Reviews

The Monterey Symphony turns 75 this year, in a season that showcases four candidates chosen to compete for the position of the orchestra's new music director. The first of these programs will take place on the weekend of Feb. 19-20 with performances at Carmel's Sunset Center.  Conductor finalist Donato Cabrera will lead the orchestra. He currently serves as the music director of the California Symphony and the Las Vegas Philharmonic.

The 75-year-old orchestra was established after the end of World War II, an era when people were eager to return to normal life as peacetime settled over the nation. Created at a Carmel tea party in the home of singer and businesswoman Grace Howden, the Symphony joined the well-established Carmel Bach Festival and Carmel Music Society as the premier presenters of classical music in the region.

The Monterey Symphony has long been a fully professional orchestra of first-rate musicians. Music director and conductor Max Bragado Darman served as its artistic leader from 2004 to 2020.  His final season was cut short in March of 2020 at the onset of the pandemic.  During the shelter months of 2020-2021, the Symphony created a series of COVID-compliant Balcony Sessions performed by orchestra soloists, which were made available as online offerings.  During this time, John Wineglass, the Symphony's composer-in-residence, wrote the award-winning "Alone," for solo violin, which was filmed at Sunset Center with concertmaster Christina Mok and also made available virtually on the organization's website.

Executive Director Nicola Reilly has been guiding the organization through the challenges of the pandemic, which have included moving the offices from their Monterey Garden Road location to new digs in Carmel, not far from Sunset Center.  Reilly comments that a music director search gives an organization time to reflect on its roots, and where it would like to go artistically.

"We have a fabulous search committee with a shared philosophy," she says.

A music director search season is an exciting time for patrons, as they can experience the orchestra's response to each of the finalists, compare them, and pick their favorites.  It's been almost 25 years since the organization launched its last full-scale conductor search.  The 1998-1999 season thrilled audiences with a dynamic group of candidates.  The position went to Kate Tamarkin, a popular conductor, who led the organization through the homeless years of the Sunset Center renovation.  When Tamarkin left, Bragado was named music director as a favorite candidate from the same search season.

I recommend signing up for the full series of four finalists so you can enjoy these maestros, their musical panache and the thrill of being part of the process.

Cabrera brings a dedication to adventurous programming and enjoys working with living composers and digital innovation.  He has a deep interest in outreach and engagement and programming works that reflect the communities he is serving.  In addition to his tenure with the California Symphony and the Las Vegas Philharmonic, he has served as a conductor of the San Francisco Symphony and as the Wattis Foundation Music Director of the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra from 2009-2016. He is one of only a handful of conductors who has led performances in the Bay Area with the San Francisco Symphony, San Francisco Opera, and the San Francisco Ballet.

In 2020, he implemented several digital initiatives to stay engaged with audiences during the coronavirus pandemic. "MusicWise – Conversations about Art and Culture with Donato Cabrera" is a weekly interview series presented on Facebook Live and YouTube Live. "The Music Plays On" is a series on Cabrera's blog about his favorite performances and recordings. He also launched an online chamber series with both the Las Vegas Philharmonic and California Symphony.

He is equally at home in the world of opera, frequently conducting productions in the United States and abroad.

His awards and fellowships include a Herbert von Karajan Conducting Fellowship at the Salzburg Festival and conducting the Nashville Symphony in the League of American Orchestra's prestigious Bruno Walter National Conductor Preview. 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.

Bay Area music critic Joshua Kosman wrote, "Cabrera and the orchestra showed once again the unanimity and dramatic cogency that they're capable of in works of the standard repertoire. … Cabrera got big, buoyant playing from his forces in the opening movement, and the expansive slow movement — with its stately urgency and upholstered string playing — has rarely sounded so affecting."

Cabrera says, "It is with great excitement and gratitude that I have been chosen to conduct the first concert of the 75th anniversary season. The music for this concert represents exactly the type of programming that I believe a 21st-century American musical institution should perform to remain relevant and engaged."

Cabrera opens his program with "Alone Together," another new work by Wineglass, a Monterey Symphony co-commission with three other orchestras.

"Beginning a season with the celebratory nature of a commissioned work by a local composer is a bold statement, but the subject matter behind the music couldn't be more apt," Cabrera says. "'Alone Together' is a beautifully insightful reflection of what we all experienced while we were all alone together during the pandemic and witnessing our country continue to grapple with racial inequality."

Cellist Julian Schwarz joins the orchestra as the soloist for Shostakovich's Cello Concerto No. 1 in E-flat major, a work Cabrera declared without a doubt is one of the composer's greatest pieces.  "It's a perfect vehicle for the bold and extraordinary talent of our soloist.  The Monterey audience is in for an incredible journey with this concerto."

The concert concludes with Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 5 in E minor, Op. 64, of which Cabrera says, "The transformative nature that everyone experiences when conducting, playing, or hearing this symphony is nothing short of life-altering."

Over the next three months, patrons will hear Jung-Ho Pak, Artistic Director and Conductor of the Cape Symphony; Jayce Ogren, who has conducted many prominent orchestras, including the Boston Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, New York Philharmonic, and the Dallas and San Francisco Symphonies; and finally, Peter Bay, the primary conductor for the Austin Symphony and Ballet Austin, who has appeared with 75 different orchestras from Chicago and St. Louis to Germany and Austria.

Patrons must show proof of vaccinations and must be fully masked.  For single and subscription tickets call 831-646-8511 or see the website at www.montereysymphony.org.  Performances take place at Sunset Center in Carmel at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 19 and on Sunday, Feb. 20 at 3 p.m.  Student and military tickets are available.  Pre-concert lectures take place in the Sunset Center theater.