California Festival: A Celebration of New Music

Davies Symphony Hall, SF

Photo by Lisa Hirsch

The California Festival is a celebration of new music to be held throughout the state this coming fall, from November 3-19. It's being led by - surprise - the Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, and San Diego Symphony, with their respective music directors. There are now 95 organizations in total participating. 

SFS has two programs, called From the Edge and To the Edge (no, I have no idea how they came up with those program names). 

To the Edge is on Saturday and Sunday, November 11 and 12, at Davies, with a runout to Zellerbach on Friday, November 10. The program features well-known Californian and contemporary composer Igor Stravinsky (Symphony in Three Movements), and new works by Jens Ibsen (Drowned in Light, world premiere) and oh yes, Esa-Pekka Salonen (Kinema, with clarinet soloist Carey Bell). I am glad to finally see some of Salonen's newer works appearing on SFS programs.

From the Edge is on Friday and Saturday, November 17 and 18, at Davies, and features works by Gabriella Smith (Breathing Forests) and more Stravinsky (Octet for Winds and Brass; Steven Stucky's orchestration of Les Noces, a curiosity given the force and brilliance of the four-piano original).

The recent press release with the list of participating organizations is after the cut. I don't think I can get to San Deigo or LA during the festival; if I travel in November, it will be to the mouth-watering Jenufa at Lyric Opera of Chicago (Jakob Hrusa; Lise Davidsen and Nina Stemme).

SAN FRANCISCO (August 1, 2023)—The Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Diego Symphony, and San Francisco Symphony today announced that 95 organizations will participate in the California Festival: A Celebration of New Music, presenting some of the most innovative and compelling music from around the world for two weeks, November 3-19, 2023, in venues throughout the state. Announced in January 2023 and conceived by LA Phil Music & Artistic Director Gustavo Dudamel, San Diego Symphony Music Director Rafael Payare, and San Francisco Symphony Music Director Esa-Pekka Salonen, the California Festival highlights the collaborative and innovative spirit that thrives in California by inviting musical organizations of all kinds to incorporate works written within the past five years into their broader season programs.  

 

The 95 participating organizations include symphony orchestras, chamber music groups, jazz ensembles, choirs, and more, performing in more than 80 concert halls, educational institutions, auditoriums, clubs, and alternative spaces from north (Symphony of the Redwoods, Mendocino County) to south (San Diego Saints Choir) to east (Sequoia Symphony Orchestra, Tulare County).  

 

Each organization has independently curated the programs being announced today under the California Festival umbrella, ensuring that the performances are meaningful to their communities while expressing the inclusive, diverse creativity of California through multiple voices. 

 

Spanning a distance of 650 miles, California Festival performances will offer audiences throughout the state the opportunity to hear more than 170 works composed since 2018, including a remarkable 32 world premieres, within two weeks. The range of musicians participating in the event is impressive, with professional arts organizations as well as 14 youth orchestras, and composers representing some 24 nationalities and spanning generations with ages ranging from 27 to 97. Written by emerging, mid-career, and world-famous composers, the selected works encompass multiple genres of music. These pieces often address subjects of keen concern, ranging from the natural environment (the challenge of climate change; the search for sanctuary and healing in wilderness after the pandemic; the omnipresent influence and experience of water) to the dynamics of history (the multiethnic, multinational workforce that built the western railroads; the lives of figures such as Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera; protest movements in Latin America). There are compositions that respond to works by renowned 20th century European composers who settled in California (Arnold Schoenberg, Igor Stravinsky), pieces that meld the sounds of far-flung cultures (including a program designed as a tapestry of music submitted by women around the world), and works that create utterly contemporary soundscapes.  

 

Information about the California Festival can be found on the newly launched California Festival website: www.cafestival.org. In addition to providing a comprehensive list of participating organizations, artists, repertoire, and key venues, the website features an interactive map showing participation throughout the state. Editorial content includes “Excursions,” a multisensory journey through the innovative musical landscape of the Golden State with texts and audio contributed by artists and composers. Contributing writers include Geeta Dayal, Andy Beta, Josh Kun, Tim Page, Daniel Corral, and Sarah Cahill. Audio playlists exploring the sounds and voices of the Golden State are produced by Nadia Sirota, Matt Marble, and John Schneider.   

