The Moody Concert Hall will come to life for the last time this semester with a concert that showcases the talents of three music ensembles from the University.
The Huxford Symphony Orchestra, University Singers and University Chorus will come together tonight at 7:30 in a concert that is free to the public.
“It’s something that is done all over the country,” said John Ratledge, conductor of the University Singers. “Most schools with music programs our size do a choral of guest work every year. We usually do ours about every two years.”
Both of the composers for Friday’s show are well known professors of music at Alabama and are both also well known for the work they’ve done in music around the country and world.
“Demondrae [Thurman] is very dynamic; he is one of the most musical people I’ve ever known,” Ratledge said. “His charm and musicianship have affected the orchestra in a very positive way this semester. I’m really looking forward to it.”
Ratledge will be conducting Mozart’s Requiem, which he chose because he believes that Mozart’s music is perfect and the Requiem works well for a concert that falls on Good Friday.
“The music is perfectly conceived,” he said. “There is not one note that is unnecessary or superfluous. It is perfectly crafted from its inception. The piece is one of the most difficult pieces to play because of that. You have to bring your best self to it.”
He has had the Requiem in place for this concert for over a year, which left Demondrae Thurman, professor of euphonium at the University and another composer for tonight’s concert, to find a good piece to accompany it. He looked to his favorite composer, Arvo Part, to find something that would work well with it.
“It’s the last big concert of the year that I’m involved in, and it is just going to be the entire year coming together in a big way and culminating in this concert,” Thurman said. “It’s probably going to be the most powerful concert that we could have prepared.”
He chose Symphony No. 3 because he said he felt it was a good choice for an orchestra to play and goes well with the religious themes in Requiem.
“From an emotional standpoint, this is music that an audience will be able to connect with,” he said.
The three ensembles got together for the first time on Sunday to practice and have only had four practices together before the actual concert.
“The hardest part is that the chorus and the singers don’t meet together, so we have to take two separate groups and then one,” he said. “We’ve done a good job with it, though, and I think this is the most prepared we could be. I’m really proud of our accomplishment.”
Friday’s concert will be the last opportunity to see University Singers before they leave for a concert tour in South Korea where they will be taking some of the Mozart they prepared for the misericordium.
“It’s the first time in the music program’s history that an ensemble has traveled overseas,” Ratledge said. “They will be performing at the Seoul Art Center, and it is the most prestigious in all of South Korea.”
Thurman said he knows that this concert usually attracts people from outside of the UA community because it falls on Good Friday, but he would like to see as many Alabama students and faculty in the audience as possible. He said seeing more than 200 people on stage performing at one time will be very interesting in itself, but the music is really what should bring people out on tonight.
“It’s just fantastic music,” Ratledge said. “They are great pieces to listen to, and if people love music, why wouldn’t they want to come?”
