Opera San Jose looking to shake things up for its 42nd season

Opera San Jose is the opera company of Silicon Valley and one looking toward the future as General Director Shawna Lucey will tell you So even as it embarks on its nd season hardly a Sand Hill Road-funded startup it s not afraid to be a little disruptive Just look at the production of Mozart s Cos Fan Tutte opening this weekend at the California Theatre directed by Alek Shrader and with Music Director Joseph Marcheso leading the orchestra Instead of a gala Saturday night debut the first performance is a matinee on Sunday That s going to be the norm for all the shows this season a Sunday matinee opening followed by two weekends of Friday and Sunday performances The point isn t to free up Saturday nights for opera fans but to make sure those arias sound as good as they can at every performance San Jose District Councilmember Michael Mulcahy left artist in residence Nicole Koh and Opera San Jose General Director Shawna Lucey take part in the company s ribbon-cutting ceremony marking the opening of its nd season at the California Theater in San Jose Calif on Friday Sept Ray Chavez Bay Area News Group Artist in residence Nicole Koh performs during the Opera San Jose ribbon cutting ceremony celebrating the opening of its nd season at the California Theatre in San Jose Calif on Friday Sept Ray Chavez Bay Area News Group Artist in residence Nicole Koh and Head of Music Staff and pianist Veronika Dafoe perform during the Opera San Jose ribbon cutting ceremony celebrating the opening of its nd season at the California Theatre in San Jose Calif on Friday Sept Ray Chavez Bay Area News Group San Jose District Councilmember Michael Mulcahy second from left artist in residence Nicole Koh Opera San Jose General Director Shawna Lucey holding scissors along with other city representatives and members of the San Jose Chamber of Commerce celebrate the opening of Opera San Jose's nd season duirng the ribbon-cutting ceremony at the California Theater in San Jose Calif on Friday Sept Ray Chavez Bay Area News Group Show Caption of San Jose District Councilmember Michael Mulcahy left artist in residence Nicole Koh and Opera San Jose General Director Shawna Lucey take part in the company s ribbon-cutting ceremony marking the opening of its nd season at the California Theater in San Jose Calif on Friday Sept Ray Chavez Bay Area News Group Expand What people might not realize is when you re trilling these really big roles the Duke in Rigoletto or Violeta in La Traviata even if you re a super-established singer you should not be serenading these roles two days in a row It s not good for your instrument to do that As a company known for its rising stars Opera San Jose doesn t unfailingly have super-established singers in the big roles Lucey noted Opera San Jose founder Irene Dalis resolution was to have two casts for each show but at present s budgets just don t allow for that Sometimes Lucey would bring in another singer to fill in last-minute a relief tenor if you will which might rankle audience members expecting someone else She thinks the change would get a nod of approval from Dalis who died in She was not only a great artist an unbelievable mezzosoprano but she was a savvy businesswoman Lucey revealed I think a lot about what we re doing is in function of her vision Opera San Jose isn t just experimenting with the calendar this season but is trying out certain audience participation with Cos Fan Tutte No they won t be picking someone out of the fifth row to sing alongside baritone Ricardo Jos Rivera during the second act What the audience will get to do is decide the ending of the opera a comedy about mistaken identity suspicious lovers and infidelity Opera San Jose has partnered with Cloud Wi an enterprise wi-fi platform to let audience members vote during intermission through their phones or at the lobby on what combination of lovers will end up together The cast will be informed of the results before the start of the second act and it should be engaging to see which audiences put which characters together Lucey says it s the perfect show to spark a lot of romantic intrigue as though Mozart had gone into the reality TV biz and made Temptation Island but with great music I think it s been really fun for the singers and I think it ll be very satisfying for the audience too she noted To get the season off to a festive start the San Jose Chamber of Commerce which Opera San Jose joined this year hosted a ribbon-cutting Friday afternoon at the California Theatre It was highlighted by a breathtaking performance of a Mozart aria by artist-in-residence Nicole Koh but there were also speeches about Opera San Jose s value to the city it creates million in economic impact annually and employs people throughout the season When we re talking about recovery for downtown and vibrancy Lucey disclosed we re right in the heart of that ALL ABOARD IN LOS ALTOS The Los Altos History Museum has added a sparse cars to its annual Train Day celebration which is taking place Sept from a m to p m The celebration is a little bit longer and a lot more loaded with sessions for train lovers and history buffs There s a concert of train-oriented songs at p m by singer-songwriter Michael McNevin old train films showing in the museum s upper gallery and even a robotics demonstration by high school teams with hands-on programs Admission is but free for museum members and kids and under Check it out at losaltoshistory org TrainDay Related Articles San Jose Museum of Art s new executive director wants to take institution to another level It s going to be a vintage weekend at History Park in San Jose The perfect storm that upended Japantown business owners dreams Viva CalleSJ will close nearly miles of streets this weekend as it wraps up its th year Alebrijes celebrations continue in downtown San Jose this weekend By the way you missed the train if you don t have tickets for Sarah and Isabel Two Sisters and their Dream Houses the Sept initiative about sisters Sarah Winchester and Isabel Merriman and their respective and quite different houses that made an impact in San Jose and Los Altos The talk given by Winchester Mystery House historian Janan Boehme is sold out but you can register to watch it on Zoom by going to www losaltoshistory org BUFFET OF BENEFITS So plenty of choices so little time Lots of people will likely be having that reaction at two upcoming nonprofit events that will feature a selection of mouthwatering dishes prepped by various of the valley s top chefs First there s Star Chefs and the Wines Spirits They Love a benefit for Momentum for Wellbeing on Sept at the GlassHouse in downtown San Jose There are restaurants taking part including Goodtime Bar The Bywater Orchard City Kitchen Eos Nyx CordeValle Odeum and Forbes Mill Steakhouse You can get all the details at momentumforhealth org starchefs- And then Hunger at Home is bringing its Bridge the Gap gala to the Corinthian Grand Ballroom in downtown San Jose on Sept The nonprofit which works to end hunger and food waste in the region will have a dozen chef-curated tasting stations along with a late-night culinary experience called Streets and Sweets The chefs for this one include Rodney Baca from The Shop by Chef Baca Sushi Confidential s Randy Musterer and Jamie Whitmire from Holy Cannoli If you re already hungry you can get tickets at hungerathome org SAINT FOR SILICON VALLEY Perhaps you heard that Pope Leo XIV broadcasted the canonization of the first millennial saint Carlo Acutis a teenage web designer and programmer who died of leukemia in He was popularly known as God s influencer and the Patron Saint of the Internet though that title already belongs to St Isidore of Seville a th century bishop Maybe St Carlo can be the patron saint of Silicon Valley instead Anyway I know who I ll be praying to the next time my laptop freezes up Pope Leo made another modern announcement that s a little closer to home The Rev Andres Andy C Ligot has been appointed as Auxiliary Bishop of the Diocese of San Jose Rev Ligot who was born in the Philippines is at the moment pastor of St Elizabeth of Portugal Parish in Milpitas