The UC Santa Barbara Department of Music presents its first-ever Summer Festival on Thursday, September 1, 2016 from 4-9 p.m. Presented in partnership with the UCSB College of Creative Studies and the UCSB Multicultural Center, the Festival will focus on diversity by combining world-class contemporary music ensembles with Afro-Cuban and indie artists. The artists will perform at venues all over the UCSB campus, with no admission fees. This event is made possible by the generous support of the UCSB Office of Summer Sessions.
The Department of Music’s Resident Ensemble, the Now Hear Ensemble, will present a sampling of the boundary-defying works they have been performing over the last two years. The ensemble embraces “contemporary music and pop culture because [they] believe cross-genre approaches lead to new territories for creativity.”
The Formalist Quartet—a world-class string quartet from Los Angeles specialized in contemporary music—will present music by their own members (Mark Menzies, Andrew McIntosh, Andrew Tholl) and by composer Erik Ullman, as well as a premiere of a new microtonal work by Santa Barbara-based composer Federico Llach.
The local musician-run non-profit organization Cali2Cuba—whose mission is to promote the cultural exchange between California and Cuba—will present their group Los Rumberos de Cali. Los Rumberos de Cali believes that “music in the U.S. has been heavily influenced by Caribbean music” and seeks to bridge this neglected cultural link by “teaching and engaging our community with workshops, concerts, and outreach events.” The group's leader, Miguelito León, will present a workshop entitled, “The evolution of Afro-Cuban music,” followed by a concert of traditional Cuban folklore at the UCSB Multicultural Center.
Artists such as folk & blues slide guitar player Christina Apostolopoulos, violist Jonathan Morgan, cellist Kathryn Carlson, and emerging electro-acoustic composer Graham Bunce will also present original solo sets in the College of Creative Studies’ Old Little Theater and the UCSB Multicultural Center.