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Westmoreland Symphony Orchestra to perform Faure’s Requiem

By Rachel Basinger rbasinger@heraldstandard.Com 4 min read
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Westmoreland Symphony Orchestra to perform Faure’s Requiem
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The Westmoreland Symphony Orchestra will finish out its 2017-18 season — and 49th season overall — with a performance of Faure’s Requiem at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, April 28, at the Palace Theatre in Greensburg.

Westmoreland Symphony Orchestra (WSO) musicians felt it only fitting to finish out their 2017-18 season — and 49th season overall — with a performance of Faure’s Requiem at 7:30 p.m. April 28 at the Palace Theatre in Greensburg.

“A lot of requiem masses are typically programmed for the end of a season, because it’s a death mass — indicative of the close of a season,” said Endicott Reindle, executive director of the Westmoreland Symphony Orchestra.

“The nice thing with this one is that the composer took a different attitude in composing this, so it’s more about exposing the great wonders of life,” he added. “It does have somber moments, but really, it’s an uplifting message and a looking forward to the future.”

Also, with this final performance of the season, the symphony will once again be joined on stage by the Westmoreland Symphony Orchestra Chamber Singers, a 60-member choir made up of local vocalists, directed by Marc Tourre.

“‘Faure’s Requiem’ requires the chorus to sing with extreme sensitivity,” said Tourre. “Many requiems written during the 19th century were enormous works with dramatic chorus sections. This work is the complete opposite. The chorus part is quite serene and tranquil.”

Tourre said they have been joining the orchestra on one performance a season for the last four or five seasons.

“This is a group of fairly experienced choral singers, music teachers and other people who have a choral background,” he said. “We have our core group that performs each year, and then we also have some people that join us here and there, depending on their schedule that year.”

Performing with this choral group is a good way to be involved for a person who might already have a tight schedule, Tourre said.

“We have a very limited rehearsal schedule for this performance,” Tourre said. “There are only four or five rehearsals total before the actual performance.”

And for the first time since they’ve been performing with the symphony orchestra, the chorus will be performing a couple of songs a capella, without the symphony, towards the middle of the performance.

Reindle said they are greatly looking forward to partnering with the chamber singers for this performance.

“They are a group of fabulous singers, and they’ve reached a point in the lifespan of the chorus that we wanted them to be featured with two solo songs,” he said.

In addition to the local vocalists, WSO Artistic Director Daniel Meyer selected professional soloists including Benjamin Taylor, baritone and Ashley Fabian, soprano, both first-year resident artists with the Pittsburgh Opera.

Meyer will conduct the evening’s performance. In addition to his roles as music director of the Erie Philharmonic and Director of Orchestral Activities at Duquesne University, Meyer’s recent guest appearances include the Detroit Symphony, Bamberger Symphoniker, Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra, Württembergische Philharmonie, Staatsorchester Darmstadt, and the Nuremberg Symphony.

Reindle encouraged everyone to come out to the last performance of the season, even if the style of music is not typically on their list of favorites.

“A lot of times, people say this isn’t quite their thing – they’re more into country music or rock ‘n’ roll – but I say, why not come and be surprised,” he said. “We are blessed to have this wonderful orchestra here in Southwestern Pennsylvania and people should take advantage of what they have to offer as often as they can.”

He added that they are looking forward to the performance and are already looking ahead to their next season, the 50th season milestone, which will begin in October of this year.

“We will be bringing in some higher profile guests and we’ll be adding an extra concert in May to the season next year,” Reindle said.

The Palace Theatre is located at 21 W. Otterman St., Greensburg, Pa., 15601. Ticket prices range between $15 and $48 with limited opera box seats selling for $58. Student rush tickets are $5 at the door. To purchase tickets call 724-837-1850 or visit http://www.westmorelandsymphony.org.

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