2024 Program Guide | Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music

CABRILLO FESTIVAL OF CONTEMPORARY MUSIC 23 A two-time Juno nominated artist and DoraMavor Moore Award Winner, soprano Miriam Khalil has established herself as one of Canada’s most versatile and expressive performers. Sought after for her interpretation of the works of Golijov, she returned to Pacific Opera Victoria this season for his opera Ainadamar and to Edmonton Opera for his song cycle Ayre , a work she was chosen by Golijov to perform in Buenos Aires at the Kirchner Cultural Centre. Other engagements this season include the World Premiere of Kouyoumdjian’s Adoration for Beth Morrison Project’s Prototype Festival in New York, a production that will be seen at the Los Angeles Opera in 2025, as well as Poulenc’s Gloria with Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, and Fauré’s Requiem with Edmonton Symphony and Richard Eaton Singers. Khalil has sung on numerous opera and concert stages across North America and the U.K., including a stint at the renowned Glyndebourne Festival Opera (GFO). Notable roles include Mimì in La Bohème (Canadian Opera Company, Minnesota Opera, Calgary Opera, and Edmonton Opera); Mélisande in Pelléas et Mélisande (Against the Grain- AtG); the Governess in The Turn of the Screw (AtG); Cleopatra in Giulio Cesare (GFO); Almirena in Rinaldo (GFO); Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro (Pacific Opera Victoria), the title role in Alcina (Fargo Moorhead Opera), Marzelline in Fidelio (Pacific Opera Victoria), and Leila in Pearl Fishers (Vancouver Opera). Sponsored by Diane and Richard Klein GUEST ARTISTS MIRIAM KHALIL Soprano GUEST ARTISTS OCTAVIO MÁS-AROCAS Conductor-in-Residence Octavio Más-Arocas is the Director of Orchestras and Professor of Orchestra Conducting programs at Michigan State University, Music Director and Conductor of the Mansfield Symphony in Ohio, the Marquette Symphony in Michigan, and the Clinton Symphony in New York, and Conductor-in-Residence at the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music. Previous positions include Principal Conductor of the Green Bay Symphony Orchestra, Resident Conductor of the Unicamp Symphony Orchestra in Brazil, Director of Orchestras and professor of orchestra conducting at Ithaca College, Lawrence University, Baldwin Wallace University, and at the Interlochen Arts Academy. He has also been Resident Conductor of the Sewanee Summer Music Festival and Assistant Conductor of the National Repertory Orchestra. An award-winning conductor, Más-Arocas was chosen by Kurt Masur for the Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy Award working as Masur’s assistant with the Leipzig Gewandhaus and Helsinki Radio orchestras. Más-Arocas is the winner of the Robert J. Harth Conducting Prize at the American Academy of Conducting at Aspen, the Thelma A. Robinson Award from the Conductors Guild, Prize Winner of the Third European Conductors Competition, and winner of the National Youth Orchestra of Spain Conductors Competition. Más-Arocas has appeared as guest conductor with orchestras across North and South America and Europe and his festival appearances include theAspenMusic Festival, National Repertory Orchestra, Sewanee Summer Music Festival, Festival Internacional Carlos Gomes in Campinas, Brazil. In demand as a conducting teacher, Más-Arocas has taught workshops and masterclasses in the U.S., Spain, Portugal, and Brazil. Sponsored by Lois Springsteen and Bill Bryant Leila Josefowicz’s passionate advocacy of contemporary music for the violin is reflected in her diverse programs and enthusiasm for performing new works. A favourite of living composers, Josefowicz has premiered many concertos, including those by Colin Matthews, Luca Francesconi, John Adams, and Esa-Pekka Salonen, all written specially for her. Highlights of recent seasons include appearances with Berliner Philharmoniker; Tonhalle- Orchester Zürich; Royal Concertgebouworkest; Konzerthausorchester Berlin; Dresden Philharmonie, Oslo, Helsinki, and Los Angeles Philharmonic orchestras; NDR Elbphilharmonie; the Boston, Chicago, San Francisco, The Cleveland, and The Philadelphia orchestras, where she worked with conductors at the highest level, including Matthias Pintscher, John Storgårds, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Louis Langrée, Hannu Lintu, and John Adams. Josefowicz enjoyed a close working relationship with the late Oliver Knussen, performing various concerti, including his violin concerto, together over 30 times. Other premieres have included Matthias Pintscher’s Assonanza with Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, John Adams’ Scheherazade.2 with New York Philharmonic, Luca Francesconi’s Duende – The Dark Notes with Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, and Steven Mackey’s Beautiful Passing with BBC Philharmonic. Together with John Novacek, with whom she has enjoyed a close collaboration since 1985, Josefowicz has performed recitals at world- renowned venues such as New York’s Zankel Hall and Park Avenue Armory, Washington DC’s Kennedy Center and Library of Congress and London’s Wigmore Hall, as well as in Reykjavik, Trento, Bilbao, and Chicago. In recognition of her outstanding achievement and excellence in music, she won the 2018 Avery Fisher Prize and was awarded a prestigious MacArthur Fellowship in 2008, joining prominent scientists, writers and musicians who have made unique contributions to contemporary life. LEILA JOSEFOWICZ Violin Sponsored by Bette and Joe Hirsch