California Symphony Announces 30th Season

The California Symphony celebrates its 30th season in 2016-17 and its fourth season with Music Director Donato Cabrera, with a year of special programming that highlights the music by a Young American Composer-in-Residence program alumnus on each of its six concerts at the Lesher Center for the Arts in Walnut Creek. Throughout its 30-year history, the Orchestra has made American repertoire its special focus, nurturing and commissioning work from emerging American composers as well as performing the most revered core classical repertoire.

During the 2016-17 season, Cabrera leads the California Symphony in compositions by Christopher Theofanidis (YACR, 1994-96), Kevin Puts (1996-99), Pierre Jalbert (1999-2002), Kevin Beavers (2002-05), and current YACR composer Dan Visconti (2014-17), who was recently awarded the prestigious Koussevitzky Foundation Grant by the Library of Congress. In May 2017, the Orchestra and Israeli-American cellist Inbal Segev perform the world premiere of Visconti's new cello concerto, Tangle Eye, commissioned as part of the Composer-in-Residence program by California Symphony. Other season highlights include the Orchestra's first performances of Beethoven's Symphony No. 4 and Bruckner's Symphony No. 6; a performance of Rachmaninoff's Symphony No. 2; Romanian-Austrian pianist Maria Radutu in her West Coast debut as soloist in Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 23; Bay Area native and rising star flutist Annie Wu in Mozart's Flute Concerto In G; Acting Concertmaster and San Francisco Opera violinist Jennifer Cho in Ravel's Tzigane on an all-French program; and stage and screen star Rita Moreno as the narrator in Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf, in two Christmas concerts. Season subscription ticket packages go on sale today, Tuesday, April 5, at 10 am.

"The California Symphony's 30th anniversary season will celebrate both the lasting work and successes of the many Young American Composers-in-Residence who have gone on to great international acclaim, and the artistic excellence of our own California Symphony musicians, many of whom have been performing with the Orchestra for more than 25 years," said Music Director Donato Cabrera. "I am also looking forward to introducing several exciting soloists to our audience, and to performing three beloved symphonies: Beethoven's Symphony No. 4, Bruckner's Symphony No. 6, and Rachmaninoff's Symphony No. 2."

The 2016-17 season opens Sunday, September 18 at the Lesher Center for the Arts, with Cabrera leading the Orchestra in Kevin Puts' Network, composed in 1997, during his tenure as Young American Composer in Residence. Puts is the winner of both the Pulitzer Prize in Music (for his first opera, Silent Night, in 2012) and the Rome Prize in Composition. His work has been commissioned, performed, and recorded by leading ensembles and soloists throughout the world, including Yo-Yo Ma, the New York Philharmonic, the Tonhalle Orchester, the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, the Miro Quartet, and the symphony orchestras of Baltimore, Cincinnati, Detroit, Atlanta, Colorado, Houston, Fort Worth, St. Louis, and Minnesota. Flutist Annie Wu, a SF Symphony Youth Orchestra alumna from Pleasanton who recently joined New World Symphony, is the soloist in Mozart's Flute Concerto in G. Wu appeared in Carnegie Hall at age 12, and by age 15 was the First Prize winner of the National Flute Association's (NFA) High School Soloist Competition, becoming the youngest first prize winner in the NFA's history. Cabrera also leads the Orchestra in Rachmaninoff's Symphony No. 2. Following the September 18 opening concert, the Orchestra and Cabrera welcome the audience to mingle with the artists at a special Opening Night Party benefit reception with food and drink (reception tickets sold separately).

Rita Moreno, beloved star of stage and screen, Kennedy Center Honoree for Lifetime Artistic Achievement, and winner of Emmy, Oscar, Grammy, and Tony awards, takes the stage with Cabrera and the Orchestra as the narrator in Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf for two concerts on December 20 and 21. The holiday show includes music from Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite, Christmas carols and sing-alongs for everyone, and other holiday musical favorites. The Orchestra performs the Bay Area premiere of Kevin Beavers' Bright Sky (2011) to open the program. Beavers, who completed the California Symphony's Young American Composer in Residence program in 2005, was the winner of both the Philadelphia Orchestra's Centennial Composition Competition and ASCAP's Nissim Prize.

