It may be winter, but warmth and energy fill the Diablo Symphony’s February 26 concert featuring Mendelssohn’s lyrical, virtuosic, and uplifting Violin Concerto in E Minor; Tchaikovsky’s ultimately celebratory Symphony No. 4; and, to honor Black History Month, Florence Price’s Dances in the Canebrakes, inspired by Black plantation songs and dances of the 1920s and ’30s. Continuing the DSO’s Jubilation (60th) Season, the program begins at 2:00 p.m. at the Lesher Center for the Arts. The concert brings Orinda native and extraordinary violinist Juliana Athayde—daughter of Bob Athayde, recently retired music director at Lafayette’s Stanley Middle School—back to the Bay Area for Mendelssohn’s masterpiece, described as “a vibrant source of pleasure.” Athayde made her solo debut with the San Francisco Symphony at age 16 and became the youngest person to be appointed concertmaster of the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra. She is also associate professor of violin at the Eastman School of Music. The program will be conducted by music director and conductor Matilda Hofman as well as “conduct the orchestra” auction winners Kathryn Crandell and Bill Rudiak.
Price’s Dances in the Canebrakes pays tribute to the dancing that gave relief to slaves after long days spent clearing thickets of cane. Composed for piano but revised for orchestra by Black composer William Grant Still after Price’s untimely death in 1953, the suite’s three movements—a rag in the style of Scott Joplin, a dreamy “nostalgic” dance, and a spirited “cakewalk”—take listeners away to an invigorating dance floor. Finally, Tchaikovsky’s Fourth Symphony, known for powerful melodic and rhythmic themes that, in turn, represent fate, suffering, melancholy, happiness, and even whimsy (illustrated by pizzicato strings throughout the third movement) brings the concert to a rousing close.
Advance Tickets are available at the Lesher Center for the Arts box office (925-943-7469) or by visiting https://www.diablosymphony.org/. Tickets are $40 for adults and $10 for youth 13–17. Children 12 and under are free but need a ticket, and a discounted ticket price of $30 is available for groups of 10 or more seniors ages 62 and up. Tickets will also be available at the door.