2026 Program Guide | Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music

24 CABRILLO FESTIVAL OF CONTEMPORARY MUSIC 2026 Anthology of 20th-Century American Poetry . For a number of years Dove wrote weekly poetry columns for the Washington Post and the New York Times Magazine . Her drama The Darker Face of the Earth was performed at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, the Kennedy Center, the Royal National Theatre in London, and numerous other venues. A classically trained cellist and gamba player, she is also known as a prolific collaborator with composers and musicians. Her song cycle Seven for Luck, with music by John Williams, was premiered by Cynthia Haymon with the Boston Symphony under the composer’s baton at Tanglewood in 1998, and she wrote the poem for Williams’ millennium concert at the Lincoln Memorial on December 31, 1999. Her song sequence A Standing Witness , 14 poems with music by Richard Danielpour, was sung by Susan Graham at the Kennedy Center. In 2023 she also collaborated with Danielpour on another song cycle, The Unhealed Wound , in 2024 with pianist Lara Downes on the poetic journey Tomorrow I Will Be Far Away, and for three decades has had a number of poems set to music by composer Tania Leon. In 2021 the Orchestra of St. Luke’s presented Beethoven’s Sonata in A Major op. 47, traditionally known as the Kreutzer Sonata, in a multimedia project interspersed with poems from Dove’s 2009 ‘novel-in-verse’ Sonata Mulattica . CARLOS FERREIRA SPONSORED BY NORA & GALEN LEMMON AND MICHÈLE & LAURENCE CORASH Named a European Concert Hall Organisation (ECHO) Rising Star for the 2024/25 season, Portuguese-born clarinetist Carlos Ferreira—praised by The Arts Desk as “marvellous,” with “rich and resonant” playing—enjoys an extensive international career as a soloist and chamber musician. He serves as Principal Clarinet of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, having been appointed by Klaus Mäkelä. A centrepiece of Ferreira’s summer 2026 is the world premiere of Pedro Emanuel Pereira’s Clarinet Concerto, which he gives at Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music, conducted by Cristian Măcelaru. Further highlights of Ferreira’s 2026/27 season include orchestral debuts with Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg, Orquesta Sinfónica del Vallès, and Orquesta Sinfónica del Principado de Asturias. An avid chamber musician, Ferreira appears at Zwischentöne Festival and Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw Kleine Zaal with the Goya Quartet this season, after having performed at Denmark’s iconic Louisiana Museum of Modern Art last season. His chamber music partners in previous seasons include Hilary Hahn, Alice Sara Ott, Emmanuel Pahud, Karen Gomyo, and Eric Le Sage. Recent seasons have seen him tour Germany with the Prague Philharmonia and appear with the Orchestre National de France, Münchener Rundfunkorchester, National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland, Münchener Kammerorchester, and Orchestre de Chambre de Genève. His debut album with pianist Pedro Emanuel Pereira, XX–XXI, was released in 2022. His prizes include the ARD International Music Competition in Munich and the Geneva International Competition. Ferreira is a Buffet Crampon Artist. ZACHARY JAMES SPONSORED BY PATRICK MCCABE AND MARY JAMES Zachary James—an international opera singer and recording artist, Broadway & TV actor, and 2022 GRAMMY® Award winner— is“ a true stage animal.” ( OperaNews ) James’ 2025-2026 season includes Amenhotep in Philip Glass’ Akhnaten with Gran Teatre del Liceu—a role that he will also perform a few months later with LA Opera, and then with the Stichting Omroep Muziek in the Netherlands; a Lyric Opera of Chicago debut in 2026, as Cholly in safronia , a world premiere concert from Chicago’s first-ever poet laureate avery r. young; a Pride in Progress concert with GENVAS in Fort Lauderdale; and the world premiere of Philip Glass’ Symphony No. 15, Lincoln , with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Opera highlights include the Immigration Officer in Flight with Dallas Opera; the titular Sweeney Todd with Opera Omaha; The Pirate King in The Pirates of Penzance with Cincinnati Opera; Lucius/Witch in the World Premiere of Paola Prestini's Edward Tulane with Minnesota Opera; Sciarrone in Tosca with LA Opera; Lincoln in the world premiere of Philip Glass’ The Perfect American at the Teatro Real (a role reprised for English National Opera and Opera Queensland); Oberon in the world premiere of Kristin Hevner’s Il Sogno at the Teatro Citta della Pieve; Terry in the world premiere of Breaking theWaves withOpera Philadelphia, as well as engagements with respected houses including The Metropolitan Opera, NashvilleOpera, Des Moines Metro Opera, Arizona Opera, Schlossoper Haldenste inSwitzerland, Central CityOpera, Knoxville Opera, Prototype Festival, and American Lyric Theatre. TESSA LARK SPONSORED BY BETTE & JOE HIRSCH AND ANONYMOUS Violinist Tessa Lark is one of today’s most captivating artists, lauded for her technical agility, expressive range, and musical elegance. Lark was nominated for a GRAMMY® for Best Classical Instrumental Solo in 2020. Lark is also an acclaimed fiddler, seamlessly integrating Appalachian and bluegrass traditions into her performances and inspiring composers to write for her. In addition to her active concert schedule, Lark serves as Artistic Director of the Moab Music Festival and Musical Masterworks in Connecticut. Recent Festival appearances include Sarasota, Britt, Napa Valley, Seattle Chamber Music, La Jolla SummerFest, and Moab. Next season Lark makes her debuts with the Pittsburgh Symphony (Bruch's Scottish Fantasy ) and the Florida Orchestra (Torke’s “Sky” concerto, written for her), and she returns to Rochester and Carnegie Hall. The 2025-26 season featured the premiere of a new concerto written for her by Lisa Biewala with the Louisville and Cincinnati Symphony Orchestras. She also returned to the Chamber Music Society of Palm Beach, Pasadena Symphony, Tucson Symphony, and Lexington Philharmonic, with recital debuts at Da Camera Society of Texas and returns to The Cliburn and Sunriver Music Festival. As a chamber musician, Lark tours with her string trio alongside Edgar Meyer and Joshua Roman, performing at venues such as 92NY, Shriver Hall, and Chamber Music Northwest. Her