_______
Saturday, September 26, 2026, 7:30PM ~
“NORTHERN LIGHT”
Soloist: Jon Nakamatsu, piano
Hammer Theatre Center – 101 Paseo De San Antonio , San Jose
Jon Nakamatsu, piano
| Emilie Mayer | Faust Overture, Op. 46 |
| Edvard Grieg | Piano concerto in A minor, Op. 16 Jon Nakamatsu, Piano |
| Jean Sibelius | Symphony N. 3 in C major, Op. 52 |
Side By Side: Fremont High School
Click here for more information about Jon Nakamatsu
Notes from the Conductor
This program brings together three composers who each stood at important moments of artistic change within European musical life. Emilie Mayer, Edvard Grieg, and Jean Sibelius all sought to shape distinctive musical voices while balancing the traditions of German Romanticism with growing ideas of national identity and individual expression. Their careers reflect a period in which composers increasingly looked beyond established cultural centers and embraced the landscapes, literature, and traditions of their own countries as sources of inspiration. At the same time, each composer faced the challenge of creating music that could honor inherited forms while speaking in a fresh and personal language. Heard together, these works reveal a broad cultural movement toward greater individuality, clarity, and emotional directness in orchestral music. They also highlight the diversity of voices that contributed to the development of the symphonic tradition at the turn of the twentieth century, reminding audiences that innovation in music often emerges through the blending of tradition, imagination, and national character.
_______
Saturday, October 24, 2026, 7:30PM ~
“SUNLIGHT AND DANCE”
Soloist: Pepe Romero, guitar
Hammer Theatre Center – 101 Paseo De San Antonio , San Jose
Pepe Romero, guitar
| Juan Crisóstomo Arriaga | Los Esclavos Felices Overture |
| Claude Debussy / Orch. Hubert Mouton | Rêverie (Daydream) |
| Joaquín Rodrigo | Concierto de Aranjuez Pepe Romero, guitar |
| Darius Milhaud | Le Boeuf sur le toit,Op. 58 (The Ox on the Roof) |
| Alberto Ginastera | Ballet Suite La Estancia |
Side By Side: Piedmont Hills High School
Click here for more information about Pepe Romero
Notes from the Conductor
These beautiful works share a strong focus on musical nationalism expressed through orchestral color and rhythm, even though each composer approaches it differently. Rodrigo, Milhaud, and Ginastera each draw directly on dance traditions and folk or popular idioms from Spain, Brazil influenced Parisian culture, and Argentina, transforming them into concert works with sophisticated orchestration. Debussy and Milhaud, while more cosmopolitan in outlook, both move away from heavy German Romantic structures toward lighter textures, clarity, and an emphasis on color and atmosphere as primary expressive tools. They also all reflect early to mid twentieth century shifts in musical language, where composers increasingly broke from strict Classical form and expanded what orchestral music could represent. Whether through impressionistic harmony, neoclassical wit, or rhythmic drive, these works prioritize character, gesture, and sonic imagination over traditional symphonic development. Taken together, they illustrate a shared search for new identities in music, shaped by place, modernity, and changing cultural landscapes.
Sunday, January 31, 2027, 3:00PM ~
“ITALIAN HERITAGE“
Soloist: Ginevra Tavani, violin
Italian American Heritage Foundation, 425 N 4th St, San Jose
Ginevra Tavani, violin
Francesco Darmini, composer
| Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari | L’amore medico: Overture |
| John Corigliano | Voyage for Strings |
| Francesco Darmini | Long thoughts in short sentences Ginevra Tavani, violin |
| Marc-Olivier Dupin | Variations on Traviata by Verdi for Violin and Orchestra Ginevra Tavani, violin |
| Giacomo Puccini | Capriccio sinfonico |
Click here for more information about Francesco Darmanin, composer
About the Violinist
Ginevra Tavani, born in Florence in 2000, is a violinist with extensive experience as an orchestral musician, soloist, and chamber musician.
Since 2024, she has held a permanent position as Second Violin Section Leader with the A. Toscanini Orchestra in Parma. Since 2022, she has also worked regularly as Assistant Concertmaster and Principal Second Violin with leading Italian orchestras and opera companies, including the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, RAI National Symphony Orchestra, Arena di Verona Orchestra. She has worked under the direction of renowned conductors including Zubin Mehta, Daniele Gatti, Daniel Barenboim, Kent Nagano, Myung-whun Chung, James Conlon, and Robert Treviño.
As a soloist, Tavani performed in Matsumoto, Japan, in 2013 and has subsequently appeared in concert tours with several European orchestras in cities including Florence, Parma, Brescia, and Montecatini, under conductors such as Daniele Rustioni. She has also received numerous awards in national and international competitions.
