Cabrillo Features- Rouse and Daugherty
(August 2008)
The Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music in Santa Cruz has garnered a well-earned reputation for championing new music. Encouraging a connection between composers and audience, music director/conductor Marin Alsop described Cabrillo as, “all about being alive”, (referencing their commitment to living composers). Among several world premieres Cabrillo presented Christopher Rouse’s Concerto for Orchestra on August 1. Specially commissioned for the festival and dedicated to its administrative leaders Ellen Primack and Tom Fredericks, Concerto consists of five short sections in varying tempi followed by two larger sections that expand upon previously stated material. Rouse admits the work may be as great a challenge for the orchestra to perform as it was for him to compose – it took him nearly 17 months to complete! When speaking about Concerto, Rouse attests that it “really puts the musicians to the test” as it offers every musician a chance to play “in the spot light.”The Mercury News reports: "It's about color and motion, a million things happening in fast succession, each flaring event crafted with a classicist's sense of proportion.... a great centerpiece for the opening night of the two-week festival in Santa Cruz."
Music Director/Conductor Marin Alsop says "It's a major piece to be added to the festival that I'll be doing all over the world."
The San Francisco Chronicle reports: "It's a boisterous, exhilarating concoction, in which fiercely patterned rhythmic explosions alternate with lyrical interludes headed by the strings..."
Cabrillo marks the start of a year-long celebration of Rouse’s 60th birthday which will unfold with global performances of his works including the world premiere of his Oboe Concerto by the Minnesota Orchestra on February 5.
In addition to Rouse, the Cabrillo Festival also dedicated a significant amount of time to returning favorite Michael Daugherty. At the festival, the composer flexed his chops during a special concert with a trio of local jazz musicians. Cabrillo also featured Daugherty’s TROYJAM, a work for young audiences. Recently premiered by the National Symphony Orchestra in May, Daugherty joined forces with acclaimed poet-classicist Anne Carson to provide a work that showcased the orchestra and uniquely retold the classic Greek drama – Homer's The Iliad.
> Further information on Work: TROYJAM
> Further information on Work: Concerto for Orchestra
Photo: (Top) Christian Steiner (Bottom) Grant Leighton
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