TMU School of Music holds its 39th annual Forest Lawn Concert

By Jeremiah M. Yonemura

Glendale —The Master’s University Singers and Orchestra performed Wolfgang Mozart’s “Requiem” at the school’s 39^th annual Forest Lawn Concert Series last Tuesday and Wednesday at the Hall of Crucifixion-Resurrection in Glendale in celebration of Passion Week.

Music professor Benjamin Mason led the orchestra in two instrumental works: “Hungarian Dances, WoO I” by Johannes Brahms and “Sheep May Safely Graze” by J.S. Bach and William Walton.

Afterwards, choral activities director Marius Bahnean directed both the orchestra and choir in performing “Requiem.” The performance included four guest soloists: Faith Burnett, soprano; Sarah Dixon, mezzo-soprano; Michael Bohr, tenor; and Eric Carampatan, bass.

The Master’s Chorale sang an a cappella arrangement of the spiritual “Deep River” after the concert as the audience exited the auditorium.

“I think it went really, really well. It was such a blessing…,” said Erin Mcnutt, a music major in University Singers and Chorale. “You can tell by the energy of the audience. I think they enjoyed it, and that’s enough for me.”

“Requiem” is a 12-movement composition written by Mozart and completed by his student Franz Süssmayr after he died. The piece, aside from some apocryphal theological themes not endorsed by TMU, points the audience to faith in Christ for salvation.

Jeff Moore, a theology student in University Singers, enjoyed discussing the work’s theology.

“It was great to be able to sing with each other and to just have those conversations about the ‘Requiem’ and how we should understand that as Protestants and not Catholics,” Moore said. “So it was really a lot of fun to just work with everyone on that and praise God in that way, even through that music.”

The Hall of Crucifixion-Resurrection is a large theater built for the late 19^th century painting “The Crucifixion” by Polish artist Jan Styka. The 195 feet long and 45 feet high painting shows Jesus looking up and standing next to the cross on which He will hang.

The University Singers stood in front of the painting while they sang.

The University Singers and Orchestra will perform at Grace Community Church’s evening service on April 21 at 6 p.m.