Tavani has studied with internationally acclaimed violinists and pedagogues including Vadim Brodski, Klaidi Sahatçi, with whom she graduated with honors in Switzerland, Salvatore Accardo, Lydia Dubrovskaya, Sergei Girshenko, Oleg Kaskiv, Dejan Bogdanovic, and Christophe Giovaninetti.
About the Composer
Francesco Darmanin, born in 1995, graduated with full marks and honors in Clarinet and Composi on in Florence’s Convervatory, before perfec ng his skills with Fabrizio Meloni at the Accademia del Teatro alla Scala, in composi on with Francesco Antonioni, and in conduc ng with Alessandro Cadario at the Accademia di Pinerolo. Formerly a member of the Orchestra dell’Accademia del Teatro alla Scala in Milan, he is currently principal clarine st of the Orchestra da Camera Fioren na. He is a Curci Edi ons ar st. He has won several interna onal composi on compe ons, including: “Europa Sinfonie” by Dresdner Sinkoniker, “2 Agosto” in Bologna (1st prize); “V. Mendelssohn Interna onal Composi on Compe on” (1st prize); “Cammini di Francesco Fes val” in Sansepolcro (1st prize); “Dante700 – Interna onal Compe on for Symphonic Composi on” (1st prize), “D. Mitropoulos Interna onal Composi on Compe on” (3rd Prize). His pieces “Filemone e Bauci” and “Lieder der Einsamkeit” have been performed in fes vals such as La Piccola Stagione in Milan and La Stagione Concer s ca dell’Orchestra Toscana Classica in Florence, “Eos” at the Abruzzo Classica Fes val, “Hekate – Nove Variazioni per Ensemble” at the Schlosstheater in Rheinsberg and at the Can ere Internazionale d’Arte in Montepulciano 2022, “The Sudden Lightness” at the Ascoli Piceno Fes val, Stagione dell’Almo Collegio Borromeo, Trame Sonore, Staunton Music Fes val (USA), Sylt Chamber Fes val (DE), Pon fical Ins tute of Sacred Music in Rome, Osnabruck Fes val, Kuhmo Chamber Fes val; “In alto mar per dri o segno” by the Camerata Strumentale di Prato and La Filharmonie, “O Icarus of the fearless flight” at the Season of the Normale University of Pisa, “La collina dei giochi” by the Sanremo Symphony Orchestra, “Essere un Fiore” by the Orchestra del Teatro Comunale di Bologna, “Come vento e nube” at the Fes val di Musica Contemporanea della Gioventù Musicale d’Italia in Modena, Komorebi with the Thessaloniki State Orchestra, “A Space of Flowers” with I Virtuosi Italiani at the Teatro dal Verme in Milan and the Teatro Ristori in Verona, The First Winter Rain (Concerto for Clarinet and String Orchestra) with Fabrizio Meloni – Principal Clarinet Soloist of the Teatro alla Scala and the Filarmonica della Scala – and I Virtuosi Italiani, “Checkmate” with Fabrizio Meloni and the Signum Quartet, ‘Llyr’ with the Orchestra della Gioventù Musicale d’Italia, “Foglie di Narciso” by the Mission Chamber Orchestra of San Jose (California), To watch us dance by the EOS quartet in the 63rd Interna onal Chamber Music Fes val in Cervo etc. Ac ve in the field of contemporary music, he is a member of the Ensemble degli Intriga , founded as part of the Can ere Internazionale d’Arte di Montepulciano, and collaborates with composers and conductors such as Detlev Glanert, Roland Boer, Marco Angius, Mauro Montalbe , Giorgio Colombo Taccani, Fabrizio Festa, Carlo Boccadoro, Andrea Molino, Alessandra Ravera, Francesco Antonioni, Michael Zev Gordon, Luca An gnani, etc. As a clarine st, he has won numerous na onal and interna onal instrumental awards, including first prize in the Calcit Na onal Compe on, the Silver City of Vinci Na onal Compe on, 1st prize, the “Concorso Internazionale Premio Crescendo” 1st prize 100/100 with the Crescendo Prize in the Wind Instruments sec on and 1st prize and Special Prize “Chiarappa” in the Chamber Music sec on in Duo with pianist Ma a Fusi, the “Concorso Lions Aldobrandeschi, Grosseto” 1st prize, Etruria Classica 1st prize, Clarinet Compe on Accademia di Chiavari 3rd prize, etc. He has collaborated with numerous orchestras and ensembles, including the Orchestra Regionale Toscana, the Cameris del Maggio Musicale Fioren no, the Accademia Teatro alla Scala orchestra, the Orchestra da Camera Fioren na, the Camerata Strumentale Ci à di Prato, the Lutoslawsky Chamber Orchestra (soloist with Copland’s concerto for clarinet and orchestra, Lomza, Poland), the Orchestra “Il contrappunto” of Empoli (Weber, Concerto for Clarinet and Orchestra No. 1), the Mission Chamber Orchestra of San Jose, California (Mozart concerto for clarinet and orchestra), the Orchestra “Raffaello” of Urbino (Mozart, Concerto for Clarinet and Orchestra), the GAMO Ensemble and the Ensemble degli Intriga , working with ar sts such as Lorenzo Vio , David Coleman, Roland Boer, Donato Renze , Daniele Rus oni, Speranza Scappucci, Eva Ollikainen, Jonathan Webb, Carlo Boccadoro, Marco Angius, Pietro Miani , Toshiyuki Kamioka, Wilson Hermanto, Roberto Abbado, David Coleman, Marco Armiliato, and others.
