Echoes of Resilience
A Note from Music Director Candidate Ian Passmore
"This program is one I’m really excited about. It tells a story about moving from darkness and grief, to perseverance and dealing with fate, and finally to beauty, nature, and the triumph of the human spirit. It takes you from darkness to light— it has a really great arc."
What's interesting about this concert:
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Of Our New Day Begun kicks the door open with purpose. It’s powerful, heartfelt, and thoroughly contemporary. At its core is the hymn “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” often called the Black National Anthem, treated with reverence and creativity.
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Schicksalslied is Brahms at his most luminous. Based on a poem by Friedrich Hölderlin, it contrasts the serene lives of the gods with the suffering of mortals. We are joined by the Symphonic Choir for this piece!
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Shades and Illumination is this season's selection from our Second Performance Project. This piece feels like a journey through American musical history. It’s vivid, colorful, rhythmically alive, and emotionally grounded.
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The “swan hymn” from Symphony No. 5 came to Sibelius while walking, after seeing sixteen swans take flight all at once. He called it a miracle. That theme builds to one of the most astonishing endings in orchestral music: six massive, widely spaced chords that land like thunderclaps across a canyon, leaving you stunned and exhilarated. It’s bold, unconventional, and completely unforgettable.
Concert Details
DATE & TIME
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Saturday, Apr 18 2025 7:30pm
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DURATION
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1 hour, 31 minutes
(includes 20-min. intermission)
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Concerts Should Be Fun
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Bring wine and desserts to your seat
The free pre-concert talk begins at 6:30 in the theater
Clap when you hear something you like
Phones on and in silent mode allowed
The Program
Echoes of Resilience
Symphonic Choir
The Great Falls Symphony's Symphonic Choir performs a wide variety of choral repertoire, ranging from major works performed with the Great Falls Symphony Orchestra, to challenging a capella literature. Membership in the choir comes from the broad Great Falls area and reflects the diversity and talents of our community and the region.
SEASON SPONSORED BY
What You'll Hear
The finale’s main theme, often called the “Swan Hymn”, was inspired by Sibelius watching 16 swans flying overhead near his home in Järvenpää. He described it in his diary as a “swan flight, a triumph.” The soaring, noble horn theme captures that vision and has become one of his most iconic melodies. This piece can be heard in the TV series Mozart in the Jungle in Season 3, Episode 3.
About the Music
PROGRAM NOTES BY IAN PASSMORE
Fun Fact: Omar Thomas is a classically trained composer who’s arranged music for Beyoncé tribute bands, taught at Berklee and the University of Texas, and once led a funk/R&B horn band. Basically: part professor, part party-starter.
This piece kicks the door open with purpose. It’s powerful, heartfelt, and thoroughly contemporary. But
don’t let the modern harmonies or dense orchestration fool you—this is music steeped in history and meaning. At its core is the hymn “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” often called the Black National Anthem, treated with reverence and creativity.
Written in response to the 2015 Charleston church shooting, the piece is more than a reaction to
tragedy—it’s a tribute to resilience, community, and the pursuit of joy in the face of injustice. Thomas weaves gospel rhythms, jazz harmonies, and moments of cathartic explosion into a tightly structured narrative full of grief, defiance, and hope. It’s a work that moves and stirs in equal measure, drawing us into a journey that honors the past while challenging the present. The emotional weight of the piece is matched only by its musical ingenuity, and the result is a deeply moving statement of purpose.
Of Our New Day Begun
2015, 2020
Omar Thomas
b. 1984
12 MINUTES
Personal Note: I grew up a "band kid," and I like to stay connected to that world. Omar Thomas is a towering figure in contemporary band music, and this was the piece that really put him on the map. I was thrilled when I found out it had been transcribed for orchestra—and even more thrilled to bring it to Great Falls. It reflects my commitment to accessible, contemporary American music that speaks to where we are right now.
Fun Fact: As a teenager, Brahms supported his family by playing piano in Hamburg’s taverns – and possibly even a brothel or two! His early gigs were less tuxedo, more beer hall.
