Violinist Kristin Lee and GRAMMY-nominated ensemble Sandbox Percussion are joining forces this year to give the premiere performances of a new work composed for them by JUNO Award-winning composer Vivian Fung. The new piece, titled Goddess//Insect, is co-commissioned by a national consortium of presenters – Emerald City Music, Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Music@Menlo, Constellations Chamber Concerts, and Newport Classical.

The Festival’s Music Director Cristian Măcelaru and Maestro Octavio Más-Arocas serve as faculty for the Conductors Workshop sessions, and composer Vivian Fung joins them as faculty for the Composers Workshop. All student conductors and composers participate for the full five days of the program, which takes place in the context of the Cabrillo Orchestra’s rehearsal and performance schedule.

Selected composers will have their work performed by members of the Cabrillo Festival Orchestra directed by participating Fellows. Two dedicated rehearsals will take place, culminating with an “In the Works” concert where each piece will receive two performances Composition Faculty will offer guidance and seminars throughout, other Festival composers-in-residence will participate, and direct feedback will be offered from the players and conductors.

University of Toronto New Music Festival Roger D. Moore Distinguished Visitor in Composition

Performance of Earworms by the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, conducted by Marie Jacquot on June 22, 2025.

Presented by the Presidio Theatre in celebration of the annual Mid-Autumn Moon Festival, The Del Sol Quartet and San Francisco Poet Laureate Genny Lim turn their gaze to the full moon, in a journey to find harmony with our ancestors and within ourselves. 

Voices of mothers and daughters across continents and generations anchor this multimedia performance, featuring new poetry by Lim interwoven with new music and interviews by Chinese diaspora composers Vivian Fung, Meilina Tsui, and Theresa Wong.

Released in October 2023, The Jasper String Quartet’s Insects and Machines: Quartets of Vivian Fung will receive the Album of the Year Award…Insects and Machines is Jasper Quartet’s eighth album and the first commercial release of Fung’s first four quartets. It received notable critical acclaim, including from Strings Magazine that praised the album for its “intensely dramatic energy… demonstrating both their advocacy of new music and their transcendent mastery.”