While Mozart is not primarily known for sacred music, his final composition — the Requiem Mass — stands among his most sublime achievements.

Left unfinished at his death at age 35 and immortalized in the film Amadeus, the work was commissioned anonymously by a mysterious benefactor and was ultimately completed by Mozart’s student, Franz Xaver Süssmayr, from his sketches. As Mozart’s health declined, he is said to have believed he was composing the Requiem not for another, but for himself, a notion that deepens the work’s haunting resonance. Blending fear and hope with extraordinary emotional depth, the Requiem has captivated listeners for centuries.

This performance marks the UMS Choral Union’s first return to the piece in 80 years, in collaboration with the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra and its music director, Earl Lee. The program opens with Johannes Brahms’s rarely-performed Alto Rhapsody, a striking work for alto, male chorus, and orchestra.

PROGRAM
Johannes Brahms Alto Rhapsody, Op. 53
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Requiem in d minor, K. 626

Featuring:
Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra
UMS Choral Union (
Scott Hanoian, UMS Choral Union music director)
Earl Lee, music director and conductor
Hera Hyesang Park, soprano
Avery Amereau, mezzo-soprano
Nicholas Phan, tenor
Stephano Park, bass