There's a folktale of red shoes that compelled their wearer to dance herself to death; the red violin of this story affects its owners more benevolently, but no less passionately. The film follows a 17th-century master craftsman's greatest creation, a perfect red violin, through several centuries and across continents, from the hands of one virtuoso to another.

John Corigliano's music for the film, which beautifully showcased the "star" of the title, won the 2000 Oscar for best score. His Chaconne for Violin and Orchestra from The Red Violin sets the tone for the symphony's concert of magical strings, featuring guest conductor Patrick Flynn and soloist Robin Mayforth on violin.

Mayforth, who is also the symphony's concertmaster, received her BA and MA from the Juilliard School and has taught at Stanford and Santa Clara universities. She is an avid supporter of chamber music and the founding second violinist of the award-winning Lark Quartet.

The symphony will also perform Tchaikovsky's dramatic Symphony No. 5 and English Folk Song Suite, one of Ralph Vaughan Williams' best-known works. This mostly 20th-century program will also include a work that was composed on the eve of the next century (and millennium): Jennifer Higdon's 1999 piece Fanfare Ritmico, a celebration of the hustle and bustle of everyday living and an exploration of the ever-increasing pace of modern life.

Mission Chamber Orchestra

For its second offering of the season, the Mission Chamber Orchestra presents a concert that's diverse in its selections and performers. "Bergen to Beijing" is a program that explores Eastern and Western music with performances that bring young singers and musicians and seasoned soloists together on stage. The concert takes place Nov. 6 at Le Petit Trianon in downtown San Jose.

Piedmont Hills High School String Orchestra joins the Mission Chamber Orchestra for Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg's Holberg Suite, a late 19th-century work written to evoke the style of a 17th-century dance suite.

YangQin Zhao, virtuoso of the Chinese dulcimer, is featured in the world première of Kui Dong's Suite for Yang qin and Chamber Orchestra, which may be the first-ever piece written for Chinese dulcimer and orchestra. Zhao, who won China's highest award in a nationwide competition for folk music instrumentalists, seems destined for her career--she was named for the very instrument that she has become renowned for playing.

Gustav Mahler's The Lonely One in Autumn, a work particularly suited for chamber music from his symphony-like song cycle "The Song of the Earth," incorporates vocals into the music, with German translation of verses by Chinese poet Chang Tsi. Accomplished alto singer Wendy Hillhouse is the featured soloist in The Lonely One in Autumn. The Bay Area­based Hillhouse has performed around the world and with such prestigious companies as the Metropolitan Opera. She was recently seen at the Cabrillo Music Festival in Lou Harrison's Rapunzel and in a return engagement at the Utah Opera in the new work Cold Sassy Tree.

The Mission Chamber Orchestra will also perform Duo Ye, a work for chamber orchestra by Chen Yi; Mozart's Symphony No. 25, parts of which audiences may recognize from the film Amadeus; and Third Movement from String Quintet No. 2, which composer Shueh-shuan Liu transcribed for string orchestra at the request of Mission Chamber Orchestra Director Emily Ray. The Crystal Children's Choir will also be featured in the concert.

Symphony Silicon Valley presents "The Red Violin" Oct. 30­31 at the California Theatre, 345 S. First St., San Jose. Tickets are $32­$72. For more information, call 408.286.2600 or see www.symphonysanjose.org. The Mission Chamber Orchestra presents "Bergen to Beijing" Nov. 6 at Le Petit Trianon, 72 N. Fifth St., San Jose. Tickets are $5­$18 (or $5­$16 in advance from the website). For more information, call 408.293.6060 or see
www.missionchamber.org.