Thursday, September 10, 2026

Candlelit Evening of Ennio Morricone Scores Arrives at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Joseph

The unforgettable film music of Ennio Morricone will fill the Cathedral Basilica of St. Joseph in Downtown San Jose on Thursday, October 29, when a candlelit piano and strings program makes its California premiere. Five musicians—a string quartet and pianist—will perform a 70-minute selection of the composer’s most iconic scores beneath the basilica’s great dome, with doors opening at 7:00 p.m. and the concert beginning at 7:30 p.m.

Listeners can expect themes that have stayed with audiences long after the credits rolled, including the haunting whistle and guitar of The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, the soaring Ecstasy of Gold, the tender melodies from Cinema Paradiso, Gabriel’s Oboe from The Mission, and selections from Once Upon a Time in America, Once Upon a Time in the West, The Untouchables, and more. The intimate arrangement lets every phrase and silence register clearly inside the resonant space.

Candlelight, a specially designed lighting installation, and the basilica’s historic architecture will frame the music. The building, whose parish roots reach back to 1803 and whose present structure dates to 1877, offers stained-glass windows, a rare 1886 Odell organ, and acoustics that give the scores an added luminous quality. The production, which has already toured European cathedrals and concert halls, arrives in San Jose as a quiet, focused alternative to larger orchestral evenings.

Tickets start at $45 and are available through Eventbrite. Public parking sits in nearby Downtown garages, and early arrival is recommended. This single evening offers a chance to experience cinema’s most memorable melodies in one of the city’s most striking sacred spaces.

Tickets and further details are available on Eventbrite.

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