Music Director Cristian Măcelaru launches 2021 Cabrillo Festival

Cristian Măcelaru with guest presenter Charlotte Lee hosting the opening session of the Conductors/Composers Workshop

On July 24th, the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music launched their 2021 Virtual Season. The program features Music Director Cristian Măcelaru leading sessions with guest speakers including artist manager Charlotte Lee, conductor Gemma New, and composer Sean Shepherd. Cabrillo Festival seeks to push the edges of what’s possible within the orchestral art form—keeping artists engaged in the creation of new music and exploring new modalities—across the miles and in these extraordinary times. With world premieres by eight renowned and emerging composers, the Festival’s 2021 Virtual Season features offerings of dance, photography, video and animation. Guest artists include St. Lawrence String Quartet, mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke, violinist Benjamin Beilman, photographer Camille Seaman, animation artist David Murakami, choreographer Molly Katzman, Santa Cruz County Youth Symphony, The Fourtes Quartet, and the award-winning Cabrillo Festival Orchestra led by Cristian Măcelaru.

The workshop is an educational enrichment program presented from July 24-27. Ten Fellows and ten Associates have been selected to participate, all of whom will receive video review critiques from Cristian Măcelaru; additionally, Fellows will receive a private online session with the Maestro. Cabrillo Festival seized the opportunity of the online format to engage leaders in the field from across the globe to participate in Q&A sessions with our students. Twenty conductors and three selected composers will become an online cohort, attending a series of sessions each day with the field’s most prominent conductors, composers, and professionals.

Upcoming events for the the festival are as follows:

Educational Program (TBA) – Saturday, July 31 at 2pm EST

Panel discussion/educational program related to the climate crisis and California wildfires.

Gabriela Lena Frank Contested Eden – Saturday, July 31 at 10pm EST

Composer Gabriela Lena Frank’s new 10-minute work addresses the 2020 California wildfires and will be presented in two versions: one for virtual chamber ensemble and full orchestra, featuring members of the Cabrillo Festival Orchestra (recorded remotely); and another presented as a dance video choreographed by Santa Cruz-based choreographer/dancer Molly Katzman and filmed by Swan Dive Media. The dance will be filmed in natural environments devastated by the CZU Lightning Complex wildfires. 

Live Post-Concert Artists Talk & Q&A, moderated by Cristian Măcelaru: with composer Gabriela Lena Frank, Svet Stoyanov, and Molly Katzman.

Santa Cruz County Youth Symphony – Sunday, August 1 at 2pm EST

Cabrillo Festival presents the Santa Cruz County Youth Symphony in two world premiere commissions: a work for remotely recorded youth orchestra by composer Danny Clay, and a chamber work by Eli Gilbert for Fourtés Violin Quartet, an ensemble of the SCCYS Chamber Music Academy.

In The Works Concert – Sunday, August 1 at 10pm EST

In the Works is a concert of six solo works and three duets written for members of the Cabrillo Festival Orchestra by three emerging composers from the Cabrillo Festival Composers Workshop—Theo Chandler, Meng Wang, Jeremy Rapaport-Stein.

Live Post-Concert Artists Talk & Q&A, moderated by Cristian Măcelaru: with composers Theo Chandler, Meng Wang, and Jeremy Rapaport-Stein.

Educational Program – Saturday, August 7 at 2pm EST

Composer Jake Heggie moderates a discussion with librettist Gene Scheer, author James Grymes, and mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke, on the creation of INTONATIONS: Songs from the Violins of Hope; violinist Cookie Segelstein introduces the program with a brief presentation on the history of Jewish musical life.

Jake Heggie, INTONATIONS: Songs from the Violins of Hope – Saturday, August 7 at 10pm EST

Composer Jake Heggie and librettist Gene Scheer’s INTONATIONS: Songs from the Violins of Hope is the culmination of an extensive SF Bay Area collaboration begun in 2020 to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. “The Violins of Hope” are a collection of violins of the Holocaust, many used in the concentration camps, which have been meticulously restored by Israeli luthiers Amnon and Avshalom Weinstein. Inspired by James Grymes’ book “Violins of Hope,” INTONATIONS tells the extraordinary tales of six of these storied instruments. Directed by Elena Park with cinematography by Frazer Bradshaw, this artfully produced video will feature mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke, violinist Benjamin Beilman, and the St. Lawrence String Quartet, performing the full chamber ensemble version of the work. The 45-minute performance will interweave portions of the Festival-commissioned orchestral version of the music, recorded remotely by the Cabrillo Festival Orchestra.

Live Post-Concert Artists Talk & Q&A, moderated by Cristian Măcelaru: with Jake Heggie, Gene Scheer, Sasha Cooke, and Benjamin Beilman.

Educational Program  – Sunday, August 8 at 2pm EST

National Geographic photographer Camille Seaman interviewed about her work as witness to the melting glaciers and impacts of the climate crisis.

Sean Shepherd, Melt and Sprout – Sunday, August 8 at 10pm EST

In 2018, Cabrillo Festival co-commissioned and premiered Melt, Primo Artists client Sean Shepherd’s critically acclaimed 14-minute musical lament on climate change and the disappearance of the world’s glaciers. Now set with images and video by renowned National Geographic photographer Camille Seaman, the orchestra’s archival recording of Melt will be paired with the world premiere of a newly commissioned 5-minute sequel by Shepherd. The new work, Sprout, is a hopeful reflection on the resilience of the forest after a wildfire, presented in two versions: one for virtual orchestra, and a second version brought to life by animation artist David Murakami.

Live Post-Concert Artists Talk & Q&A, moderated by Cristian Măcelaru: with Sean Shepherd, Camille Seaman, and David Murakami.

WORLD PREMIERE FESTIVAL COMMISSIONS

Gabriela Lena Frank: Contested Eden (co-commissioned with La Jolla Music Society SummerFest)

10-12 minute work in two parts;

Part 1 for chamber ensemble, Part 2 for full orchestra, recorded remotely.

Jake Heggie: Intonations: Songs from the Violins of Hope (orchestral version), 45-minute work

featuring Sasha Cooke, mezzo-soprano; Benjamin Beilman, violin;

St. Lawrence String Quartet; and the remotely recorded Cabrillo Festival Orchestra.

Sean Shepherd: Sprout

4-5 minute work for full orchestra, recorded remotely.

FEATURED COMPOSERS:

Theo Chandler

Danny Clay

Gabriela Lena Frank

Eli Gilbert

Jake Heggie

Jeremy Rapaport-Stein

Sean Shepherd

Meng Wang

GUEST ARTISTS:

Benjamin Beilman, violin

Sasha Cooke, mezzo-soprano

Fourtés Violin Quartet

St. Lawrence String Quartet

Santa Cruz County Youth Symphony

Frazer Bradshaw, cinematographer

Molly Katzman, choreographer

David Murakami, animation artist

Elena Park, director/producer

Camille Seaman, photographer

Swan Dive Media, videography

How to Access Programs:

All events will be streamed directly on the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music’s website. Following each premiere, programs will be accessible via on-demand streaming on the Festival’s website and on their YouTube channel. While most programs are free, paid subscriptions are encouraged to access additional content. Subscriptions will be available via the Festival’s website starting May 1. Donations are welcomed at any time.

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