2025 Program Guide | Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music

SAT AUG 9 3:30PM SANTA CRUZ CIVIC AUDITORIUM YOUTH ENSEMBLE CONCERT with Festival Orchestra members, artists, and technical staff; dialogues with composers-in-residence; participation in the Youth Ensemble as composers and performers; and the chance to attend various social gatherings and connect with other young people who share their curiosity and passion for new music. It’s quite a full plate for two weeks in any young musician’s life. The Youth Ensemble Program is free and open to non-musicians and musicians alike. The rewards of participation are many, and we are excited by the prospect of positively affecting the quality of a young person’s individual growth and development. When attending a concert, please feel free to ask our Youth Ensemble ushers about their experiences as members of the program. If you know someone who might be interested in joining, recruitment begins each New Year, and is open to all interested participants age 16– 24. Email studentstaff@cabrillomusic.org or call 831.426.6966 for more information. The Youth Ensemble invites you to enjoy a free concert of original works performed and produced entirely by these talented young musicians, ages 16–24. Come witness their boundless creativity, and hear the future of new music, now! The Youth Ensemble program's aim has always been to support the music education and performance avenues for young people of the region. Now in its 30th year, the Festival’s Youth Ensemble Program encourages its participants (ages 16– 24) to interact directly with Cabrillo Festival Orchestra members, Festival staff, and Octavio Más-Arocas. Members of the Youth Ensemble are provided the rare opportunity to engage musicians, composers, and conductors in topics of contemporary music- making, and to understand what it means to build a life through music. The program nourishes participants in areas no less profound than technical and leadership skill development, and the chance to program, present, promote, and perform their own Youth Ensemble concert with professional staging, lighting, and recording. In addition to having free access to Cabrillo Festival performances as ushers, the program provides a fertile ground for the participants’ musical interests in other ways: master classes Luciana Dodson Benjamin Goodwin Finlay Graham Zoë Huet 2025 YOUTH ENSEMBLE Logan Manildi Jack Roche Justin Saeler Jacob Stone BENJAMIN GOODWIN, Youth Ensemble Co-Director Benjamin Goodwin just finished his first year at Oberlin Conservatory, majoring in composition. He wrote a piece for the Santa Cruz County Youth Symphony, where he played as concertmaster until graduating last year. He has played in various other orchestras including the Central Coast Honors Orchestra and California Orchestra Academy, and in several chamber ensembles including a string quartet. When at home, he is a regular usher for the Santa Cruz Symphony, who will premiere his orchestral work Voices in November. This year will be his fourth year in the Youth Ensemble Program, and he is excited to return for his third year as a Co-Director. ZOË HUET, Youth Ensemble Co-Director Zoë Huet joined the Cabrillo Festival as the Youth Ensemble co-director in 2022 and is excited to return for her third year as a Co-Director. Zoë started playing music through the El Sistema program in elementary school and has since participated in various musical ensembles as a flutist, including the Santa Cruz County Youth Symphony since 2020, and Middle/ High School Honor Bands since 2018. This year she enjoyed her first year at Smith College and is excited to return for her second year in the fall. When not playing music, Zoë enjoys spending time with friends, sewing, tinkering, reading, and playing with her cats. This performance is made possible through the generous support of concert sponsors: MICHAEL GOODE & JOANNE CLOSE