***Tickets may be purchased at the Box Office, which will open at 1 pm, one hour before the concert on Saturday, March 8th.
The Philharmonic Orchestra Performs Strauss, Mendelssohn, Chopin, Sarasate and Suk
The San Jose Youth Symphony’s Philharmonic Orchestra, under the artistic leadership of Music Director and Conductor Yair Samet, presents its 2024-25 Season’s Spring Concert, Featuring Young Artist Competition Winners, to be held on Saturday, March 8, 2025, 2 pm, at the California Theatre, 345 S. 1st Street, San Jose, CA 95113.
The orchestra will open with Johann Strauss’s Die Fledermaus Overture from his most famous operetta (meaning The Bat), along with Chopin’s beautiful and sparkling Grand Valse Brillante. and close with Smetana’s exciting Three Dances from The Bartered Bride. This concert will also feature two winners from the 2024 Young Artists’ Competition, proudly sponsored by the San Jose Symphony Foundation*. Outstanding young soloists, Zijing (Zack) Zhang, pianist, and Joshua Kim, violinist, will perform Mendelssohn’s Piano Concerto No. 1, and Sarasate’s Zigeunerweisen for Violin and Orchestra, respectively. The orchestra will close the concert with Czech composer Suk’s memorable Scherzo Fantastique.
Zijing (Zack) Zhang is a high school senior at Saratoga High School and has been a violinist with the San Jose Youth Symphony since 2021 and is currently in his 4th year with the Philharmonic Orchestra. He traveled with the orchestra on their last International Tour to the Baltics in 2022.
Joshua Kim is also a senior, attending Valley Christian High School, and has been playing violin with the San Jose Youth Symphony since 2017, first joining the Prelude Ensemble. He has been a member of the Philharmonic Orchestra since 2021 and also traveled with the orchestra on their last International Tour to the Baltics in 2022.
The San Jose Youth Symphony (SJYS) is one of the oldest and finest youth orchestras on the West Coast of the U.S. Founded over seven decades ago as part of the former San Jose Symphony, SJYS has a rich tradition of musical performance and education.
The musicians of SJYS, all school-age youth, are chosen from more than 650 applicants through our annual auditions. The SJYS comprises 13 distinct performing ensembles: two full orchestras, a chamber orchestra, two flute choirs, two string ensembles, as well as winds, brass, harp, saxophone, percussion, and jazz ensembles.
*”San Jose Symphony” is a registered trademark of the San Jose Symphony Foundation, and its use in all its variations is by license.