{"id":472577,"date":"2026-09-23T02:26:09","date_gmt":"2026-09-23T02:26:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/472577\/"},"modified":"2026-09-23T02:26:09","modified_gmt":"2026-09-23T02:26:09","slug":"season-of-change-begins-for-san-jose-chamber-orchestra","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/472577\/","title":{"rendered":"Season of change begins for San Jose Chamber Orchestra"},"content":{"rendered":"

The San Jose Chamber Orchestra\u2019s 36th season-opening concert this Sunday is titled \u201cBrava, Maestra!\u201d and it serves as the start of a season-long tribute to Barbara Day Turner, the orchestra\u2019s founding director.<\/p>\n

Turner, who commissioned or premiered more than 260 new works during her decades as music director, is turning over the baton to a new music director, Liana B\u00e9rub\u00e9, who joined the orchestra as assistant concertmaster in 2011. B\u00e9rub\u00e9 said Turner has asked her to lead conductorless pieces in rehearsal and performance since 2018 and has occasionally consulted her on programming.<\/p>\n

\"LianaLiana B\u00e9rub\u00e9, concertmaster of the San Jos\u00e9 Chamber Orchestra, will take the baton from founder and music director Barbara Day Turner on Sept. 27 to lead the orchestra in a tribute to Turner, who is stepping down from the podium after 35 seasons. B\u00e9rub\u00e9 says Turner has been supportive of her since the two women met in 2011. \u201cShe has seen and nurtured opportunities for my growth that I didn\u2019t even know were there,\u201d B\u00e9rub\u00e9 says. (Courtesy photo)\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a huge honor for me to be given the task of carrying forward the incredible organization she has created; I feel a massive responsibility and also a deep gratitude to Barbara and the larger SJCO community for the trust that is being placed in me to bring SJCO into its next chapter,\u201d B\u00e9rub\u00e9 said.<\/p>\n

Turner may be stepping down from the podium, but she\u2019s not leaving the stage, really. In addition to continuing to serve as a mentor to B\u00e9rub\u00e9, she worked closely with her to get this 36th season ready.<\/p>\n

The eclectic program includes a couple of pieces commissioned by the San Jose Chamber Orchestra, as well as\u00a0Marc-Olivier Dupin\u2019s \u201cVariations on La Traviata de Verdi,\u201d on which B\u00e9rub\u00e9 will be the violin soloist. \u201cBarbara and I have been talking about programming it for many years now, and this seemed like the perfect occasion,\u201d B\u00e9rub\u00e9 said.<\/p>\n

Sunday\u2019s concert begins at 7 p.m. at St. Francis Episcopal Church in Willow Glen. Tickets are $25-$85 and can be purchased at sjco.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n

76ERS GOLDEN CELEBRATION: San Jose\u2019s Independence High School opened in East San Jose in September 1976, coinciding with the United States Bicentennial that year. According to news reports at the time, the $27 million, 102-acre campus was in the planning stages for a decade \u2014 a \u201csuper\u201d school designed for 5,000 students (though its opening enrollment was 2,800). As part of a larger \u201ceducational park,\u201d plans for the campus included adult education and a regional library, along with lots of open space between campus buildings.<\/p>\n

On Friday, Independence will celebrate its 50th anniversary as part of its homecoming festivities. There\u2019ll be a 4 p.m. tailgate before the junior varsity football game against Mt. Pleasant. During halftime of that game, a \u201csuperband\u201d consisting of current band members and five decades of alumni, directed by Ken Ponticelli, will perform on the field. An Athletic Hall of Fame ceremony will be held at 6:30 p.m. before the varsity football game, and the homecoming celebration will take place during halftime.<\/p>\n

A big 50th anniversary salute should be given to Renee Silvera, a 1984 Independence grad, who has been putting this event together for more than a year. Now that\u2019s school spirit.<\/p>\n

RAISE YOUR STEIN: It\u2019s time to get the lederhosen out of the closet and start doing your biceps curls: Oktoberfest at Gordon Biersch returns Saturday at its San Jose brewery at 357 E. Taylor St. That means pretzels and bratwurst from Ludwig\u2019s Biergarten, music from Polkageist West and both a best-dressed contest and a stein-holding competition. The party, which is open to all ages, gets started at 3 p.m. and runs until 10 p.m.<\/p>\n

A PIZZA FOR DOLLY: This week, Gov. Gavin Newsom declared Friday \u2014 9\/25 \u2014 Dolly Parton Day in California, but Al and Diana Vallorz at Tony & Alba\u2019s Pizza and Pasta<\/a> were way ahead of the state. The restaurant on Stevens Creek Boulevard is having a fundraiser for Parton\u2019s Imagination Library that day, offering their takes on two of Dolly\u2019s faves.<\/p>\n

Parton\u2019s favorite pizza was said to be Mexican Pizza from Taco Bell, so Tony & Alba\u2019s is putting those toppings on a pizza crust and also serving banana pudding for dessert. The Mexican Pizza and Banana Pudding combo will sell for $20 until it\u2019s gone, with $10 of that going to the Imagination Library foundation. And they\u2019ll be playing her music all day, naturally.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The San Jose Chamber Orchestra\u2019s 36th season-opening concert this Sunday is titled \u201cBrava, Maestra!\u201d and it serves as…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":472578,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[7974,174545,88,27352,90,89],"class_list":["post-472577","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-jose","tag-classical-music","tag-independence-high-school","tag-san-jose","tag-san-jose-chamber-orchestra","tag-san-jose-headlines","tag-san-jose-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/472577","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=472577"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/472577\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/472578"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=472577"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=472577"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=472577"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}