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DCA welcomes experienced singers of all levels and voice types. If you are interested in joining the chorus, please email info@dcachorus.org to schedule a meeting and informal audition with the Artistic Director.

Seasonal auditions take place twice a year in August and January, with limited additional dates available by appointment. DCA rehearsals resume in August 2024 on Monday evenings in Walnut Creek

Diablo Choral Artists (DCA) relies on the generous support of its patrons to continue providing choral concerts of artistic excellence. You can help support Diablo Choral Artists in a variety of ways: 

Become a sustaining donor or make a one-time contribution. You can easily make a donation to DCA at our website, dcachorus.org, or mail a donation (payable to “DCA”) to DCA, c/o 2095 Stratton Rd, Walnut Creek, CA 94598.

Donate a car – working or not! We work with a Rotary Club to participate in Cars2ndChance.org. Call 925-326-5868 to start the process; your car can be towed if it is not working, and forms will be filled out for you. 

Become a business or corporate sponsor.  We would love to talk with you about ways we can help promote your business! 

Join our Board of Directors  We welcome non-choir members to bring new ideas and perspectives to our Board, and we currently have vacancies. 

Volunteer your time in any of a variety of tasks.

Three Traditional Hymns

arr. Alice Parker (1925-2023)

A luminary in the world of American choral music, Alice Parker was a protégé and collaborator of the legendary conductor Robert Shaw. Her timeless arrangements of American hymns and folk tunes are revered for their pristine vocal textures, harmonic restraint and broad emotional palette. In the wake of Parker’s recent death in December 2023, the following selections offer a brief, but satisfying glimpse into the lasting American choral tradition Parker helped create.

Hark, I Hear the Harps Eternal (1965): with its jubilant refrain and rhythmic complexity, this beloved classic arrangement exudes joy and exuberance, evoking images of heavenly bliss and eternal praise.

Bright Canaan (1960): this simple tune is gradually developed in skillful repetitions, transporting all voices to the promised land. Parker captures the essence of a journey toward a brighter tomorrow with this radiant testament to collective hope and salvation.

Wondrous Love (1960): Parker’s tender rendition of this widely-known hymn is simply one of the best. With its delicate vocal nuances and surprising modal harmonies, this masterful setting explores the depths of divine compassion and spiritual redemption, inviting all listeners to experience the transformative power of love divine.

Five Hebrew Love Songs (2001)

Music by Eric Whitacre (b. 1970)

Renowned American composer Eric Whitacre invites us into a private world of passion and longing with these exquisite settings of Hebrew poetry. Arranged for mixed chorus and string quartet, each movement captures the essence of love in its myriad forms.

Temuná: With its haunting opening melody, "A Picture" speaks of timeless longing and desire from afar. Whitacre's ethereal harmonies envelop the listener, evoking a sense of yearning through angular vocal dips and melodic shifts.

Kalá, kallá: "Light Bride" explores the intoxicating dance of courtship and love, weaving together intricate melodies and rhythms that pulse with energy and romantic vitality. With its exuberant spirit and lively pace, the movement captures love’s joyous celebration and passionate embrace.

Laróv: Evoking images of moonlit nights and whispered promises, "Mostly" is a tender ode to the power of love's private enchantment. Gentle melodies with wide intervals and surprising harmonies create a sense of intimacy and warmth, wrapping the listener in a secret world of pure bliss.

Éyze shéleg!: With its delicate beauty and crystalline clarity, "What snow!" transports us to a quiet landscape adorned by the purity of winter’s first snowfall. Whitacre's expert use of spoken text and repeating neutral syllables create a stunning portrait of reverence and awe-inspiring wonder.

Rakút: With a fervent, simple declaration of love's enduring strength, "Tenderness" is a testament to the resilience of the human heart. With chromatic melodies and alternating rhythmic pulses, Whitacre celebrates the transformative power of love, closing the cycle with material from the opening measures, a musical gesture reminiscent of a warm embrace.

NOTE FROM COMPOSER

In the spring of 1996, my great friend and brilliant violinist Friedemann Eichhorn invited me and my girlfriend-at-the-time Hila Plitmann (a soprano) to give a concert with him in his home city of Speyer, Germany. We had all met that year as students at the Juilliard School, and were inseparable.

Because we were appearing as a band of traveling musicians, ‘Friedy’ asked me to write a set of troubadour songs for piano, violin and soprano. I asked Hila (who was born and raised in Jerusalem) to write me a few ‘postcards’ in her native tongue, and a few days later she presented me with these exquisite and delicate Hebrew poems. I set them while we vacationed in a small skiing village in the Swiss Alps, and we performed them for the first time a week later in Speyer. Each of the songs captures a moment that Hila and I shared together. Kalá Kallá (which means ‘light bride’) was a pun I came up with while she was first teaching me Hebrew. The bells at the beginning of Éyze Shéleg! are the exact pitches that awakened us each morning in Germany as they rang from a nearby cathedral.

Texts and Translations by Hila Plitmann (b. 1973)

From Five English Folk Songs (1913)

arr. Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958)

Ralph Vaughan Williams, master of British folk song settings, invites us on a journey through the English seaside in this beloved collection of partsongs. Deceptively simple for even the most advanced choruses, their distinct melodies and elaborate rhythmic harmonizations capture the complexities of rural life during times of joy, sorrow, struggle and relief.

The Dark-Eyed Sailor: In the midst of rolling waves and windswept shores, the opening tune spins a tale of love found, lost and regained. Playing the parts of young lady, returning sailor and quiet narrator, the chorus quickly trades weaving melodies throughout the scene.