The Orchestra's first performance of Beethoven's Symphony No. 4 highlights the January 22 program. Romanian-Austrian pianist Maria Radutu performs Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 23 with the Orchestra in her West Coast debut, and a performance of Christopher Theofanidis's Peace Love Light YOUMEONE, written during his tenure as a Young American Composer in Residence, opens the concert. Theofanidis, who won the Rome Prize and the International Masterprize in Composition, was nominated for a Grammy for best composition for his chorus and orchestra work, The Here and Now, based on the poetry of Rumi. His orchestral concert work, Rainbow Body, has been one of the most performed recent orchestral works. Theofanidis has written a ballet for the American Ballet Theatre, a work for the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, and was commissioned by the San Francisco Opera for his 2011 opera Heart of a Soldier. He has a long-standing relationship with the Atlanta Symphony, and in 2009 had his first symphony premiered and recorded with that orchestra. His 2015 oratorio Creation/Creator was also commissioned and premiered by the Atlanta Symphony.

A program of French music on March 19 is highlighted by Composer-in-Residence alum Pierre Jalbert's Les espaces infinis, written in 2001 while in residence with the California Symphony. Jalbert's orchestral and chamber works have been commissioned and performed across the U.S., and his compositions have been honored with both the Rome Prize in Composition (during his California Symphony tenure) and the International Masterprize in Composition. He also won the BBC Masterprize in 2001, for his orchestral work In Aeternam, selected from among more than 1,100 scores by a jury that included Marin Alsop, Sir John Eliot Gardiner, and Sir Charles Mackerras. In Aeternam has been performed by the California Symphony, the London Symphony Orchestra, the Budapest Symphony, the Seattle Symphony, the Hartford Symphony Orchestra, and the Orlando Philharmonic. Violinist and Acting CSO Concertmaster Jennifer Cho, a graduate of The Juilliard School and also a member of the San Francisco Opera Orchestra, makes her debut as a soloist with the Orchestra in Ravel's Tzigane, and the Orchestra also performs music from Delibes, Saint-Saëns and Bizet.

The May 7 season finale, and a highlight of the California Symphony's 30th Anniversary season, is the world premiere performance of a newly-commissioned work by Young American Composer-in-Residence Dan Visconti, performed by Israeli-American cellist Inbal Segev in her Bay Area debut as soloist with an orchestra. Segev, a New York-based advocate of contemporary music, admires Visconti's work and Donato Cabrera introduced the two, encouraging Visconti to write a cello concerto. Led by Cabrera, the Orchestra also performs Bruckner's Symphony No. 6 for the first time, and Beethoven's Coriolan Overture.

This summer, on June 18, 2016, the contortionists, dancers, jugglers, strongmen and acrobats of Cirque de la Symphonie join the California Symphony and Cabrera in the Orchestra's annual fundraising special event, Cirque du Symphonie Presented by Steadauto.com, at the historic and beautiful Scottish Rite Center in Oakland.

Subscription ticket package prices for the California Symphony's 2016-17 season range from $100 to $288 and are on sale April 5 to renewing subscribers and the general public. Tickets can be purchased through the California Symphony's website at www.californiasymphony.org and at 925-280-2490. Tickets for the June 18 California Symphony Cirque du Symphonie concert are on sale now and are available atwww.californiasymphony.org and at 925-280-2490. All regular season 2016-17 California Symphony concerts will go on sale to buyers of individual concert tickets on August 11.