Sunday, April 4, 2027, 2:30PM ~
“RADIANCE”
Soloist: Ani Aznavoorian, violoncello
Guest conductor: Emily Ray
Narrator: Jerod Tate
Hammer Theatre Center – 101 Paseo De San Antonio , San Jose
Ani Aznavoorian, violoncello
| Peter Boyer | Radiance |
| Antonín Dvořák | Cello Concerto in B minor, Op. 104 Ani Aznavoorian, violoncello |
| Jerod Impichchaachaaha’ Tate | Spider Brings Fire from Lowak Shoppala’ |
| Ludwig Van Beethoven | Symphony No. 4 in Bb major, Op. 60 |
Side By Side: Prospect High School
Click here for more information about Ani Aznavoorian
Notes from the Conductor
The four works on this concert, while varying greatly in musical style, all portray some form of radiance: light, joy, heat, and beauty. The American composer Peter Boyer’s composition, Radiance, is the newest of the four and features shimmering strings. Also writing in the 21st century and born in the U.S., Jerod Impichchaachaaha’ Tate relies on his Native American roots for musical inspiration in Spider Brings Fire, the Chickasaw legend of how the lowly spider retrieved fire for the world, without getting burnt from the radiant heat. From a different continent and time, Czech composer Antonin Dvorak’s music often contrasts dark with light to produce a radiant beauty, of which his Cello Concerto in B minor is a stunning example. And going back even farther in time, Ludwig van Beethoven, having grown up in the unsettled times of the French Revolution, still managed to write his Symphony no. 4, imbued with levity, beauty, and ebullience. This program unifies four composers from very different times and backgrounds by their quest to radiate hope through music.
Sunday, May 16, 2027, 2:30PM ~
“SUMMER LIGHT”
Soloist: Doreen Ketchens, clarinet
Composer: Ricardo Lorenz
Hammer Theatre Center – 101 Paseo De San Antonio , San Jose
Doreen Ketchens, clarinet
| Kevin Day | Lightspeed |
| Aaron Copland | Our Town |
| Florence Price | Dances in the Canebrakes |
| Ricardo Lorenz | Mission Echoes (World Premier) * |
| Brian Holmes | Death’s Jest-Book Overture |
| Leonard Bernstein | On the town: Three dance episodes |
| George David Weiss | What a wonderful World |
| George Gershwin | Summertime Doreen Ketchens, clarinet |
* Commissioned by the Mission Chamber Orchestra to commemorate its 30th anniversary
Click here for more information about Doreen Ketchens
Notes from the Conductor
The last group of works is united by a shared emphasis on music that draws from living cultural sources while being shaped through concert hall traditions. Composers such as Leonard Bernstein, Aaron Copland, George Gershwin, Florence Price, Kevin Day, and Ricardo Lorenz all engage in different ways with popular, folk, or vernacular musical languages, transforming them into structured orchestral or vocal works. Jazz influenced harmony, dance rhythms, song like lyricism, latin rhythm, and culturally rooted melodic ideas appear frequently, but are reimagined through sophisticated orchestration and formal design. This creates a common identity in which classical technique and everyday musical expression coexist within the same artistic space.
At the same time, these works reflect a broad spectrum of contemporary and twentieth century perspectives on identity and place. Bernstein and Gershwin connect concert music with urban and theatrical life, Copland and Price shape distinctly American musical voices through clarity and openness, Kevin Day represents a modern rhythmic and stylistic fusion shaped by current genres, and Ricardo Lorenz incorporates Latin American rhythmic and cultural influences into orchestral writing that bridges hemispheres. Despite their differences in style and origin, they all share a commitment to expressive immediacy and cultural hybridity, using the orchestra as a flexible medium for storytelling, identity, and reinvention.