Pete Mendoza
The UTRGV Symphony, Orchestra and Choirs played Mozart’s Requiem April 16 at the TSC Performing Arts Center on the Brownsville Campus and April 17 at the UTRGV Performing Arts Complex in Edinburg.
Assistant professor of Choral Studies Matthew Coffey said Mozart’s Requiem is a piece that Mozart was not able to finish.
“It was written in 1791 by Mozart,” Coffey said. “It was written as a commission. Mozart ended up dying before he completed the work. So, Mozart completed a chunk of the work and the rest of it was finished by his students using like sketches and outlines that he made.”
Assistant Professor and Director of Choral Studies Sean Taylor conducted the students on the Brownsville campus while Coffey led the students on the Edinburg campus.
Each piece of music seemed to bring a different emotion to the audience based on their facial expressions.
The professor said the Brownsville and Edinburg choirs and the orchestras have worked on the performance separately since the beginning of the semester but were able to perform beautifully.
“All three groups have done work separately until this week,” Coffey said. “On Monday night, we put all the choirs together for the first time.”
Voice performance junior Isaac Mancillas said he enjoyed seeing the concert come together after all the hard work.
“Even though the rehearsals were tiring, it was definitely worth it,” Mancillas said. “I believe this performance went really, really well.”
Coffey said it was an exciting performance especially with a great turnout.
For more information on events, visit the UTRGV Arts website.
This is Pete Mendoza for Vaquero Radio.
