After 25 years at the Cabrillo Festival, Marin Alsop will be leaving her post as the music director/conductor. Alsop’s tenure has been an extraordinary celebration of the best works by living composers, an astonishing array of new works and old, lovingly prepared, and a wide cross-section of both younger and more established composers. There is no way to understate how important her work has been.
As a “secret” tribute, the orchestra commissioned a work from Kevin Puts (“Last August”) to be played without a conductor. We prepared the score and parts without using any outside people, sent them to the librarian, and the orchestra planned rehearsals at times when Marin was not around. The result was an emotional sendoff to their beloved leader.
We congratulate Marin Alsop on the incredible work she’s done at Cabrillo, and continues to do at the Baltimore Symphony and other orchestras.