Continuing with my series of lists covering the 2010 Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary music, I have compiled this list of favorite photos that I took while at the festival.  There are certainly other photos (taken by others) that deserve to be in this list, but I don’t have the original files for those.  If  some of you CabFest musicians have photos to share with me, then I can make a separate list for those.

You will, no doubt, notice that many of the photos have nothing to do with music or the festival directly. IMHO, that is a defining characteristic of a successful festival: a setting that will attract the best musicians and give them a reprieve from their daily lives and whatever music they happen to be playing at the time. All the pics of the California Coast (below) were taken on our day off, and believe me — amidst the insanity of the music we play (and, as Daniel Barenboim used to say, “I mean that in the nicest possible way”) — we needed these peaceful surroundings to be able to recharge our batteries before tackling the programs for the second week of the festival. I hope you enjoy the pics as much as I enjoyed taking them.

10. Soif! -- One of THE places to be after a show. Great Wine. Great Food. What’s not to like? I think this is the only time I saw it during the day…

9. Santa Cruz Boardwalk – The Essence of Santa Cruz

8. California Coast – Where else would you find this scenery?

7. Up on a Rock — Taken from atop a lone rock, 30 meters in the air. Only in California…

6. The Cross at Mission San Juan Bautista — Sunset at the mission is stunning. Fantastic light.

5. Grey Day — Feeding my inner Ansel Adams.

4. San Juan Bautista Bells — The Bell Tower at the Beautiful Mission San Juan Bautista

3. John and Me — John Adams and me after the performance of City Noir at the Cabrillo Festival 8/14/2010

2. Jutting Rocks — Does it get any more dramatic than the California Coast?  Love my Leica D-Lux4

1. The soloists. The composer. — The true value of any festival comes in the people you work with. When I look at the quality of the musicians in this picture, I know that the value of the Cabrillo Festival is as high as they come. (L to R: Craig Morris [tpt], Ava Ordman[trb], John Adams, Tim Mcallister[sax])

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If you happen to have been following me on twitter lately, then you already know that I have been immersed in the world of new music via the portal that is the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music. CabFest 2010 was an extraordinary affair: 12 visiting composers including John Adams, Philip Glass, Kevin Puts, Jennifer Higdon, and Mark Anthony Turnage. Not bad company for a new music festival! It was a privilege and a treat to collaborate with the composers, and it was extraordinary to have so many of them in attendance. The biggest treat of this festival, however, was, as always, getting to play with this great orchestra under the expert guidance of Marin Alsop; it is a very rare thing to find an orchestra that matches up to what you always hoped playing in an orchestra would be like.

The festival lasts just two weeks, but reflecting on it now (as I “767-it” back to Miami) it seems that it runs for much longer; it’s like a Cabrillo time warp that makes the beginning of the festival seem even more distant than the days and weeks leading up to the festival. It’s a strange sensation. It definitely seems like long ago that Jennifer Higdon and Mark Anthony Turnage first turned up at the Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium for the first rehearsals of their pieces.

Given that distance in time (and the fact that a long-winded prose about the festival would read like the equivalent to “My Summer Vacation” and would be just as gripping now as it was when you were in 2nd grade) I have decided to go classic-blog-style and make a series of lists outlining the various peaks and valleys of our “Festival in the Fog”. Here goes:

Since this website is centered around trumpet, why not have the first lists feature things relevant to Gabriel’s instrument. If you are not a trumpet player then… well… Sorry.

Top Chop-Burner Pieces of CabFest 2010

1. Drowned Out by Mark Anthony Turnage
2. Symphony No. 3 by Michael Hersch
3. Concerto for Cello and Orchestra by Philip Glass

Summary: Starting with the trumpet-pig-head-list, this list shows the pieces that make you rub your cheeks, blow raspberries, and doubt the very reason you ever picked up this blasted mess of tubes (not to mention cursing under your breath at the composer). Turnage’s Drowned Out was one of the most physically intimidating pieces I’ve ever seen. I think I spent a whole concert’s worth of chops on one small section of the 1st movement alone. Proceed with care (i.e. run like hell) If you see this piece show up on your stand. Actually, that isn’t quite true. I really did enjoy this playing this piece when all was said and done. It was a bit daunting in the practice room however.

I’m not sure if the Michael Hersch was harder on the face, or more demanding technically. Either way, it was the hands down hardest trumpet part of the festival. Bravo to Micah Wilkinson for a fantastic job on the 2nd trumpet part. As for the Philip Glass: it’s like the Caruso 6 notes, only much longer, higher, and more interesting rhythmically. This piece will want to make you pack along a face-masseuse if you take it on tour; and to make matters worse, the rest of the orchestra will stare at you in confusion if you tell them it is physically demanding.

Favorite Trumpet Solos/Moments of CabFest 2010

1. City Noir by John Adams (solo)
2. Having Mark Inouye down from the San Francisco Symphony to play second trumpet on City Noir.
3. Chicago Remains by Mark Anthony Turnage (off-stage solo)
4. On A Wire by Jennifer Higdon (trumpet “trios”)
5. Symphony No.3 by Michael Hersch (impossible trumpet writing)

Summary: John Adams has now, IMHO, written the top two trumpet solos in the entire literature. My favorite remains the stunningly beautiful and moving solo in Doctor Atomic, but the City Noir solo is a close second. Now all that remains is to get him to write us a trumpet concerto. I mentioned this to him after the concert last Saturday and he seemed to have his interest piqued a bit. Hopefully there will be some way to get this great composer to write a piece for our instrument. The trumpet deserves it, it really does.

Having Mark Inouye (Principal Trumpet in the San Francisco Symphony) down to play second trumpet on City Noir was a real treat. It was like old home week for us, playing in a section together again. I think we managed to rock the house pretty well, if I do say so myself.

The solo in the Turnage Chicago Remains is truly haunting and is surprisingly written in the 3rd trumpet part. This solo is not really a solo per se, as it is played in a unison trio with soprano sax and clarinet. Whether you call it a trio or a solo, it’s still very demanding, with wide leaps in all directions and soaring up to a high D (concert) at the end. But it really is a beautiful line and it is a joy to play in spite of its difficulty. The only other entry on the list that needs explaining is the Hersch. I included it here because it is simply very rewarding to pull off something that you were pretty sure was impossible when you were learning it. Also, in spite of its fast and rangy flourishes that are nearly impossible to play (much less sing) excerpts from this part kept spinning around in my head, making me look like a total idiot walking around Santa Cruz trying to hum them.

Okay, hopefully making lists about the top trumpet moments of the festival will pacify my inner geek for the moment. I will keep assimilating ideas for further lists that aren’t focused on the trumpet, so there is more to come. If you were at the festival and want to suggest a list, or entries on a list, please send me an email or simply comment below.

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