 

The website will also include learning resources such as the Composer’s Toolkit, a framework with which music makers and composers-to-be can build their own compositions. Scaffolded to fit a range of ages and skill levels, these compositional activity prompts are adaptable for use in the classroom, the studio, or at home. Participants will be encouraged to share their work, with an opportunity to be featured on www.cafestival.org in November 2023. 

 

In a joint statement, Music Directors Gustavo Dudamel, Rafael Payare, and Esa-Pekka Salonen said: 

 

“California is an inexhaustible wellspring of creativity, openness, and collaboration. We are so proud to be joined by more than 90 partner organizations located in every region of the state for the inaugural California Festival; their participation turns our celebration into a true statewide effort that reflects the full spectrum of ideas, voices, and cultures that call California their home. Every one of these institutions will be presenting music that they believe in, representing their unique communities with total artistic freedom. We could not be more excited to join our friends in showcasing the ideas and talent that this extraordinary state has to offer.” 

 

The California Festival is supported by the Association of California Symphony Orchestras, providing outreach to arts organizations in its network, informing them about the Festival, and encouraging them to participate. 

 

For a complete California Festival fact sheet, please click here.  

 

Participating Organizations 

• Angel City Chorale (with Inner City Youth Orchestra of LA) 
• Art of Elan 
• Bay Area Rainbow Symphony 
• Berkeley Symphony  
• Brightwork newmusic 
• BroadStage 
• Burbank Philharmonic Orchestra 
• Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music 
• CalArts 
• California Symphony 
• California Youth Symphony 
• Camarada 
• Camerata Pacifica 
• CAP UCLA 
• Casa Romantica Cultural Center and Gardens 
• Chanticleer 
• Colburn School  
• Community Music Center 
• Culver City Symphony Orchestra 
• dublab 
• ECHO Chamber Orchestra 
• Festival Napa Valley 
• Fresno Philharmonic 
• Glendale Youth Orchestra 
• Golden State Youth Orchestra 
• Grand Feature Film Orchestra (i.e. Independent Arts and Media / Grand Arts Consortium) 
• Hausmann Quartet 
• Hear Now Music Festival 
• Inner City Youth Orchestra of Los Angeles (w/Angel City Chorale) 
• iSing SV 
• Jacaranda Music 
• Julliard with ARRAY Spaces 
• Kaleidoscope Chamber Orchestra 
• La Jolla Music Society 
• La Jolla Presbyterian Church Concert Series 
• LA Opera 
• Left Coast Chamber Ensemble 
• Light Opera Theatre of Sacramento  
• Long Beach Symphony 
• Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra 
• Los Angeles Master Chorale 
• Los Angeles Philharmonic 
• Lyric Opera of Orange County  
• Mainly Mozart 
• Monterey Symphony 
• MUSE/IQUE 
• Music @ Menlo 
• Music Association of California Community Colleges 
• Music in the Vineyards 
• New Century Chamber Orchestra 
• Ojai Music Festival  
• Orchestra Nova LA  
• Orchestra Santa Monica 
• Overtone Industries 
• Pacific Symphony 
• Pasadena Symphony & POPS 
• Philharmonic Society of Orange County 
• Piano Spheres 
• Project [BLANK] 
• Resonance Collective 
• Riverside County Philharmonic Association, Inc. 
• Sacramento Youth Symphony 
• Salastina 
• San Diego Jewish Men's Choir (with San Diego Saints Choir)  
• San Diego Master Chorale 
• San Diego New Music 
• San Diego Saints Choir (with San Diego Jewish Men's Choir)  
• San Diego Symphony 
• San Diego Youth Symphony & Conservatory 
• San Francisco Choral Society 
• San Francisco Conservatory of Music  
• San Francisco Contemporary Music Players 
• San Francisco Opera 
• San Francisco Performances 
• San Francisco Symphony 
• San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra 
• San Luis Obispo Symphony 
• San Luis Obispo Youth Symphony  
• Santa Barbara Symphony 
• Santa Rosa Symphony 
• Santa Rosa Symphony Youth Orchestra 
• Santa Rosa Young People's Chamber Orchestra 
• Sequoia Symphony Orchestra 
• Stanford University, Stanford Philharmonia 
• Symphony of the Redwoods 
• Synchromy 
• The Albany Consort 
• The Fortissima Collective 
• UC San Diego  
• UCSB Arts & Lectures 
• USC Percussion Group 
• USC, Thornton School of Music 
• Volti 
• Wild Up 
• Young People’s Symphony Orchestra 
• Youth Music Monterey 
• Youth Orchestra Los Angeles