2025 Program Guide | Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music

20 CABRILLO FESTIVAL OF CONTEMPORARY MUSIC 2025 FEATURED COMPOSERS Three-time GRAMMY nominee Missy Mazzoli was recently deemed “one of the more consistently inventive, surprising composers now working in New York” ( New York Times ), “a once-in-a-generation magician of the orchestra” ( The New Yorker ) and “Brooklyn’s post- millennial Mozart” ( Time Out NY ). Her music has been performed by the Kronos Quartet, LA Opera, eighth blackbird, the BBC Symphony, the Minnesota Orchestra, Scottish Opera and many others. In 2023, she was nominated for two GRAMMY Awards, in the categories of “Best Classical Composition” and “Best Classical Compendium.” In 2018, she became, along with Jeanine Tesori, one of the first women to receive a main stage commission from the Metropolitan Opera, and was nominated for her first GRAMMY award in the category of “Best Classical Composition.” From 2018-2021, she was Mead Composer-in-Residence at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and from 2012-2015 was Composer-in-Residence with Opera Philadelphia. Mazzoli has been praised for her many operatic compositions; her latest opera,  Lincoln in the Bardo , an adaptation of the novel by George Saunders, will premiere at the Metropolitan Opera in 2026, and her opera  The Listeners  will be performed at Opera Philadelphia, the Essen Opera in Germany, and Lyric Opera of Chicago in the 24/25 season. Her 2016 opera Breaking the Waves , commissioned by Opera Philadelphia and Beth Morrison Projects, was called “one of the best 21st-century American operas yet” by Opera News. Breaking the Waves received its European premiere at the 2019 Edinburgh Festival; future performances are planned at Detroit Opera, Opera Australia, and Houston Grand Opera. Mazzoli was named 2022 “Composer of the Year” by Musical America, and in 2024 received the prestigious Kravis Prize for Composition from the New York Philharmonic. In 2016, Missy and composer Ellen Reid founded Luna Composition Lab, a mentorship program for young female, non-binary, and gender nonconforming composers. Mazzoli teaches composition at Bard College and her works are published by G. Schirmer. Rene Orth —“a master composer” with a “sophisticated sound world” ( Classical Voice North America )—writes music described as “always dramatic, reflective, rarely predictable, and often electronic” ( Musical America ). She recently completed a three-year tenure as Composer-In-Residence at Opera Philadelphia. Upcoming premieres for the 2025-26 season consist of a solo cello piece for Sarah Rommel, a violin and bass clarinet piece for Yvonne Lam and Mingzhe Wang, and an eight minute scene as part of a larger commissioned work for Opera Philadelphia’s 50th anniversary celebration. Recently, Opera Philadelphia presented the “triumphant world premiere” ( Wall Street Journal ) of  10 Days in a Madhouse , co- commissioned by Opera Philadelphia and Tapestry Opera, which subsequently won the 2024 MCANA Best New Opera Award and was a finalist in the 2024 International Opera Awards for “Best World Premiere.”   The New York Times writes, “opera needs works like “10 Days,” which treats the mediumwith affection and respect while also chafing at its tropes throughout history.” With a libretto by Hannah Moscovitch, this psychological drama follows the trailblazing reporter Nellie Bly through her internment at Blackwell’s Asylum, exposing, as Bly did historically, notions of madness and societal biases against women. The opera, conducted by Daniela Candillari, starred Kiera Duffy, Raehann Bryce-Davis, and Will Liverman. Other recent premieres include a Vocal Arts DC song cycle, At First, Now, Always , for mezzo-soprano Daniela Mack; “A Prayer,” a duet for mezzo-soprano J’nai Bridges and baritone Will Liverman’s GRAMMY- nominated album,  Show Me the Way ; an electronic dance piece “I Praise the Dance” for mezzo-soprano Raehann Bryce-Davis’ debut album,  Stand the Storm ; and a chamber opera,  Love, Loss, and the Century Upon Us , with librettist Jerre Dye and The Chautauqua Institution as part of a larger work called A Summer Place . Distinctions include grants and awards from OPERA America, American Composers Forum, Kentucky Foundation for Women, and the National Association of Teachers of Singing. RENE ORTH MISSY MAZZOLI SPONSORED BY MICHAEL GOOD & JOANN CLOSE SPONSORED BY AVIVA GARRETT, DAVID DOSHAY & SAGE DOSHAY ☆ ☆ ☆ COMPOSER-IN-RESIDENCE