Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music
| Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Orchestra, new music |
| Dates | late July–August |
| Location(s) | Santa Cruz, California, USA |
| Years active | Annual since 1963 |
| Founded by | Lou Harrison |
| Website | |
| www.cabrillomusic.org | |
The Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music is an annual Festival dedicated to contemporary symphonic music by living composers. The music director since 1992 has been noted conductor Marin Alsop. According to Jesse Rosen, CEO of the League of American Orchestras, the Festival is "distinctive for being focused entirely on contemporary works." Each year, a tenured orchestra gathers in Santa Cruz, California to rehearse five programs of contemporary music, often world, US, or West Coast premieres. Most of the composers whose work is performed each season come to the Festival to be in residence and participate in the rehearsals and performances of their work, as well as to participate in public panel discussions, lectures, and concert introductions. The Festival also presents guest artists and ensembles known for contemporary music performance, such as Kronos Quartet or eighth blackbird.
The Festival was founded in 1963 by the composer Lou Harrison and collaborators from the Santa Cruz-area music community, on the campus of the newly opened Cabrillo College just outside Santa Cruz in Aptos, California. The first music director was Gerhard Samuel. The Festival quickly grew to prominence, thanks in part to Harrison's stature and the participation of well-known composers such as John Cage and Aaron Copland. Subsequent music directors included Mexican composer Carlos Chávez, conductor Dennis Russell Davies, and American composer John Adams. By the late 1970s, the Festival had established itself as an independent organization unaffiliated with Cabrillo College. After the devastating Loma Prieta earthquake caused major damage around Santa Cruz in 1989, the Festival established itself in downtown Santa Cruz, and the majority of the Festival's performances since 1989 have taken place at Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium or at Mission San Juan Bautista in San Juan Bautista, California.
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