2024 Program Guide | Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music

CABRILLO FESTIVAL OF CONTEMPORARY MUSIC 10 TRIBUTE TO GALEN LEMMON GALEN LEMMON IS CELEBRATING HIS LAST YEAR IN THE CABRILLO FESTIVAL ORCHESTRA AFTER AN EXTRAORDINARY 27 YEARS PLAYING WITH THE FESTIVAL. Galen Lemmon is a remarkable performer, teacher, leader, and proponent for new music, percussion, and orchestral music in the greater Bay Area. We are grateful for his 27 years with the Cabrillo Festival Orchestra and excited to honor him now as he celebrates his final season! Words cannot fully express our gratitude for all that Galen Lemmon has done for the Festival over these many years. Galen first played with Cabrillo Festival for one week during the 1998 season and officially joined the orchestra the following year. In 2000, he became our Principal Percussionist and has since led the section with heart, grace, and hard work, acting as an advocate and friend to his fellow musicians. Notable pieces and projects during his tenure are too numerous to list, but they include Metropolis Symphony by Michael Daugherty in 1998; Spices, Perfumes, and Toxins by Avner Dorman in 2009; Musique de Table by Thierry de Mey in 2016; and Trio Per Uno by Nebojsa Jovan Zivkovic in 2018. For more than a decade, Galen has also organized and led the ever-popular percussion demonstration at the top of every Family Concert! In addition to all his artistic contributions, he and his wife and fellow musician Nora Lemmon have been incredibly generous with the Festival, including sponsoring the live- streaming of our open rehearsals for the past two years. In 1998, Galen provided the substantial percussion equipment needed for the Schwantner Percussion Concerto completely in-kind and since that time has donated use of countless percussion instruments to the Festival for its extensive instrumentation needs each and every season. This year, in a truly extraordinary gift, the Lemmons havepledged togive theFestival their entire percussion inventory—more than 430 instruments! This will enable the Festival to program ambitious works without constraints on instrumentation or the cost of rentals—a truly transformative gift that will impact our music-making for decades to come. Galen’s generosity and artistic impact extends well beyond the Cabrillo Festival. He has performed and taught in the Bay area for more than 50 years. Galen was awarded a position in the San Jose Symphony when he was only 19 years old and, three years later, was named Principal Percussionist in the same orchestra. When that organization went bankrupt in 2002, it was Galen who led the drive to raise $125,000 to save the symphony’s music library. He, along with his sons, physically moved the entire library to a safe location. Galen continues to perform with groups all over Northern California. For more than 20 years, Galen also served as Director of Percussion Studies at San Jose State University; he retired in 2021. He started his Pre-University Percussion Group in 2019, instructing young percussionists from ages 7–18. In February 2024, he was awarded the prestigious Don Schmeer Friend of Music Award by the California Band Directors Association. When you see Galen and Nora at the Civic this season, please extend congratulations and gratitude for their exemplary generosity and visionary support of new music!