PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA

The Philharmonic Orchestra, led by Music Director and Conductor Yair Samet, is the premier orchestra of the San Jose Youth Symphony. Membership is reserved for outstanding players who demonstrate strong musicianship, advanced technique, and the discipline necessary to perform in a pre-professional orchestral setting. Musicians study and perform a wide range of challenging masterpieces from the standard symphonic repertoire, and select musicians have the opportunity to play in chamber music groups that perform at various venues throughout the year.

Artistic Requirements

Musicians must meet these artistic requirements in order to be accepted into the Philharmonic Orchestra.

2025 – 2026 Season Repertoire

Season Opener Concert – Sunday, November 30, 2025, 5 pm, at the Mexican Heritage Plaza Theater, San Jose

• • Wagner – Prelude to Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg
  • Elgar – Cello Concerto
  • Elsbeth Luu, cello
  • Saarthak Shankavaram – Leela
  • Borne – Carmen Fantasy for Flute and Orchestra
  • Claire Kim, flute
  • Borodin – Polovetsian Dances

Spring Concert – Saturday, March 28, 2026, 2 pm, at the California Theatre, downtown San Jose

• • Glazunov – Raymonda – ballet – selections
  • Conus – Violin Concerto
•           Aden Liu, violin
  • Doppler – Hungarian Pastoral Fantasy for Flute and Orchestra
  • Shuhong (Leo) Liu, flute
  • Liszt – Les Préludes

Season Finale – Saturday, June 6, 2026, 2 pm, at the California Theatre, downtown San Jose

• • Chadwick – Symphonic Sketches – Jubilee
  • Mollicone – Violin Concerto
  • Saarthak Shankavaram, violin
  • Rossini (arr. Respighi) – La Boutique Fantasque

Concerts

The Philharmonic Orchestra performs three subscription concerts per year at the historic California Theatre in downtown San Jose as well as the Mexican Heritage Plaza Theater.

The orchestra has performed with many internationally renowned artists in concert and on tour. These artists include Jon Nakamatsu (Gold Medalist of the 1997 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition), Axel Strauss (Professor of Violin at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music), Taylor Eigsti (renowned jazz pianist and two-time Grammy Award nominee), and Max Zorin (critically acclaimed violinist and faculty member of the Penn State School of Music).

In addition to performing the standard symphonic repertoire, the orchestra has collaborated with many locally and internationally leading arts groups, among them the Los Gatos Ballet (in its productions of The Nutcracker), the San Jose Symphony, the Asian Youth Orchestra, the Okayama Youth Orchestra, San Jose Taiko, the Firebird Youth Chinese Orchestra, Mariachi Cobre, San Jose Children’s Musical Theater, the Batucada nana Latin Ensemble, the Crystal Children Choir, the Homestead Jazz Ensemble, and the Latin Jazz Ensemble from San Jose State University.

Rehearsals

Rehearsals are held on Mondays from 6:30–9:30 pm at the Los Gatos United Methodist Church (LGUMC), 111 Church Street, Los Gatos.

Sectionals

Every few weeks, SJYS members are divided into small groups based on their sections to get coaching from leading professional musicians from the area. Coaches provide instrument-specific training for the assigned repertoire and develop our members’ overall musicianship. Our members receive up to three sectionals per set. (A “set” is a group of rehearsals leading to a concert.)

Seating Auditions

In addition, at the start of the 2nd and 3rd sets, the orchestra musicians will take part in seating auditions, heard by outside judges (professional musicians) who will hear each musician play individually and rank them according to their preparedness of the repertoire, technique and musicality. The seating auditions are held anonymously to ensure complete fairness.

 

The seating auditions for the 1st Set take place at the overnight summer camp that takes prior to the start of the season and are heard by the conductor. Unlike the seating auditions held during the season, those held at camp are not held anonymously, but provide the opportunity for the conductor to get to know each student’s playing on an individual basis.

 

Make-ups are not permitted for missed seating auditions, for the reasons of accuracy and fairness to the other students who participate.

International Tour

Every two years the Philharmonic Orchestra embarks on an international concert tour in the summer. Past destinations include Europe (Ireland, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Italy, Spain, Portugal), South America (Argentina & Chile), Eastern Europe (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovakia, Slovenia, Czech Republic, Poland) and Asia (Japan). Please visit our tour page for more information about past tours.

During the 2021-2022 Season, the orchestra traveled on their Concert Tour to the Baltics, with performances and stops in Vilnius, Lithuania; Riga, Latvia; Parnu and Tallinn, Estonia; and a final performance in Helsinki, Finland!