Palouse Choral Society’s Presentation of Mozart’s Requiem
March 16, 2017
The Palouse Choral Society is proud to present a masterwork that may be familiar to classical music lovers across the Quad Cities. This great final work of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, entitled Requiem (Levin Completion), was featured in the final dramatic scenes of the award-winning film, Amadeus (1984). The concert will be presented on Friday, April 7 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, April 9 at 4:00 p.m. at St. Boniface Catholic Church in Uniontown, Washington. Performers will include: the Palouse Choral Society Chorale, the LCSC Concert Choir, the Palouse Choral Society Festival Orchestra, and four featured soloists, all under the direction of Dr. Sarah J. Graham, Artistic and Music Director of the Palouse Choral Society.
The full name of this master work is actually The Requiem Mass in D Minor (K.626). Mozart composed it in Vienna in 1791 and intimated to his wife that he feared he was writing this piece for his own funeral. Indeed, he was unable to finish it before he died in December of that year. The version of the requiem that will be performed at this concert is the one which Robert Levin, a modern, Harvard-trained musicologist and fortepianist, composed to “complete” Mozart’s work and which he felt stayed true to the themes of the original Requiem. (Mozart was able to complete only one-third of this work.)
Among the featured soloists in Mozart’s Requiem is soprano Tracy Marie Koch, who appears regularly with the Illinois State University Civic Chorale and has an extensive background as a singer, actress, and dancer. She is currently staff director for the Midwest Institute of Opera and owner/teacher of the Koch Private Studio of Voice and Piano in Bloomington, IL.
Mezzo-Soprano Ann Benson is a Spokane native and enjoys performing and collaborating with artists throughout the Inland Northwest. She has appeared in many musical theatre productions in the area and has also been a featured soloist with the Northwest Bach Festival. She currently works in Spokane as Director of Children’s Arts at St. Mark’s Lutheran Church and maintains a voice studio.
The tenor soloist is Dr. Timothy Westerhaus, the director of choirs and vocal studies at Gonzaga University where he also teaches conducting, choral methods, and sacred music. He also performs as a pianist and harpsichordist with professional orchestras and leads baroque ensembles from the continuo keyboard.
Singing the baritone solos in the Requiem will be John Michael Koch, tenured professor of music in the College of Fine Arts at Illinois State University’s School of Music in Normal, IL. Mr. Koch has performed over thirty-five operatic and forty-five oratorio roles throughout the world and is noted for his interpretation of Orff’s Carmina Burana that he debuted at Chicago’s Orchestra Hall with the Chicago Sinfonietta. He is the Artistic Director and co-founder of the Midwest Institute of Opera in Illinois. He maintains a full voice studio, in addition to teaching Vocal Pedagogy and conducting the ISU Civic Chorale.
Tickets may be purchased at the door or online at palousechoralsociety.org Adult tickets are $15 or 4/$48. Student tickets are $8. Questions about tickets may be answered by calling or texting (208)352-0201. The e-mail address is: boxoffice@palousechoralsociety2.org
The full name of this master work is actually The Requiem Mass in D Minor (K.626). Mozart composed it in Vienna in 1791 and intimated to his wife that he feared he was writing this piece for his own funeral. Indeed, he was unable to finish it before he died in December of that year. The version of the requiem that will be performed at this concert is the one which Robert Levin, a modern, Harvard-trained musicologist and fortepianist, composed to “complete” Mozart’s work and which he felt stayed true to the themes of the original Requiem. (Mozart was able to complete only one-third of this work.)
Among the featured soloists in Mozart’s Requiem is soprano Tracy Marie Koch, who appears regularly with the Illinois State University Civic Chorale and has an extensive background as a singer, actress, and dancer. She is currently staff director for the Midwest Institute of Opera and owner/teacher of the Koch Private Studio of Voice and Piano in Bloomington, IL.
Mezzo-Soprano Ann Benson is a Spokane native and enjoys performing and collaborating with artists throughout the Inland Northwest. She has appeared in many musical theatre productions in the area and has also been a featured soloist with the Northwest Bach Festival. She currently works in Spokane as Director of Children’s Arts at St. Mark’s Lutheran Church and maintains a voice studio.
The tenor soloist is Dr. Timothy Westerhaus, the director of choirs and vocal studies at Gonzaga University where he also teaches conducting, choral methods, and sacred music. He also performs as a pianist and harpsichordist with professional orchestras and leads baroque ensembles from the continuo keyboard.
Singing the baritone solos in the Requiem will be John Michael Koch, tenured professor of music in the College of Fine Arts at Illinois State University’s School of Music in Normal, IL. Mr. Koch has performed over thirty-five operatic and forty-five oratorio roles throughout the world and is noted for his interpretation of Orff’s Carmina Burana that he debuted at Chicago’s Orchestra Hall with the Chicago Sinfonietta. He is the Artistic Director and co-founder of the Midwest Institute of Opera in Illinois. He maintains a full voice studio, in addition to teaching Vocal Pedagogy and conducting the ISU Civic Chorale.
Tickets may be purchased at the door or online at palousechoralsociety.org Adult tickets are $15 or 4/$48. Student tickets are $8. Questions about tickets may be answered by calling or texting (208)352-0201. The e-mail address is: boxoffice@palousechoralsociety2.org
