2026 Program Guide | Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music

IN THE WORKS PROGRAM NOTES I DON’T KNOW HOW TO SPEAK TENDERNESS IN MY FIRST LANGUAGE (2026) OSWALD HU Ỳ NH (B. 1997) This work derives its title from a line in Kimberly Nguyen’s poem ng ủ ngon , and is meant to be an excerpt for a larger work I am creating for Vietnamese traditional instruments and orchestra. Specifically, the instrument I envision playing over this section is the đàn b ầ u, a monochord instrument with an incredible vocal- like quality. Every time I hear this instrument, I am reminded of the haunting Vietnamese lullabies sung to me as a child, which informs the sound world of this piece. I am currently grappling with subjects of joy and grief and examining what it means to compose on either subject. Kimberly’s poem weaves beautifully between the two, and I was particularly struck by the line “i don’t know how to speak / tenderness in my first language.” Beginning with this notion of care, loss, and memory, the musical gestures and textures in this work are centered around the sound of the đàn b ầ u, which are substituted primarily by woodwinds in this iteration. — OSWALD HU Ỳ NH MEMORY OF INVISIBLE RIVERS (2025, REV. 2026) KAI KUBOTA-ENRIGHT (B. 2000) In Tokyo, the tapestry of rivers and waterways once integral to the region have long been concealed by concrete. My grandfather was born near Nihonbashi, which was once a scenic bridge looking out over the water, but when I visited it with him 90 years later I found a polluted, stagnant reservoir and a lonely stone crossing marred by a giant highway overpass built during the 1964 Olympics. Despite this increasing loss of generational memory and culture, just underneath the feet of pedestrians flows the water of many forgotten rivers. I think about the memories of this water, and the way that it flows invisible and soundless to us. What sound would it make, if we could hear it? — KAI KUBOTA-ENRIGHT FOREST MIGRATIONS (2024) PAUL NOVAK (B. 1998) Forests slowly move to new geographic areas across many generations in response to environmental threats such as climate change. These migrations demonstrate the power and versatility of the natural world, which we think is static but is truly always developing and adapting. However, the phrase “forest migration” to me also darkly alludes to the very different migration that trees undergo as forests around the world are destroyed. And I have been thinking about the great debt musicians owe to trees. So many of the instruments we play are constructed from wood, and in a certain sense the creation of these instruments seems, poignantly, like a third type of migration. forest migrations explores different layers of time, with active layers of surface motion always buoyed by the slow movement of the forest. Much of the material of the piece is built from tightly interwoven canons which unravel patiently throughout the ensemble like the mycelium network of a forest. Throughout the piece, the wooden instruments of the orchestra resonate in their most fundamental ways, with music built from natural harmonics, open strings, and melodies of interlocked fifths. My aim was to create a sound world that is patient and resilient, like the natural world this piece pays homage to. forest migrations was commissioned by American Composers Orchestra through the Underwood/Earshot Commission. — PAUL NOVAK FORWARD (2026) ZOE VERDUIN (B. 2009) Forward is inspired by America’s continual growth, through periods of political and cultural upheaval, struggle, and rebirth. Our country’s ambition and determination are represented by the persistent rhythmic drive. The dynamic structure also follows this theme of persistence; despite falling quiet, the piece drives till the end. The contour of the melody, which emerges in the solo viola and recurs throughout the piece, represents the nation’s hope and striving to move forward. — ZOE VERDUIN LUNA LAB @10 & THE CABRILLO FESTIVAL Cabrillo Festival is proud to partner with Luna Composition Lab, which supports young female, nonbinary, and gender- nonconforming composers through mentorship, education, and professional opportunities. Founded by composers Missy Mazzoli and Ellen Reid, Luna Lab is now celebrating its 10th anniversary and is providing 75 new commissions for 50 Luna Lab Alumni in this landmark year through partner organizations like the Cabrillo Festival. Luna Lab alumna Zoe Verduin was commissioned by the Festival to write a new chamber piece, as part of the Festival’s ComposerWorkshopand the corresponding “In theWorks” concert. CABRILLO FESTIVAL OF CONTEMPORARY MUSIC 2026 34