premiere tonight. In titling this concert opener, Cmiel quotes Alsop's own sage advice to him, Sneak in a Window—a reference to seizing whatever openings you can to make your dreams come true. Next, the Festival's own principal clarinetist Bharat Chandra, praised for his "superb phrasing and creamy tone," takes center stage as soloist for the U.S. Premiere of Mark Anthony Turnage's Riffs and Refrains, a work said to "exploit the full range and color of the instrument." Then John Corigliano's The Mannheim Rocket takes us on an imaginary journey to the heavens and back atop an 18th century wedding-cake-rocket commandeered by the great Baron Von Munchausen. The concert closes with the West Coast Premiere of John Adams' new Doctor Atomic Symphony, a 25-minute, one-movement symphonic score adapted by the composer from his 2005 opera about the physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer and the Manhattan Project. This is a piece considered by some critics to be "a significant leap forward for Adams as a composer." The work includes passages from the overture, Oppenheimer's Baudelaire soliloquy, the electrical storm music, and the culminating "Countdown" music. And according to the New York Times "invites you to hear the elusive music-driving passages with pounding timpani, quizzically restrained lyrical flights, bursts of skittish fanfares-on its own terms, apart from its dramatic context."


Grand Finale Concerts:
MUSIC AT THE MISSION: TO THE NEW WORLD
Sunday, August 10, 4:00pm & 8:00pm Mission San Juan Bautista

Chiayu: Feng Nian Ji (Harvest Festival) (World Premiere)
Osvaldo Golijov: Last Round
Alla Borzova: To the New World (U.S. Premiere)
Avner Dorman: Variations Without a Theme (West Coast Premiere)

Four composers new to the Festival, each with voices rooted in cultures far from our own, will be honored in the storied setting of the Old Mission sanctuary on a program aptly titled To the New World. Born in Taiwan, composer Chiayu will join us first for the World Premiere of Feng Nian Ji (Harvest Festival), which she has written expressly for the Festival. Based on the traditional harvest festival of Taiwan's largest aboriginal tribe, her music follows the progression of this dramatic ceremonial occasion. Born in Belarus and now a U.S. citizen, Alla Borzova is well suited to articulate the immigrant experience. In To the New World, which receives its U.S. Premiere today, Borzova tells of an imaginary ship that brings immigrants of various nationalities to the shores of America—Irish, German, Italian, Jewish, African, Latin American and Chinese—during the waves of immigration that began in the mid-19th-century. The work reflects the ethnic musical styles brought by these immigrants to their new world. MacArthur Fellow and Grammy Award-winning composer Osvaldo Golijov grew up in an Eastern European Jewish household in Argentina, surrounded by classical chamber music, Jewish liturgical and klezmer music, and the new tango of Astor Piazzolla. Last Round for string orchestra was written in memory of Piazzolla after a stroke killed him in 1992 at the peak of his creativity. Golijov borrowed the title, Last Round, from a short story on boxing by Julio Cortázar, and used it as the metaphor for an imaginary chance for Piazzolla's spirit to fight one more time. With its white-hot passion and crisscrossed choreography of bows, Last Round is a sublimated tango dance. Avner Dorman has quickly risen to become one of Israel's most successful and renowned composers. His Variations Without a Theme is described as "sophisticated music that cleverly explores both Eastern and Western sonic worlds" and "calls to mind the bustle of an Arab bazaar." The composer joins audiences for its West Coast Premiere. Maestra Marin Alsop, the Cabrillo Festival Orchestra, Chiayu, Borzova, and Dorman bring the 2008 Festival season to a resounding close in the splendor of Mission San Juan Bautista.

Festival tickets range from $8-$44 ("Music in the Mountains" fundraiser is $125) with many events free and open to the public. As of April 14, the public may access information on the 2008 Festival website at www.cabrillomusic.org or call (831) 426-6966. Tickets may be ordered by mail beginning in mid-May through the Festival's Advance Ticket Order Form; and then via phone, walk-up, or on-line beginning June 16.

2008 Cabrillo Festival Season Highlights
July 27 through August 10
Maestra Marin Alsop conducts the award-winning Cabrillo Festival Orchestra in five World Premieres, three U.S. Premieres, and five West Coast Premieres!

