Orchestras plan statewide festival of fresh music
A collaboration organized by the San Francisco Symphony, the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the San Diego Symphony plans to bring forth a statewide celebration of new music for two weeks in November.
The California Festival, announced Tuesday, Jan. 31, promises to call on more than 50 musical organizations from around the state to showcase music written within the past five years. Concerts are planned for Nov. 3-19 throughout the state in concert halls, auditoriums and a variety of alternative performance spaces.
Details of the full schedule will be announced later this year.
The festival was conceived by the orchestra’s three music directors, San Francisco’s Esa-Pekka Salonen, Los Angeles’ Gustavo Dudamel and San Diego’s Rafael Payare.
“For more than a century, California has been a home for musical experimentation,” the three conductors said in a joint statement. “It is where countless composers came, fleeing war and intolerance, and found stability and freedom of expression that allowed them to transcend the strict artistic boundaries they had constructed for themselves …
“Our three orchestras, in partnership with other arts organizations from throughout this state, have come together to celebrate the sheer magnitude of California’s contributions to classical music.”
Among the festival’s confirmed participants are the men’s chorus Chanticleer, the orchestras of Santa Rosa, Fresno, Santa Barbara and Modesto, Left Coast Chamber Ensemble, Wild Up, and the Ojai Music Festival.
“California’s musical organizations are integral to the spirit and the fabric of the Golden State,” said Jonathan Moscone, executive director of the California Arts Council, in a statement. “Our musicians, orchestras, festivals, presenters, spaces and performing arts venues center California as a creative cornerstone of America. We applaud the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the San Diego and San Francisco Symphonies, and the countless other participating organizations for their joint vision in sharing with the world the inclusivity and innovation that people from across the world continue to seek here in California.”
More information is available at www.cafestival.org.