ABOUT THE CALIFORNIA SYMPHONY

The California Symphony, celebrating its 30th Anniversary in the 2016-17 season, is distinguished for its concert programs that combine classics alongside American repertoire and lesser-known works, its pioneering Young American Composer-in-Residence program, its nationally recognized education programs, and for bringing music to people in new and unconventional settings. The Orchestra enters its fourth season in 2016-17 with Music Director Donato Cabrera. The Orchestra is comprised of musicians who have performed with the orchestras of the San Francisco Symphony, San Francisco Opera, San Francisco Ballet, and others, and many of its musicians have been performing with the California Symphony for nearly all its existence. California Symphony has launched the careers of some of today's most-performed composers and soloists, including violinist Sarah Chang, cellist Alisa Weilerstein, and composers such as Mason Bates, Christopher Theofanidis, and Kevin Puts. The Orchestra is expanding its regional base in the greater San Francisco Bay Area, and performed concerts in four new venues during the 2015-16 season, in addition to concerts at its home at the Lesher Center for the Arts in Walnut Creek. For more information, please visit www.californiasymphony.org.

ABOUT DONATO CABRERA

Music Director Donato Cabrera joined the California Symphony in 2013. He has been the Resident Conductor of the San Francisco Symphony (SFS) and the Wattis Foundation Music Director of the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra (SFSYO) since 2009. In 2014, Cabrera was appointed Music Director of the Las Vegas Philharmonic Orchestra, and from 2013 through 2015 he served as Music Director of the New Hampshire Music Festival.

As Music Director of the California Symphony, Cabrera is committed to featuring music by American composers, supporting young artists in the early stages of their careers, and commissioning world premieres from talented resident composers. A champion of new music, Donato Cabrera was a co-founder of the New York-based American Contemporary Music Ensemble (ACME), which is dedicated to the outstanding performance of masterworks from the 20th and 21st centuries, primarily the work of American composers. In September 2012 he conducted ACME in the world premiere of the all-live version of Steve Reich'sWTC 9/11 for three string quartets and tape at Le Poisson Rouge in New York City. He made his Carnegie Hall and Cal Performances debuts leading the world and California premieres, respectively, of Mark Grey's ?tash Sorushan. In 2012, Cabrera led the San Francisco Symphony Chorus, with Paul Jacobs on organ, in the world premiere of Mason Bates' Mass Transmission, subsequently conducting it with the Young People's Chorus of New York City in Carnegie Hall for the American Mavericks Festival. Cabrera made his San Francisco Symphony debut in April 2009 when he conducted the Orchestra with 24 hours' notice.

As SFS Resident Conductor, Donato Cabrera works closely with San Francisco Symphony Music Director Michael Tilson Thomas, and frequently conducts the San Francisco Symphony throughout the year.Cabrera will step down from his roles at the SF Symphony in August 2016 to pursue a thriving international conducting career.

From 2005 to 2008, Cabrera was Associate Conductor of the San Francisco Opera, and in 2009, he made his debut with the San Francisco Ballet. Cabrera was the rehearsal and cover conductor for the Metropolitan Opera production and DVD release of John Adams' Doctor Atomic, which won the 2012 Grammy® Award for Best Opera Recording. In 2010, Donato Cabrera was recognized by the Consulate-General of Mexico in San Francisco as a Luminary of the Friends of Mexico Honorary Committee, for his contributions to promoting and developing the presence of the Mexican community in the Bay Area. Cabrera was a Herbert von Karajan Conducting Fellow at the Salzburg Festival in 2002, and holds degrees from the University of Nevada and the University of Illinois. He pursued graduate studies in conducting at Indiana University and the Manhattan School of Music. For more information, please visit www.donatocabrera.com

ABOUT DAN VISCONTI, Young American Composer in Residence

Dan Visconti is the California Symphony's Young American Composer-in-Residence. Born in 1982, Visconti composes concert music infused with the directness of expression and maverick spirit of the American vernacular. His compositions often explore the rough timbres, propulsive rhythms, and improvisational energy characteristic of jazz, bluegrass, and rock-elements that tend to collide in unexpected ways with Visconti's experience as a classically-trained violinist, resulting in a growing body of music the Cleveland Plain Dealer describes as "both mature and youthful, bristling with exhilarating musical ideas and a powerfully crafted lyricism."

