ALAMOSA — The SLV Community Band and soloist Brooke Miller, under the direction of Kerry Hart, gave a rousing performance at Adams State University on Nov. 2 in Richardson Hall. 

The program included “Shenandoah” by American composer Frank Ticheli. In his program notes, the composer said of the work, "In my setting of ‘Shenandoah,’ I was inspired by the freedom and beauty of the melody and by the natural images evoked by the words, especially the image of a river, I was less concerned with the sound of a rolling river than with life-affirming energy — its timelessness." 

In an interview with the Valley Courier published in May, Ticheli said, "When I think about how I find inner peace, I find it through music." 

In a solo performance, Miller on clarinet offered a stellar interpretation of "Introduction, Theme, and Variations for Clarinet and Orchestra…Gioacchino Rossini," adapted by Kerry Hart. 

In a rousing finale, Miller joined the band in "America the Beautiful." This patriotic piece has its roots in Colorado, and the lyrics were originally a poem by Katherine Lee Bates titled "Pikes Peak." According to a history of the composition by the National Park Service, when Bates reached the top of Pikes Peak in 1893, her exhaustion was replaced by joy, and she wrote the poem later that day.