The crisp autumn air brings change in many ways -
especially in colors and moods.

The Contra Costa Wind Symphony opened its 2003-04 season with a performance that celebrated autumn. It featured new works by rising composers and spotlighted two of its principal musicians.

Principal clarinetist John Pangia set the mood with James Barnes' Autumn Soliloquy.

Principal trombonist and Alphorn virtuoso Billy Robinson doned his lederhosen to be "Octoberfestive" with his 12-foot-long horn in Dennis Armitage's Alphorn Serenade. If you hadn't heard a beautifully sonorous melody from one of these grand instruments, especially with Wind Symphony accompaniment, this probably was a wonderful surprise!

A particularly fun piece was the reprise of Arachnia from Steven Reineke’s Mt. Diablo: A Symphonic Portrait, which the group commissioned and premiered two years ago. It tells the whimsical story of an autumn day in the life of a Mt. Diablo tarantula.

Continuing its mission of presenting new works by rising stars of composition for wind symphony, the group performed selections by American composers Roger Cichy and Eric Whitacre, and London-born Philip Sparke.

And with a look toward the approach of Halloween, the performance closed with another new work by Reineke, Pilatus: Mountain of Dragons.

For a complete program listing click here.