Music Director Donata Cabrera with the California Symphony.
In Tuesday’s (9/10) KQED.org (San Francisco), Blanca Torres reports, “Donato Cabrera, a Mexican-American conductor … has served as music and artistic director of the California Symphony since 2013. Previously, he held conducting roles with the San Francisco Opera and San Francisco Symphony, among many others … In a recent interview, Cabrera talked about his career, how he incorporates his heritage into what has been a traditionally white space, and the California Symphony’s 2024–25 season … He earned a master’s degree at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign,” and studied conducting at the Manhattan School of Music. “While in grad school, he recalled questioning whether he belonged in the world of classical music, an environment that felt elitist and rooted solely in European traditions. The idea that Latines don’t have a connection to orchestral music is false, Cabrera said…. His goal, he said, is for anyone who walks into a performance to immediately feel welcome and have more knowledge and understanding of the music … ‘(Orchestral) music is for everyone, not just for people that grow up with it in their home or people of a certain strata. It’s there for everyone to enjoy.’ ”
