Last spring the Symphony dazzled us with a powerful production of Mozart's Requiem. On March 28/29, Mozart is back again as we dive deeper into his life and work through a world premiere of Amadeus, a new adaptation of the award-winning play. This unique production was specially created by Maestro Stewart for the concert stage.
The story of the life and death of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart has it all: artistic genius, professional jealousy, 18th-century court drama, and unforgettably beautiful music.
Santa Cruz Symphony will join with Cabrillo Symphonic Chorus and guest artists from Santa Cruz Shakespeare and beyond for a collaboration that will have you applauding for more!
Though most people know Amadeus as the most famous movie ever produced about classical music, the story of a toxic rivalry between Mozart and Antonio Salieri began as an 1830 play by Alexander Pushkin. Award-winning playwright Peter Shaffer was inspired to write his own version for Broadway in 1979, which garnered five Tony awards.
Shaffer then adapted his play for the Miloš Forman-directed film Amadeus, a huge commercial and critical hit that swept the Academy Awards in 1984. Like the plays that came before it, the film Amadeus interweaves fact and fiction to create a fantasia on the theme of Salieri and his love/hate relationship with Mozart.
While some have bemoaned the historical inaccuracies of the plays and film, many critics have become more accepting of the creative license taken by Shaffer and his collaborators. Since Amadeus came out, academia's tolerance has grown for movies that question the reputations of exalted geniuses like Mozart.
According to critic Simon Keefe, Amadeus gives us insight into how Mozart approached complex structures as a composer. It also encourages us to reflect on "the blurred line between fact and fiction, and between scholarly and popular perceptions of the man and his music."
Now it's Santa Cruz Symphony's turn to explore this compelling tale. Created by Maestro Stewart for the concert stage, our unique adaptation of Amadeus features the Symphony along with Santa Cruz Shakespeare's Artistic Director Charles Pasternak and actors Anjoli Aguilar, Will Block, and Shaun Carroll in a melding of live theater and symphonic music.
If you attended our Symphonic Shakespeare concerts last spring, you witnessed the enchantment of our collaboration with this incredible organization.
As one audience member told us after the concerts: "What a unique and superbly executed concept -- I had chills on multiple occasions and cried twice! I'm a lover of both music and theater, so this was a magical combination for me. Thank you!"
Our collaboration also includes Cabrillo Symphonic Chorus under the direction of Carlin Truong as they bring the beauty and resonance of their voices to Mozart's choral works.
Join us as we explore and celebrate the complex brilliance of one of the greatest composers of all time. Get your tickets now for this one-of-a-kind concert!
Meet the actors who bring the story to life
Charles Pasternak is known nationally as a dynamic, compelling actor and director. The Artistic Director of Santa Cruz Shakespeare, his roles with the company have included the title role in Hamlet; Oliver in As You Like It; the Gentleman Caller in The Glass Menagerie (which he also directed); and the adaptor and director of A Christmas Carol. In 2025, he directed Pericles, which played alongside A Midsummer Night's Dream, Into the Woods, and "Master Harold"...and the Boys, and A Christmas Carol.
Charles was the Founding Artistic Director of The Porters of Hellsgate in Los Angeles, CA for over fifteen years. Selected regional credits include American Players Theatre, Shakespeare Center LA, three seasons at Shakespeare Festival, St. Louis and four seasons with Shakespeare Santa Cruz.
“Like a Shakespearean Fred Astaire, he’s so good at his craft that he makes his partners look good.” — PlayShakespeare
Will Block is thrilled to be making his debut with Santa Cruz Symphony, and to be returning to Santa Cruz Shakespeare, where he appeared as Algy in The Importance of Being Earnest and Tom in The Glass Menagerie in 2024. He will return again to appear as Claudio in Much Ado About Nothing this summer.
Will is an actor, director, producer, and educator known for his work in This is Us, Nick McDow Musleh's Love's Labours Lost, and the original web series The Game. Other credits include Hamlet in Hamlet (ETC Santa Barbara) and roles with the Kingsman Shakespeare Festival, Sierra Rep, La Mirada, Sacramento Theatre Company, and as Flute in Mendelssohn's A Midsummer Night's Dream with the LA Phil. He is the Artistic Director of the Porters of Hellsgate Theatre Company in Los Angeles.
“Block is a powerhouse!" — Good Times
Anjoli Aguilar (she/her) is happy to be performing with Santa Cruz Symphony and Santa Cruz Shakespeare.
A San Francisco-based actor who received her BA in Theater from SFSU, her recent credits include Miranda/Ariel in The Tempest with Pacific Repertory Theater, Malcolm in MacBeth with We Players, and a five-clown retelling of The Odyssey performed for the Society of Classical Studies. Catch Anjoli this summer playing Ophelia in Hamlet with SPARC Theatre in Livermore!
"Aguilar in particular is compelling as Miranda/Ariel through her acrobatic skills and grace." —from a Monterey County Now review of The Tempest
Shaun Carroll was a staff member of the Jewel Theatre Company in Santa Cruz. There he appeared onstage in Me & My Girl, The Odd Couple, All My Sons, Sylvia, Fallen Angels, and Woman in Mind.
Previously, he has appeared around the greater Bay Area with Sierra Rep, TheatreWorks, Lake Tahoe and San Francisco Shakespeare Festivals, Willows Theatre Company, and CapStage, among others. A craftsman as well as an actor, Shaun also designs props for various companies around the Bay Area.
"A lively evening of theater, thanks in large measure to Carroll!" — Sentinel review of Me and My Girl
Saturday, March 28 ~ 7:30 PM
Civic Auditorium in Santa Cruz
Sunday, March 29 ~ 2:00 PM
Mello Center in Watsonville
We are grateful to our Amadeus sponsors:
Concert Sponsors: Owen Brown & Mary Akin, Bob Edmund, Phil & Linda Segal in memory of Helen Jones, Todd & Corinne Wipke
Concert Co-Sponsors: Lee & Emily Duffus
Artist Sponsor: Redtree Partners LLP
Artist Co-Sponsors: Jeannette & Patricia Moretti; Janis O’Driscoll