Recent concert seasons have showcased several Visconti premieres, including a work commissioned by the Jupiter Quartet for the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center's international string quartet series; a work featuring experimental video commissioned by the American Composers Orchestra for premiere at Zankel Hall; and a work for soprano Lucy Shelton and the Da Capo Chamber Players for premiere at Weill Recital Hall. Other commissions have come from the Kronos Quartet, the Berlin Philharmonic Scharoun Ensemble, the Minnesota Orchestra, the Albany Symphony, the Annapolis Symphony, the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra, the New York Youth Symphony, the Gryphon and Triple Helix piano trios, the Corigliano Quartet, the Janaki String Trio, and Volti chamber choir. His three-year appointment as Young American Composer in Residence for the California Symphony extends until 2017. As well as composing and recording three new works with the Orchestra and Music Director Donato Cabrera, one each year of his residency, he will also have the opportunity to hear his composition "in progress" as the orchestra provides a workshop environment for each composition throughout the season.

Visconti was recently honored with the Serge Koussevitzky Music Foundation commission from the Library of Congress, for his forthcoming guitar concerto Living Language, to be given its world premiere by the California Symphony and guitarist Jason Vieaux in May 2016. He has also been awarded the Rome Prize and Berlin Prize fellowships, the Bearns Prize from Columbia University, the Leonore Annenberg Fellowship in the Performing Arts, the Barlow Prize, and the Cleveland Arts Prize; awards from BMI and ASCAP, the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the Society of Composers, and the Naumburg Foundation; and grants from the Fromm Foundation, Meet the Composer, the National Endowment for the Arts, and Chamber Music America. He has also been the recipient of artist fellowships from the MacDowell Colony, Copland House, the Lucas Artists Program at Villa Montalvo, and the Virginia Commission for the Arts. Recordings of Visconti's music are available from Bridge Records, Naxos, and Fleur de Son Classics.

Visconti studied composition at the Cleveland Institute of Music and the Yale School of Music, primarily with Margaret Brouwer, Aaron Jay Kernis, Ezra Laderman, and Zhou Long. He currently writes for theHuffington Post, and since 2008 he has written a weekly column for NewMusicBox, the web magazine of the American Music Center. His articles have also appeared in ArtsJournal and Symphony magazine. For his ongoing initiatives innovating concert experiences that address social issues through music, Visconti has been awarded a 2014 TED Fellowship and delivered a TED talk at the 30th Anniversary TED Conference in Vancouver.

CALIFORNIA SYMPHONY 2016 SUMMER AND 2016-17 SEASON CONCERT CALENDAR

Saturday, June 18 at 7:30 pm

(Lobby doors open at 5:30 pm for pre-performance entertainment; theater doors open at 7:10 pm)

Scottish Rite Center, 1547 Lakeside Drive, Oakland

California Symphony Annual Fundraising Special Event and Performance

Cirque du Symphonie Presented by Steadauto.com

Cirque de la Symphonie

Donato Cabrera, conductor

California Symphony

PROGRAM: The performing artists of Cirque de la Symphonie - contortionists, dancers, acrobats, strongmen, jugglers and aerialists - execute their near-impossible feats while the California Symphony Orchestra performs live accompaniment to beloved music by composers from John Williams (music from Indiana Jones and Superman), Aaron Copland (Rodeo from Hoe-Down), Arturo Marquez (Danzon No. 2), Bizet (Carmen), Leonard Bernstein (Overture to Candide), Brahms, Strauss, and Offenbach. The setting is Oakland's magnificent and historic Scottish Rite Center, overlooking the lights ringing a rejuvenated Lake Merritt.

TICKETS: Tickets for Cirque du Symphonie Presented by Steadauto.com are $149 (includes performance, cocktails, preconcert entertainment and dessert) and $500 (includes performance, cocktails, preconcert entertainment, three-course dinner with wine, valet parking) and are available at www.californiasymphony.org/symphonie or 925-280-2490. Group sales packages are also now available.

Sunday, September 18 at 4 pm

Lesher Center for the Arts, 1601 Civic Drive, Walnut Creek

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