Italy's opera houses may be an ocean away, but the Stockton Symphony's next concert brings that musical world into conversation with a voice from home. At Viva Italia!, a waltz by Stockton composer Joan Cortopassi will share the program with Verdi, Puccini and Rossini, giving the orchestra's centennial season a particularly local point of connection.
Music director and conductor Peter Jaffe leads the Sunday, November 8, performance at 2:30 p.m. in Atherton Auditorium at San Joaquin Delta College. Soprano Bianca Orsi and baritone Roberto Perlas Gomez join the orchestra for a program that moves between operatic characters, lyrical melodies and the expansive orchestral landscape of Ottorino Respighi's Pines of Rome.
A Stockton composition in an Italian musical conversation
Cortopassi's Honeymoon Waltz gives listeners a hometown name to listen for among the Italian repertoire. The Symphony identifies her as a Stockton composer, and the work also has a place in Jaffe's conducting history. His published list of world premieres includes her Luna di miele, or “Honeymoon,” Waltz in the 2002–2003 season. Its return offers a connection between the orchestra's earlier music-making and its hundredth-year celebration.
The local ties extend beyond the concert program. In a 2024 family essay published by HERLIFE, Cortopassi's daughter Becky Cortopassi Carlson described Joan and Dino Cortopassi as having grown up in Stockton and married in 1958. The Pacific Italian Alliance lists Joan and Dino among its founders. Those connections place the composer's name within the region's continuing Italian cultural life, where family history and community institutions keep heritage present.
For San Joaquin County audiences, that makes this more than an afternoon of music associated with another country. A locally connected composition stands alongside the familiar works, inviting listeners to hear Stockton as a contributor to the tradition.
Two voices bring opera's personalities to the stage
Orsi and Gomez provide the afternoon's vocal dimension. The announced selections include Musetta's Waltz from Puccini's La bohème, “Largo al factotum” and “Dunque io son” from Rossini's The Barber of Seville, and “O luce di quest'anima” from Donizetti's Linda di Chamounix. The program also includes “O sole mio.”
Rather than following a single opera from curtain to curtain, the audience will encounter a series of contrasting musical scenes. The change between solo voices and orchestra gives first-time opera listeners several ways into the music, while regular concertgoers can hear familiar selections in the context of a broader Italian-themed afternoon.
From Verdi's drama to Respighi's orchestral color
The orchestra has a substantial story of its own to tell. Verdi's overture to La forza del destino and the Triumphal March from Aida are on the announced program, along with Ponchielli's Dance of the Hours from La Gioconda. These selections balance the vocal works with orchestral writing on a larger scale.
The finale is Respighi's Pines of Rome. The Symphony specifically promises offstage brass, an element that expands the listening experience beyond the musicians directly in front of the audience. Following the intimacy of a waltz and the personalities of opera, that finale gives the program a different sense of space.
In a centennial season, such contrasts also show the range of an orchestra's role in a community. It can revisit widely known repertoire, give guest singers a stage and keep the work of a Stockton composer in circulation, all within one concert.
Planning an afternoon at Atherton
The organizer's confirmed start time is 2:30 p.m. The Symphony's ticketing site lists a $17–$71 ticket range. Visit Stockton separately lists students and children at $12 and adults from $17; patrons should confirm discount eligibility, fees and current seats with the Symphony box office at (209) 951-0196 before purchasing. The official event page does not give a performance end time.
Event Details
- Event: Stockton Symphony: Viva Italia!
- Date: Sunday, November 8, 2026
- Time: 2:30 p.m.; an official end time has not been announced.
- Location: Atherton Auditorium, San Joaquin Delta College, 5151 Pacific Avenue, Stockton
- Admission: Official ticketing lists $17–$71. Visit Stockton lists $12 student and children's tickets; confirm eligibility, fees and availability with the box office at (209) 951-0196.
- More Information/Tickets: Stockton Symphony's official Viva Italia! event page
For an orchestra marking a century in Stockton, the afternoon offers a fitting exchange: music that has traveled far, a composition with roots close to home and a local audience bringing both into the same room.