The Spring Time of the Year: This melancholic movement unfolds gently and lovingly, much like a distant memory. Framed by steady, minor-mode harmonies and a stunning wordless tenor solo, Vaughan Williams paints a simple, muted picture of two young lovers, as witnessed by an unknown observer.

Just as the Tide Was Flowing: Set beside the rushing waters of a bustling stream, this dance-like tune captures the energetic bursts of love-at-first-sight courtship. An opening march-like melody introduces a young romantic sailor as he sets first sights upon the fair beloved. After trading pleasantries, they move closer and closer together as the music accelerates and builds to a stirring, dizzying climax.

Three Mexican Folk Songs (2013)

arr. David Conte (b. 1955)

San Francisco Symphony originally commissioned David Conte’s Three Mexican Folk Songs for a “Día de los Muertos” concert. The work pays homage to Mexico’s rich musical heritage and sensitively explores the complex cultural relationship Mexicans have with death and the afterlife. Scored for mixed chorus, guitar, two violins and double bass, this trilogy has since become one of the prolific Bay-Area composer’s most frequently performed works.

La Martiniana: With insistent, pleading melodies, an unnamed narrator urges those who remain on earth not to weep for the dead, and to sing instead. Musical offerings to the deceased, like those of food, flowers and liquor, are common in Mexican culture. The song also suggests that our connection to passed loved ones can be permanently severed if we do not work to strengthen it.

La Bruja: Featuring rousing images of “flying high,” erotic transformations and tempting, vampire-like succubi, this well-known tune playfully evokes our darkest fears and deepest desires. The music alternates between slowly whirling, chromatic verses and rollicking choruses as the narrator runs towards and away from a mysterious, irresistible woman. The song suggests a delicate balance between life’s pleasures and death’s dangers, as we venture away from daytime safety to explore the hidden world of the night.

La Llorona: This mythic and legendary figure permeates much of Mexican culture. Often told as a cautionary ghost story, the tragic tale of a beautiful weeping woman takes various forms and haunts many dreams. In this setting, a nameless stranger likens her to the Blessed Virgin as she is seen leaving a city temple. The narrator pours out their heart to her, proclaiming their own pain and deep suffering. Has the weeping woman found her next victim or the one who will finally ease her suffering? As the music suggests, perhaps two things can be true at once.

  Translations by Luis González

From Old American Songs (1950-1952)

arr. Aaron Copland (1900-1990)

With his two collections of “Old American Songs,” Aaron Copland created an instant classic of American concert music. Originally conceived for solo voice and piano, these songs now exist in a myriad of choral arrangements for upper, lower and mixed voices. Featuring lively melodies and spirited rhythms, Copland successfully illustrates the resilience and vitality of the American spirit.

The Dodger: With bouncing rhythms full of mischievous charm, this 19th-century tune captures the irrepressible spirit of a wily trickster. Copland's playful melody and toe-tapping rhythms encourage light-hearted, but cautious attitudes towards anyone who is trying to sell you something.

Simple Gifts: Copland sets this classic Shaker song in familiar harmonies, with added rhythmic punctuations and contrapuntal development throughout. As the music shifts and briefly suspends before the end of each chorus, we are gently reminded to change pace and strive to return to “simplicity and grace.”

I Bought Me a Cat: With its whimsical lyrics and irresistible rhythms, this “children’s nonsense song” offers a playful romp through an animal barnyard. Copland’s idiomatic piano underscores and characterizes this fun and raucous number throughout.

The Little Horses: This tender lullaby floats softly above gentle harmonies pulsed by the piano. Faster middle sections evoke galloping horses of the wild west as the music suddenly shifts and returns to a more placid and serene pace.

Zion’s Walls: This Baptist Revivalist song captures the enduring strength of spiritual community. With stirring melodies and dramatic contrasts, Copland evokes a sense of reverence and awe, inviting listeners to join the chorus with renewed faith and passion.

At the River: With its broad, sweeping melodies, lush, transparent harmonies and full, symphonic texture, Copland elevates this beloved hymn to an impassioned rallying cry for collective action. The rhapsodic music moves beyond visions of preordained salvation, underscoring our potential to “reach the shining river” together in this lifetime, not the next.

Founded in 1993 by Kathleen Flemming as Voices of Musica Sacra, Diablo Choral Artists (DCA) is the Diablo Valley’s premiere mixed-voice community chamber chorus. With a vast repertoire spanning nearly eight centuries, the ensemble performs a wide variety of classical, popular and contemporary choral music. Major milestones and collaborations include: holiday and pops concerts with California Symphony; Carmina burana with Diablo Symphony; Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with Napa Valley College; international singing tours to England, Ireland, Italy, Germany and Austria; as well as three world premieres: Lee Holdridge’s The Golden Land: A California Cantata (2000), Jean Françaix’s Deux motets (2012) and Brett Carson’s Et conversus sum ut viderem vocem (2023).

Now entering its fourth decade, DCA continues to inspire Contra Costa County audiences with uplifting, engaging and innovative choral performances designed for the 21st century.

Members Emeriti: Joanne Brady, Anne Burcell, Sue Cevasco†, Pat Cooper, Bob Dixon, Stell Eriksen†, Lynn Finegan†, Ann Kenfield Graf†, Dottie Hoorneart, Susan Lipscomb†, Laurie & Dave Neuenschwander, Genia Pauplis, Ellen Schloenvogt, Pat Rezak, Mary Rinehart†, Mary Wallace

Honorary Members: Chuck Brady†, Steven Mattingly, Bob Rezak†, Claire Schloenvogt† 

We thank the generous donors and collaborators who have supported Diablo Choral Artists in 2023-2024

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