Schicksalslied is Brahms at his most luminous. Based on a poem by Friedrich Hölderlin, it contrasts the
serene lives of the gods with the suffering of mortals. Not exactly cheerful, but Brahms handles it with
tenderness and restraint.
The choral writing is rich and flowing, with orchestration that envelops the voices rather than merely accompanying. The harmonic transitions are seamless, the textures layered, and the pacing natural. Brahms achieves something remarkable here: a musical setting that manages to elevate the emotional meaning of the poetry without overpowering it. And the ending – after the choir finishes, Brahms returns to the glowing, wordless music of the opening. It’s as if he's saying, "Yes, life is hard, but beauty endures."
Schicksalslied
Song of Destiny
1871
Johannes Brahms
1833 – 1897
16 MINUTES
Personal Note: Brahms is my favorite composer – the perfect blend of romantic passion and classical form.
Schicksalslied is a piece I return to often, and getting to share it here with the Great Falls Symphonic Choir
makes it even more meaningful. Also: choral Brahms? Goosebumps every time.
Fun Fact: Nancy Hill Cobb has conducted orchestras, choirs, and musical theatre productions – sometimes all in the same week! Her music reflects that versatility, drawing from many traditions.
Shades and Illumination feels like a journey through American musical history. There are echoes of mid-20th-century band composers like Vincent Persichetti and Morton Gould, fused with Cobb’s fresh, unmistakable voice. It’s vivid, colorful, rhythmically alive, and emotionally grounded.
Textures shift, rhythms snap, harmonies surprise – but Cobb keeps the arc clear. She guides us from
shadow to light, ambiguity to clarity, always with a sure hand. It’s a work of compelling contrast – subtle but never bland, striking but never showy. There’s an elegance to how the piece unfolds, balancing moments of tension with those of genuine uplift. You don’t just hear the resolution – you feel it.
Shades and Illumination
2023
THE GREAT FALLS SYMPHONY’S
SECOND PERFORMANCE PROJECT
Nancy Hill Cobb
1951-
11 MINUTES
Personal Note: Shades and Illumination is the winner of the Great Falls Symphony’s Second Performance Project, and I’m thrilled to bring it to life. Though I didn’t program it myself, I was drawn immediately to Cobb’s voice. It resonates with the mid-century band music I grew up with – like Persichetti – but also feels modern and uniquely her own.
Fun Fact: Sibelius had a legendary persona in Finland. One of the most charming (though probably
apocryphal) stories is that he once entered a look-alike contest of himself – and came in second.
The Fifth Symphony is Sibelius’s love letter to the natural world. You can hear the Nordic landscape in
every phrase: vast skies, icy stillness, bursts of sun through clouds. But it’s also introspective – as if he’s
contemplating not just nature, but his place within it.
The first movement unfolds like a sunrise, gradually revealing itself. The second is graceful and lyrical,
with a kind of folk-like warmth. But the finale – that’s where it all comes together. The “swan hymn” (first
introduced by the horns) came to Sibelius while walking, after seeing sixteen swans take flight all at once. He called it a miracle. That theme builds to one of the most astonishing endings in orchestral music: six massive, widely spaced chords that land like thunderclaps across a canyon, leaving you stunned and exhilarated. It’s bold, unconventional, and completely unforgettable.
Symphony No. 5 in E-flat Major
1915, rev. 1919
Jean Sibelius
1865-1957)
32 MINUTES
Personal Note: Sibelius is the natural next step after Brahms—combining romantic expression with a bold
modern edge. Of his seven symphonies, the Fifth most fully captures his evolution. It’s overwhelming, uplifting, and yes, a little weird—which makes it perfect for this orchestra, this region, and, well… this moment. I’m a candidate for music director here, so you’re watching a job interview play out in real time. Nothing like conducting a transcendent Nordic masterpiece while wondering if everyone’s taking notes. Awkward? Sure. But I wouldn’t have it any other way.