Favorite Food - Lobster

Favorite Movies - "Wizard of Oz."

Favorite Song - "I Wanna Hold Your Hand."

Favorite Places - Kauai.

Favorite Things To Do - Cooking.

Car I Would Drive If Money Was No Object - Purple Porsche.

Barbara Day Turner - Director of Music

Conductor Barbara Day Turner is founder and music director of the San José Chamber Orchestra, now in its 18th season. An ardent advocate for new music, the orchestra has premiered more than 40 new works in its short life. Maestra Day Turner's resume includes almost 100 operas and musical theater pieces. Most recently she has conducted Madama Butterfly, The Secret Garden, and Wizard of OZ for Utah Festival Opera, La Perichole for West Bay Opera (Palo Alto) and Funny Girl for American Musical Theatre San Jose. Maestra Day Turner has appeared with Opera Memphis and Nashville Opera, the Rudolstadt (Germany), San José, Fayetteville and Diablo Valley Symphonys, Opera Festival New Jersey, the Rheinsberg Festival (Berlin), 42nd Street Moon and Z Space in San Francisco, the opera companies of Billings (MT), Boise, Medford (OR) and Taconic Opera in upstate New York. She is also a board member of the Steinway Society of The Bay Area.

Maestra Day Turner's background includes many years (18) as conductor and artistic administrator of Opera San José and an alter-ego musical life as a harpsichordist. She holds a masters degree in harpsichord performance from San José State University, with advanced study with the legendary Fernando Valenti.

While at Opera San José she conducted the world premiere of operas by Henry Mollicone, Alva Henderson, Craig Bohmler and George Roumanis, as well as repertoire pieces including Handel, Mozart, Rossini, Puccini, Bizet, Verdi, Britten, etc. Maestra Day Turner's upcoming engagements include the world premiere of Alva Handerson and Dana Gioia's Nosferatu (a co-production by the opera companies of Billings and Boise), an appearance with the Billings Symphony as music director candidate, Threepenny Opera with West Bay Opera, Turandot and Annie Get Your Gun with Utah Festival Opera (where she serves as music administrator) and her Portland Opera debut, in 2006, conducting John Adams' Nixon In China.

Maestra Day Turner has been married to an Argentine-American opera director for 22 years.

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