The Diablo Symphony Orchestra opens its Diamond (60th) Jubilee Season on Sunday, October 23, 2022, with Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 1 (“Titan”) and Aaron Copland’s “Canticle of Freedom,” featuring the San Ramon Valley Chorale, Bruce Koliha, Director. Titled “Celebration,” the concert begins at 2:00 p.m. at the Lesher Center for the Arts. Themes of struggle, freedom, and triumph permeate the program, which also features pianist Randall Benway as a special guest in a surprise piece and Nicholas Weathers, winner of the DSO’s 2021–2022 Yen Liang Young Artist Competition, in the adagio movement of Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto.
Copland’s 1955 work encapsulates the concept of freedom throughout with a pervasive rhythmic pattern rooted in the word freedom itself, with the words “Freedom is a noble thing!” proclaimed in the finale. And Mahler’s Symphony No. 1, with alternating and sometimes layered themes and rhythms that portray a recurring struggle against darkness, ultimately ends in celebration. A spirited “Ländler” dance movement reflects the composer’s love of traditional folk music, a funeral procession quotes the song “Frère Jacques,” and the finale’s storm dissolves in light as the horns stand for a jubilant conclusion.
The San Ramon Valley Chorale was founded in 2016 when Director Bruce Koliha and his former student Hayden Padgett gathered alumni from Monte Vista and San Ramon Valley High Schools and other area singers to form a unique vocal group that continues to draw on the area’s deep vocal and musical excellence.