Notes from a Journey: Orchestra Concert

The second weekend of the Cabrillo Festival takes us on a far-flung excursion to new musical places and spaces—through the imaginings of some familiar composers and some new. M?celaru leads the Festival Orchestra in the US premiere of Liguria by Swedish composer Andrea Tarrodi, whose vivid, ten-minute tone poem was inspired by her visit to five idyllic fishing villages in northwest Italy. Her music calls forth images of sunny landscapes, rugged cliffs, and clear nights basking in starlight. Preeminent American composer John Corigliano’s scores have won him five Grammy Awards, the Pulitzer Prize, the Grawemeyer Award for Music Composition, and an Oscar. Tonight the Festival celebrates his 80th birthday by honoring his special request—to present his Concerto for Piano and Orchestra on the occasion of its 50th anniversary. The featured soloist will be Philip Edward Fisher, a foremost proponent of this powerful, virtuosic and theatrical work, presented in four sharply contrasted movements. Receiving its West Coast premiere is the newest work by Sean Shepherd, co-commissioned by the Cabrillo Festival and the Grand Teton Music Festival. Shepherd’s piece was inspired by the spectacular natural settings of his two commissioning festivals, and further kindled by the visionary writings of environmental philosopher John Muir. Next up is the world premiere of Hypercolor, a Festival-commissioned work by Fulbright scholar Peter Shin, whose music explores matters of national identity, social belonging, and contemporary issues through his Korean-American lens. This commission is part of an ongoing series in partnership with composer John Adams and his wife, the noted landscape photographer Deborah O’Grady, and sponsored by the Pacific Harmony Foundation. The concert closes with Anna Clyne’s Abstractions, a suite of five movements, each inspired by a piece of contemporary artwork from five prominent visual artists: Sara VanDerBeek, Julie Mehretu, Hiroshi Sugimoto, Ellsworth Kelly, and Brice Marden. Of writing this work the London-born composer of acoustic and electro-acoustic music says, “In drawing inspiration from these artworks, I have tried to capture the feelings or imagery that they evoke, the concept of the work, or the process adopted by the artists.”

MEETUP! The concert is followed by an outdoor dessert reception for the entire audience and orchestra!