SAN JOSE, Calif. — Symphony San Jose opens its 25th anniversary season this weekend, celebrating a huge milestone since the orchestra’s “rebirth” following the demise of the old San Jose Symphony. But the symphony isn’t just reflecting on its past this season — it’s also taking a big step toward its future.

This month, Symphony San Jose announced its inaugural class of Artistic Partners: conductors Nathan Aspinall and Tatsuya Shimono and pianist Jon Nakamatsu. They’re all familiar with the orchestra and the majestic California Theatre: Aspinall will conduct two concerts this season, and Shimono will have the baton for January’s “Pictures at an Exhibition,” featuring Nakamatsu, who’s made no fewer than 15 appearance with his hometown orchestra.

They’ll work with Executive Artistic Director Robert Massey and the symphony board’s Artistic Committee to shape the orchestra’s programming and identity over the coming seasons.

“Symphony San Jose has always believed that great orchestras aren’t built around a single name at the podium — they’re built around relationships,” said Massey, who has led the organization since 2022. “Nathan, Tatsuya, and Jon are three artists we already trust deeply, and this partnership lets us go further with them: shaping programs together, taking real artistic risks and building something with a distinct identity over time.”

While this season marks a quarter-century for Symphony San Jose, the city’s orchestral roots go back to 1877. The volunteer orchestra that became the San Jose Symphony thrived for more than a century but found itself burdened by debt as the 21st century dawned. It ceased operations in October 2001 and was dissolved by bankruptcy in December 2002.

By that time, though, Ballet San Jose’s Andrew Bales had stitched together the ballet’s orchestra with displaced symphony musicians to create something new: Symphony San Jose Silicon Valley, which was shortened to Symphony Silicon Valley the following season and in 2021 was rebranded as Symphony San Jose. Bales retired the following season.

The first of its four concerts that inaugural season was Nov. 22, 2002, and the program included Antonin Dvorak’s “New World Symphony,” which is being reprised for this season’s opening concert, “The New World: America at 250,” conducted by Ken-David Masur. The performances, 7:30 p.m. Saturday and 2:30 p.m. Sunday, also will feature a suite from Aaron Copland’s “Billy the Kid” and the Bay Area premiere of “Rhapsody on America” by Jonathan Leshnoff, which Symphony San Jose co-commissioned and will feature Joyce Yang on piano.

The rest of the season is filled with crowd pleasers, with conductor Peter Jaffe returning for the popular Symphonic Spooktacular Oct. 24-25; Merry Mozart (with Aspinall conducting) Dec. 5-6; two shows with New Ballet, including “The San Jose Nutcracker”; and a film-and-concert of “Star Wars: A New Hope” on April 10-11, 2027. It all leads up to the “Ode to Joy” finale June 5-6 showcasing Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. You can get the full rundown on the season at www.symphonysanjose.org.

Cultural connection

The Little Italy Festival in San Jose on Sunday is once again showcasing Italian supercars like Ferraris and Lamborghinis, but this year there’ll be some American classics on display, too, thanks to Goombah’s Car Club. Once you’ve had your fill of the cars, you can check out the festival’s live entertainment, which includes Italian tenor Pasquale Esposito performing at 3:15 p.m.

As usual, there’ll be plenty of food and wine tasting at the Little Italy Museum as well as lots of family-friendly crafts and other activities. This year’s festival, which runs 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., is dedicated to Chris Bertucelli, co-owner of La Villa deli in Willow Glen, who died at age 47 in February. You can get more details on the festival at www.littleitalysj.com.

Artistic weekend

Japanese artist Kensuke Takahashi painted an amazing mural on Empire Seven Studios‘ building in Japantown for the 2025 San Jose Walls festival featuring Shinto deities in the form of a tiger, a monkey and birds. He is returning to San Jose for his first solo exhibition in Northern California. The show, “Yaoyorozu,” opens Saturday with a 6 p.m. reception at Empire Seven, 525 N. Seventh St., and runs through Nov. 29.

And don’t forget this week marks the return of the First Fridays art walk in downtown San Jose, centered around the galleries and other venues in the SoFA district. There are new exhibitions at the Museum of Quilts and Textiles, the ICA San Jose, Works/San Jose and Chopsticks Alley, among others. You can get the full lineup at www.southfirstfridays.com.

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