WORK • Friday Routine
DONATO CABRERA • artistic director, music director/conductor • The California Symphony
Neighborhood you work in: Walnut Creek
It’s Wednesday morning. What’s the scene at your workplace?
My workplace, if you can call it that, is an odd juxtaposition between the intensely private and overtly public. The majority of my time is spent studying musical scores in the solitude and quiet of my studio apartment in Glen Park, but my role as artistic and music director also requires me to be involved in multiple meetings and phone calls with California Symphony’s administration and board of directors, as well as various community members of Walnut Creek and the East Bay.
As each concert date approaches, my hours of preparation are put to use during the rehearsal process. Therefore, and this may come as a surprise, the majority of my job is already done by the time the concert happens. As most professional artists will tell you, it’s important to cultivate and nurture both the introverted and extroverted aspects of your personality, because it’s crucial to be able to thrive in both.
What’s on the agenda for today?
Preparing for the first concerts of California Symphony’s 2025-26 season, which take place Sept 27-28. The program consists of three works that orbit 1920s Paris and the French composer, Maurice Ravel, and begins with Ravel’s Boléro. I read that there’s some crazy statistic where Boléro is heard throughout the world, live or on the radio, every 10 minutes. Of course, something so ubiquitous can also bring with it a lot of baggage, so what I try to do with a piece like this is find out more about its origins and the little things that make it tick. On the second half of the program is Ravel’s orchestration of Mussorgsky’s colossal piano piece, Pictures at an Exhibition. Most orchestras play this like it’s a big Russian symphonic spectacular, like Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture. It’s not that at all, and I hope to show the difference at our performances.
Any restaurant plans today, tonight, this weekend?
One of my closest friend’s birthdays is today, and a group of us are meeting in Berkeley at Comal. In San Francisco, I’ve been recently obsessed with Chile Lindo.
How about a little leisure or culture?
While I often find cycling in San Francisco to be similar to playing a video game, I do find myself packing up my bike in my car and heading over the Golden Gate Bridge to go on one of many glorious rides north of the city. The two rides I typically take are the Marin Headlands loop and the Paradise loop.
For culture, I love hearing live jazz, cabaret, and R&B at Stookey’s Club Moderne or supporting my colleagues by attending Oakland Symphony, Marin Symphony and Santa Rosa Symphony.
Any weekend getaways?
I frequently find myself, especially in the summer, in Port Costa, having a fantastic lunch at the Bull Valley Roadhouse or having a beer across the street with the bikers at The Warehouse Cafe. Another day trip I love is driving up to Tomales Bay and having lunch at Nick’s Cove.
What was your last great vacation?
This summer I was able to be in Tuscany for a friend’s wedding. After the wedding, I drove back towards Florence and had a life-changing lunch in the little village of Panzano at Dario Cecchini’s Officina della Bistecca and then stayed at a beautiful hotel just outside of Florence in the town of Fiesole called Hotel Villa dei Bosconi. The next day, I went to another iconic restaurant for lunch in the center of Florence, Buca San Giovanni. I was also in Vienna for two weeks to recharge my musical batteries, visiting Schönbrunn Palace for the first time, and Telluride, CO, to visit my aunt and uncle and attend the Telluride Film Festival.
What’s a recent big-ticket purchase you love?
I’m obsessed with well-made things and photography. My love of both was greatly elevated with the purchase of the Leica Q3.
What store or service do you always recommend?
I love grocery shopping at Canyon Market, now owned by Gus’s.
Where are you donating your time or money?
I’m a proud sustaining member of KQED.