Women in focus at Cabrillo

Women composers still get short shrift on many orchestral concerts, but the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music in Santa Cruz gives them equal time and then some. Under music director Cristian Măcelaru, the annual new music event opens Sunday with a series of free open rehearsals, with morning, afternoon and evening start times. Mainstage programs begin Aug. 2with “Notorious,” a program that includes Kristen Kusten’s “When There Are Nine,” a symphonic work in honor of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton and the vocal ensemble Roomful of Teeth join Măcelaru and the orchestra in the work’s world premiere. Barton returns Aug. 3for “Contrasts,” joining cellist Inbal Segev in the West Coast premiere of Jake Heggie’s “The Work at Hand.” The festival runs through Aug. 11featuring the West Coast premiere of Tan Dun’s “Nu Shu: The Secret Songs of Women,” with harp soloist Sarah Fuller (Aug. 10); and an evening devoted to jazz master Wynton Marsalis includes the trumpetercomposer’s “Blues Symphony” and Violin Concerto, with Nicola Benedetti as soloist (Aug. 11). Details: Through Aug. 11, Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium; $30-$65; 831-426-6966; www.cabrillomusic.org

City Lights revisits a classic

Add “Cabaret” to the list of plays that have developed a creepy sense of new urgency in today’s troubling times.

The musical by John Kander, Fred Ebb and Joe Masteroff takes place at a decadent nightspot in Berlin, just as political forces are amassing that will soon make the club’s freespirited escapades a dicey proposition.

Of course, if you’d rather not dwell on references to today’s political climate, come to City Lights Theater’s production of the 1966 musical for the fun, bawdy and addictive song and dance numbers that populate the play, or such unforgettable characters as the flamboyant Emcee, played here by Josiah Frampton.

City Lights is tackling the original 1966 version of the musical, with direction by Kit Wilder and music direction by Katie Coleman.

Details: Through Aug. 25; City Lights Theater, San Jose; $25-$46; 408-2954200, www.cltc.org

COURTESY OF THE ARTIST Mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton wil perform in the world premiere of Kristen Kusten’s “When There Are Nine,” a work that honors Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, at the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music.

TAYLOR SANDERS — CITY LIGHTS THEATER Josiah Frampton stars as the Emcee in City Lights Theater’s production of “Cabaret.”