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Stockbridge Festival Chorus, a 38-year old community chorus based at our church, will perform the Mozart Requiem for its Spring concert on Saturday, April 12, 3:00 pm.  A piece composed in 2015 by David Stone, In the Darkest Hour, will be sung prior to the Requiem. A reception will be held after the concert. Admission is a $20 donation at the door, $10 for local community choir members, and free for people age 18 and under.

Mozart’s Requiem is a masterpiece, yet cloaked in mystery, from its commission by Count Franz von Walsegg to questions about who actually completed the Requiem. It was in July 1791 that Mozart was visited by a stranger, representing a man desiring a Requiem for his recently deceased wife, and provided a 50 percent deposit and the final payment would be upon delivery of the completed piece. As Mozart was already in ill health, he believed he was writing his own Requiem. He passed on December 5, 1791 at age 35 with some of the twelve movements incomplete. Mozart’s wife, Constanze, was concerned that she would not receive the final payment if the work was submitted incomplete, and she was in desperate need of money, so she set to finding other composers to complete the work and pass off the commission as completed by Mozart. Eventually the piece was given to Franz Xaver Süssmayr, one of Mozart’s students who was very familiar with Mozart’s intention for the composition.

In the Darkest  Hour by David Stone was composed in 2015 after the loss of his nephew who was stillborn. In the face of significant physical challenges living a life in a wheelchair following a spinal injury, his composition is full of strength and encouragement to his grieving brother. David passed in January 2024 at age 53; he was the son of Susan and Fran Stone, both members of the Festival Chorus.

The Stockbridge Festival Chorus is conducted by Tracy Wilson. Ed Lawrence will be the concert organist for the Requiem, which will also be accompanied by a trombone trio and timpani. Aaron Likness is the SFC accompanist.  Soloists for the Requiem are Samantha Talora, soprano; Mary Verdi, alto; Richard Geiler, tenor; and John Demler, bass.