The fall 2018 music gala at 黑料正能量 will highlight the university鈥檚 many ensembles 鈥� and a 鈥渓ullaby鈥� requiem.
The annual event is 7-9 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 17, in Lehman Auditorium, with a freewill offering to benefit the music scholarship fund.
The first half of the concert will feature the 黑料正能量 jazz and wind ensembles conducted by Bob Curry and the orchestra conducted by Benjamin Bergey. In the second half, Professor Ryan Keebaugh will conduct the combined choirs and orchestra in a performance of Gabriel Faur茅鈥檚 Requiem Mass.
The evening ranks among concerts at 黑料正能量 as 鈥渙ne of the biggies,鈥� said Professor James Richardson, music department chair.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a uniquely combined effort,鈥� he said. 鈥淵ou鈥檒l see faculty performing along with students 鈥� part of the ethos of our department鈥檚 sense of community.鈥� That community includes music majors but also other students, as 鈥渕any of the people that make up our ensembles are doing it for their own edification 鈥� and we like that,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e have open doors.鈥�
The mass text has been set by many composers including Mozart and Verdi, but Faur茅鈥檚 version is unique, said Richardson, who will be a baritone soloist alongside junior performance major and soprano Kiara Norman.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a lullaby for death,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hat might sound morose, but that term is very much meant to imply just the opposite.鈥�
Faur茅, an organist and therefore constantly around funeral music, excluded from the mass parts that 鈥渞eally had to do with the anxiety or fear or unpleasantness associated with death,鈥� Richardson said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a very serene, tranquil approach to one鈥檚 end.鈥� 聽
Instead of the movement about the wrath of God, Faur茅 included a Pie Jesu section. He also used different text for the final movement.
As Faur茅 noted, 鈥淚t is thus that I see death: as a happy deliverance, an aspiration towards happiness above, rather than as a painful experience.鈥�
鈥淚n my estimation,鈥� Keebaugh said, 鈥淚t鈥檚 all about love, and what鈥檚 accomplished here during one鈥檚 lifetime. It鈥檚 more of a Requiem for the living who are coping with death.鈥