‘Serenade to Music’

Symphony San José Chorale and Symphony San José, under the direction of Elena Sharkova, will perform “Serenade to Music,” a program of choral-orchestral music featuring works from Jake Runestad and Martín Palmeri, on Saturday, April 12, at 7:30 p.m. The concert takes place at Mission Santa Clara on the campus of Santa Clara University, 500 El Camino Real, Santa Clara.

“Misa a Buenos Aires” by Argentine composer Martín Palmeri is scored for a chorale, string ensemble and piano, and features the bandoneon. This piece injects tango rhythms and Latin American groove into the Latin mass.

Also on the program is Runestad’s “The Secret of the Sea,” with lyrics drawn from Whitman, Longfellow and Inuit mythology. Runestad said his work “questions the meaning of existence while evoking the sights and sounds of the sea.”

Tickets are $25-$45 at 408-286-2600 or www.symphonysanjose.org.

Swashbuckling opera

Opera San José is wrapping up its 41st season with the Northern California premiere of Héctor Armienta’s “Zorro.”

David Radamés Toro will make his OSJ debut staging the production, while Argentinian conductor Jorge Parodi, who last conducted “Rigoletto” for OSJ, will return to the podium.

Inspired by California’s masked protector of the poor and disenfranchised created by Johnston McCulley, this swashbuckling opera is set in the early 1800s in El Pueblo de Los Ángeles, still a colony of Spain. Armienta’s score is influenced by mariachi, flamenco and corrido music.

“Zorro” runs April 19- May 4 at the California Theatre, 345 S. First St. in downtown San Jose. Tickets are $58-$215 at operasj.org or 408-437-4450