Events Around The Bay
San José Chamber Orchestra Celebrates Barbara Day Turner
The season-opening program “Brava Maestra!” is a tribute to Turner and her incredible body of work. After a stellar 35 seasons of leading San José Chamber Orchestra, the extraordinary founder Barbara DayTurner will be stepping down from the podium and passing the baton to Concertmaster and Music Director Liana Bérubé for the company’s 36th Season.
September 27 at 7p.m.
During her decades of leadership, Maestra Turner has commissioned and/or premiered over 260 new works, produced seven CDs of American music, and has accepted five ASCAP/League of American Orchestras Adventurous Programming Awards. The 2026-2027 Season is a tribute to her incredible devotion and leadership. The celebration concert’s repertoire with concertmaster Liana Berobe will feature works by Jeremy Cohen, Marc-Oliver Dupin, Steven Mark Kohn, Max Wolpert and Michael Touchi. Soloists: David Cortez, saxophone; Adrienne Malley, English Horn; and Liana Bérubé, violin.
Information
Ticket prices: $75 to $85; SEniors: $65/$75; Students: $25
For tickets call 408.295.4416 or visit sjco.org
Also available at the door
Where: St Francis Episcopal, 1205 Pine Avenue, San José (Ample free street parking) The location was chosen by Music Director Barbara Day Turner for its comfortable seating and concert-hall-quality acoustics.
Smuin Ballet’s 33rd Season Is As Spectacular As Ever
Smuin Contemporary Ballet’s 33rd season is in full bloom! The 2026/27 Season runs through May 30th, 2027 with performances in San Francisco, Walnut Creek and Mountain View.
Curated by Artistic Director Amy Seiwert, Smuin’s season features four programs: a triple bill titled French Kiss in the fall, followed by the magical The Christmas Ballet, a Choreography Showcase in the winter featuring new works by Smuin artists, and a triple bill in the spring titled What’s Going On.
Of special note is a new work commissioned from Boston-based choreographer Stromile in his West Coast debut. Smuin has a lengthy history as a cultural incubator, and Stromile follows in a distinguished line of dance makers who made their regional debut through Smuin, artists including Ma Cong, Osnel Delgado, Trey McIntyre, Darrell Grand Moultrie, Annabelle Lopez Ochoa and Helen Pickett.
Don’t miss and get your tickets now! This is the best contemporary dance company in the Bay Area!
Information
Subscriptions for a three-show package ($120 – $275) and single tickets are on sale now. For more information, visit smuinballet.org/subscriber-info.
Photos courtesy of the Smuin Ballet Company
2026 Silicon Valley Jewish Film Festival
Join the community and me for nine special in-theatre and 22 virtual film events for the duration of the best film festival in the Bay Area. Each virtual will be available for viewing for 72 hours following the premiere. The opening night on October 10 at 7:30pm presents “Once Upon My Mother” based on a true story of a Moroccan Jewish Mom in the Parisian suburb who will do whatever it takes to give her son the best life despite his physical setbacks. Q&A with the movie’s director Ken Scott and reception to follow. Closing night on October 25 at 7:00pm the festival concludes with “Tell Me Everything” when a boy uncovers a devastating secret about the Father the idolizes that threatens to tear his family apart. The film is nominated for 16 Ophir (Israel’s Oscars) Awards. Q&A with Director Moshe Rosenthal to follow.
Information
For tickets and additional information please visit SVJFF.org
“Jane – Anything but Plain” at Cantor Arts Center at Stanford
Jane Lathrop Stanford is taking center stage in a new exhibition at Stanford University’s Cantor Arts Center.
“JANE” explores her fascinating keepsakes, life and legacy through personal keepsakes, artwork, clothing, artifacts and other pieces of Stanford’s Gilded Age founder and matriarch history.
From her elegant French gowns to a colossal painting of her jewels, from the Egyptian artifacts to the container of her beauty cream excavated from her mansion in Palo Alto destroyed in the 1906 San Francisco earthquake Jane presents various idiosyncratic artifacts of Stanford lore – many of them shown for the very first time and probably for the last time. Discover more about the woman behind one of the most famous Universities in the world and sadly about her tragic death by murder.
Information
Free admission. Free parking.
museum.stanford.edu/exhibitions/jane
Cantor Arts Center
328 Lomita Drive at Stanford University
Photos courtesy of Cantor Arts Center
By Lina Broydo