Composers-in-Residence
Mason Bates
Alla Borzova
Dorothy Chang
Chiayu
Matthew Cmiel
John Corigliano
Michael Daugherty
Avner Dorman
Eric Lindsay
Stephen McNeff
David Sanford
Christopher Rouse

Guest Artists
Mason Bates, electronica
Bharat Chandra, clarinet
Dame Evelyn Glennie, percussion
Matt Haimovitz, cello
Carolyn Kuan, conductor (Free Family)

World Premieres
Christopher Rouse: Concerto for Orchestra (Festival Commission)
Eric Lindsay: Darkness Made Visible (rev. 2008)
Dorothy Chang: Strange Air (Women's Philharmonic Fund Commission)
Chiayu: Feng Nian Ji (Harvest Festival)
Matthew Cmiel: Sneak in a Window

U.S. Premieres
Stephen McNeff: Sinfonia
Mark Anthony Turnage: Riffs and Refrains (Bharat Chandra, clarinet)
Alla Borzova: To the New World

West Coast Premieres
John Corigliano: Conjurer (Evelyn Glennie, percussion)
Mason Bates: Liquid Interface (Mason Bates, electronica)
Michael Daugherty: Troyjam
John Adams: Doctor Atomic Symphony
Avner Dorman: Variations Without a Theme


CONCERT SCHEDULE

OPENING NIGHT:
FRIDAY, AUGUST 1: FIRST NIGHT
8:00pm, Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium
Stephen McNeff: Sinfonia (US Premiere)
Eric Lindsay: Darkness Made Visible (World Premiere)
David W. Sanford: Scherzo Grosso featuring Matt Haimovitz, cello
Christopher Rouse: Concerto for Orchestra (World Premiere)

SATURDAY, AUGUST 2: TRIPLE PLAY
8:00pm, Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium
Dorothy Chang: Strange Air (World Premiere)
Mason Bates: Darkness Made Visible (West Coast Premiere) featuring Mason Bates, electronica
John Corigliano: Conjurer (West Coast Premiere) featuring Dame Evelyn Glennie, percussion

SUNDAY, AUGUST 3: FREE FAMILY CONCERT
1:00pm, Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium
Jennifer Higdon: Machine (Conducted by Carolyn Kuan, Cabrillo Festival Assistant Conductor & Seattle Symphony Associate Conductor)
Michael Daugherty: Troyjam (narrator, TBA) (West Coast Premiere)

SUNDAY, AUGUST 3:
Special Event: RECITAL by CELLIST MATT HAIMOVITZ, and special guest appearance by COMPOSER/DJ MASON BATES
8:00pm Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium
Haimovitz performs a program of works by Golijov, Rorem, Sanford, and Tremblay.

MONDAY, AUGUST 4:
Special Event: MICHAEL DAUGHERTY @ KUUMBWA: MEMOIRS FROM A LOUNGE LIZARD
7:00pm Kuumbwa Jazz Center
Featuring Michael Daugherty, piano, and special guests TBA.

THURSDAY, AUGUST 7:
Fundraiser: MUSIC IN THE MOUNTAINS at NESTLDOWN
6:30pm Nestldown-Los Gatos (Please do NOT publish address)
Chamber music concert featuring Concertmaster Yumi Hwang-Williams, special guest composer/guitarist Matthew Cmiel, and members of the Festival Orchestra, in a program TBA.

SATURDAY, AUGUST 9: RIFFS AND REFRAINS
8:00pm Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium
Matthew Cmiel: Sneak in a Window (World Premiere)
Mark Anthony Turnage: Riffs and Refrains (Bharat Chandra, clarinet) (U.S. Premiere)
John Corigliano: The Mannheim Rocket
John Adams: Doctor Atomic Symphony (West Coast Premiere)

GRAND FINALE:
SUNDAY, AUGUST 10: MUSIC AT THE MISSION:TO THE NEW WORLD
4:00pm & 8:00pm Mission San Juan Bautista
Chiayu: Feng Nian Ji (Harvest Festival) (World Premiere)
Osvaldo Golijov: Last Round
Alla Borzova: To the New World (U.S. Premiere)
Avner Dorman: Variations Without a Theme (West Coast Premiere)

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