2026 Program Guide | Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music

PEDRO EMANUEL PEREIRA SPONSORED BY RUSS IRWIN AND MARY DAWSON “Based on the innovative approaches of his fascinating piano technique, Pedro Emanuel Pereira has already established himself as an accomplished composer,” combining “emotional subtlety with great temperament,” and “a profound vision of the essence of the music he performs.” (António Victorino d’Almeida, Vera Gornostaeva, and Naum Grubert) Graduatingwithdistinction fromtheConservatories ofMoscowand Amsterdam, Pedro Emanuel Pereira has won several international piano competitions. Among his past and future composition projects, highlights include a commissioned clarinet concerto to be premiered at the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music in the United States, conducted by Cristian Măcelaru with Carlos Ferreira as clarinet soloist; the composition of a Requiem in memory of Francisco Sá Carneiro; and the premiere of the work Passarola for piano, electronics, and sacred geometry, attended by the King of Spain, the President of the Portuguese Republic, and the President of the Italian Republic. As a soloist, notable appearances include recitals in Barcelona, New York, and Amsterdam, as well as performances with the Yerevan Opera Orchestra, the Casa da Música Orchestra of Porto, and the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra. Together with clarinetist Carlos Ferreira, a 2024 Rising Star artist, Pereira will tour major European concert halls, including the Barbican Centre in London, the Philharmonie de Paris, the Elbphilharmonie and Laeiszhalle in Hamburg, the Palau de la Música Catalana in Barcelona, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, and the Musikverein in Vienna, among others. Pereira’s discography includes three released albums. In 2024, the artist released his next album, featuring music by Bach, Hindemith, Almeida, and his own compositions. In addition to his work as a concert pianist and composer, Pereira conducts academic research at the University of Aveiro within the doctoral program in Artistic Creation. He is also active in music production and is one of the founding members of Percos Music. SEAN SHEPHERD SPONSORED BY TOM ELLISON & LARRY FRIEDMAN, G SCHULZ, AND PATRICK TEVERBAUGH Sean Shepherd has earned wide acclaim for his “fantastic gift for orchestral color” (New York Times) , and commissions from major ensembles and performers across the U.S. and Europe. His music has been commissioned and performed by the BBC, Boston, Chicago, Gewandhaus, Minnesota, Montréal, National, New World symphony orchestras, radio orchestras in Austria, France, and Germany, and by leading European ensembles including Ensemble intercontemporain, the Scharoun Ensemble Berlin, the Asko|Schönberg Ensemble and the Birmingham Contemporary Music Group. Conductors who champion Shepherd’s work include Christoph Eschenbach, Alan Gilbert, Cristian Măcelaru, Susanna Mälkki, Donald Runnicles, and Franz Welser-Möst. His works have been performed at festivals in Aldeburgh, Heidelberg, La Jolla, Lucerne, Santa Fe, Aspen, the Grand Tetons, and Tanglewood. In2025, FabioLuisi and theDallasSymphonypremiered Quadruple Concerto , commissioned for the orchestra’s principal wind players. 2023 saw the world premiere of On a Clear Day , a large-scale work for conductor Kent Nagano, cellist Jan Vogler, the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra, and a choir of young singers from around the world. The piece, setting poetry by Ulla Hahn, was premiered at Carnegie Hall, followed by performances at the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg and the Dresden Music Festival, and a Deutsche Grammophon release in 2025. Shepherd’s orchestral work Express Abstractionism , led by Andris Nelsons, can be heard on a 2019 Naxos release of Boston Symphony commissions. Shepherd was the 2024 recipient of the $200,000 Charles Ives Living Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. After serving as the Daniel R. Lewis Composer Fellow at the Cleveland Orchestra and composer-in-residence of the Reno Philharmonic, his hometown orchestra, Shepherd was named the New York Philharmonic’s inaugural Kravis Emerging Composer in 2012. After composing Magiya for the National Youth Orchestra of United States of America’s inaugural season and tour, he developed the NYO-USA’s Composer Apprentice program with Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute, which he continues to direct. He lives in New York with his husband and two children, and his music is published by Boosey and Hawkes. EUNIKE TANZIL SPONSORED BY PHYLLIS ROSENBLUM & PETER PORISS AND ALAN RITCH Eunike Tanzil is an Indonesian composer and dedicated advocate for bringing classical and orchestral music to a wider audience, skillfully blending genres and crafting emotionally resonant works, with a diverse musical portfolio that reflects this mission. This commitment is demonstrated in her collaborations with a wide range of artists including GRAMMY® Award-winning artist Laufey, Sophie Kauer, Ray Chen, Anna Lapwood, TwoSet Violin, and Arturo Sandoval, showcasing her versatility as a composer, producer, and orchestrator. In 2024, Tanzil collaborated with Laufey on the song Only Mine as part of Turn the Dial, a global campaign by Bose and Porsche, which has gained over 2.8 million views on YouTube. In 2025, Tanzil released her debut album The First of Everything with Deutsche Grammophon, recorded live with the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, as well as premiered her orchestral work Ode to the City of Dreams with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl. Tanzil’s music has been performed by notable orchestras such as the Boston Symphony Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Louisville Orchestra, Jakarta Simfonia Orchestra, Royal Bangkok Symphony Orchestra, Nashville Symphony, and the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center. Tanzil has contributed to various supportive music roles across film and television, collaborating with leading studios such as DreamWorks Animation and Netflix. Her work has supported projects including The Addams Family 2, I Wanna Dance with Somebody, Abominable and the Invisible City , and Chicago Party CABRILLO FESTIVAL OF CONTEMPORARY MUSIC 2026 20