2024 Program Guide | Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music

CONDUCTORS/COMPOSERS WORKSHOP CONDUCTORS/ COMPOSERS WORKSHOP x A PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION PROGRAM There are few opportunities for conductors to hone their conducting skills, let alone acquire the added expertise needed to champion new music. Because conductors are the stewards of our symphonic heritage, investment in their professional development is essential. And what better place than Cabrillo Festival to provide workshops which serve conductors interested in performing contemporary music at the highest level and to engage emerging composers in the process? The Conductors/Composers Workshop is supported in part by The Aaron Copland Fund for Music and The Amphion Foundation. The Composers Workshop is generously supported by Kathryn Lawhun & Mark Shinbrot. T he Cabrillo Festival Conductors/ Composers Workshop takes place July 27 through July 31 this season at the Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium. Participating conductors and composers experience five full days of intensive training with some of the world’s foremost contemporary music professionals, including conducting faculty Cristi Măcelaru and Octavio Más-Arocas. Their activities include a schedule of seminars and critiqued conducting sessions—first with quintet and piano, then with chamber orchestra, and finally podium time with the full Cabrillo Festival Orchestra. Under the guidance of 2024 composing faculty Nina Young, the participating composers will work with the Festival’s composers-in-residence and with the conductors on subjects including modern score analysis and practical guides for the rehearsal, interpretation, and performance of contemporary works. The program is highlighted by an inspirational concert titled In the Works , on Tuesday, July 30 at the Civic Auditorium. In a performance that is free and open to the public, the Cabrillo Festival Orchestra is led by six conducting fellows performing short symphonic works by each of the composers— Daixuan Ai, Nick Bentz, and Ella Kaale . 2024 CONDUCTOR FELLOWS Yeo Ryeong Ahn – Ann Arbor, MI (Republic of Korea) Yun Xuan Cao – Miami, FL (Xining, China) Omar El Jamali – Paris, France (Casablanca, Morocco) Andrew J. Kim – Boston, MA (South Korea) Ana Spasovska – Skopje, Macedonia Kin Szeto – Hong Kong 2024 COMPOSER FELLOWS Daixuan Ai – Bloomington, IN (China) Nick Bentz – Providence, RI Ella Kaale – Los Angeles, CA 2024 CONDUCTOR ASSOCIATES Sara Aldana – Ann Arbor, MI (Bogota, Columbia) Joseph Bozich – Boston, MA Yoona Jeong – Pittsburgh, PA (South Korea) Junyoung Kim - Stuttgart, Germany (Republic of Korea) John Lidfors – Los Angeles, CA CJ Wu – Denmark (Taiwan) 2024 CONDUCTOR AUDITORS Michael Gabriel – East Lansing, MI Joseph Kneer – San Antonio, TX John Masko – Somerville, MA Sarah Pearson – Ooltewah, TN Alfonso J. Piacentini – Boston, MA (Puerto Rico) Sebastian Serrano-Ayala – Seattle, WA (Columbia) Eric Stewart – New York, NY Andrew Wolffking – Chicago, IL (denotes country of origin, if not U.S.A.) SPECIAL THANKS TO: Audrey Kwong, Conductors Workshop Director Robert Greer, Festival Music Librarian Members of the Cabrillo Festival Orchestra Michael Sheppard, Workshop Pianist CONDUCTING FACULTY CRISTIAN MĂCELARU See bio on p. 13 OCTAVIO MÁS-AROCAS See bio on p. 24 COMPOSITION FACULTY Nina Young See bio on p. 21 34 CABRILLO FESTIVAL OF CONTEMPORARY MUSIC