Student, community choirs present Mozart’s ‘Requiem’ Oct. 24 at MTSU

This file image shows MTSU School of Music professor Raphael Bundage, center, conducting the MTSU Schola Cantorum and Middle Tennessee Choral Society in concert at Hinton Music Hall in the Wright Music Building on campus. The image also includes text reading “Mozart: Requiem, MTSU Schola Cantorum & Middle Tennessee Choral Society.” (MTSU file photo by J. Intintoli)

Middle Tennessee State University vocal students will be in the spotlight Sunday, Oct. 24, when the MTSU Schola Cantorum and Middle Tennessee Choral Society blend their voices in a special performance of Mozart’s haunting final work, “Requiem.”

poster for Sunday, Oct. 24, performance of Mozart’s “Requeim” by the MTSU Schola Cantorum and Middle Tennessee Choral Society at MTSU’s Wright Music Building

Click on the poster to see a larger version.

The concert is scheduled for 3 p.m. Oct. 24 in Hinton Hall inside MTSU’s Wright Music Building, located at 1439 Faulkinberry Drive.

Guests must follow MTSU’s mask and other health safety requirements inside the venue.

Tickets are $15 for adults, $12.50 for seniors and $10 for children 12 and younger and are available online at https://mtchoralsociety.org and at the door.

MTSU students, faculty and staff will be admitted free with current IDs.

Dr. Raphael Bundage, a professor of vocal performance in MTSU’s School of Music and the Choral Society’s music director/conductor, is guiding the MTSU-community performance of the beloved classical composer’s final work.

A nobleman commissioned the piece for a requiem mass to commemorate his young wife’s death. Mozart was working on it when he died suddenly in 1791 at age 35, and a colleague completed it the following year.

This fall’s concert features 14 student soloists, all voice majors at MTSU:

• Alex Baldwin, a junior tenor from Manchester, Tennessee.
• Allison Benoit, a senior soprano from Germantown, Tennessee.
• Hannah Blankenship, a sophomore soprano from Murfreesboro.
• Miya Burt, a junior alto from Cordova, Tennessee.
• Haylee Casper, a sophomore alto from Smyrna, Tennessee.
• Anna Cooper, a senior soprano from Murfreesboro.
• Seth Finch, a senior tenor from Murfreesboro.
• Jaedyn Heil, a junior soprano from Murfreesboro.
• Jesse Lowery, a sophomore alto from Columbia, Tennessee.
• Tyler Middleton, a senior bass from Maryville, Tennessee.
• Dakota Paschel, a junior bass from Knoxville, Tennessee.
• Cameron Roberts, a sophomore tenor from Knoxville.
• Logan Stewart, a sophomore bass from Clarksville, Tennessee.
• Julie Webster, a senior soprano from Lynnville, Tennessee.

The Schola Cantorum comprises MTSU’s best upper-division vocal majors and graduate students. The internationally recognized Choral Society includes top student vocalists alongside outstanding singers from the surrounding community.

A preview of their work, featuring the groups performing Mozart’s “Kyrie” and “Gloria” in a 2017 concert, is available below.

The Middle Tennessee Choral Society also has scheduled its annual performance of Handel’s “Messiah” for 7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 30, at Murfreesboro’s First United Methodist Church at 265 W. Thompson Lane.

Tickets for that concert also are $15 for adults, $12.50 for seniors and $10 for children 12 and younger and available online at https://mtchoralsociety.org and at the door.

For details on other School of Music events, call 615-898-2493 or visit the “Concert Calendar” link.

For details on joining the Middle Tennessee Choral Society, contact Bundage at raphael.bundage@mtsu.edu or 615-898-2849.

— Gina E. Fann (gina.fann@mtsu.edu)

MTSU School of Music professor Raphael Bundage, center, conducts the MTSU Schola Cantorum and Middle Tennessee Choral Society in concert at Hinton Music Hall in the Wright Music Building on campus in this file image. (MTSU file photo by J. Intintoli)