By Lauren Olson, Staff Intern 

The South Metro Chorale has teamed with the Minnesota Mormon Chorale in a production that South Metro Director Loren Squires of Shakopee has called “one of the most significant performances on this side of the river in years.”

At 7:30 p.m. today, April 26, the chorales will perform Mozart’s Requiem at Shepherd of the Lake Lutheran Church, 3611 North Berens Road, Prior Lake. Another performance is scheduled for Saturday, May 2, at St. Mark’s Catholic Church, 350 Atwood St., Shakopee.

Tickets are $12 for adults and $8 for seniors and students and can be purchased by calling Squires at (612) 309-1732 or at each venue an hour before the concert.

Neither of the choirs has ever performed this piece of music, and it will be the first time that they have collaborated on a concert.

“It’s wonderful,” said Minnesota Mormon Director Erin Grey. “It’s great to be able to perform with people from different backgrounds. It’s building bridges between people of different faiths, and helping us to understand each other.”

This sentiment was reiterated by South Metro singer Marla Kramer, who will perform a solo in the upcoming performance.

“Mixing a community choir with a faith choir has been an enlightening experience,” said Kramer. “I am a Catholic, and I haven’t had much interaction with the Mormon faith. I’ve learned some things about it that I didn’t know before.” 

Grey and Squires decided to collaborate with one another after singer Steve Hackett, who performs in both choirs, convinced Grey to contact Squires. “He’s always promoting everything that he’s in,” Squires said.

Squires chose the music, and the rest is history.

Although neither group has ever performed the Requiem, both directors say they are very excited about the show.

“It is considered to be one of the finest pieces of choral [music] of all time,” said Squires. “Every major orchestra has done it.”

Kramer also said that she expects the musical performance to be a great show. “Everyone should go to this, no matter what their musical genre is,” said Kramer. “People might have to step out of their box a little, but they will be moved by the music.”

The Requiem is one of the last pieces of music that Mozart ever wrote. He was in the midst of composing it when he died in 1791, and it was later completed by other composers. Experts still don’t know how much of the piece was actually written by Mozart.  

According to Squires, Mozart’s Requiem is a difficult piece of music, but no more difficult than some of the other pieces the choir has performed. Although the South Metro Chorale is a community chorus, they do have some professional-level talent.

“The choir ranges from people with degrees to people without such a great resume,” said Squires. “It is a place where talented people get better at their craft.”

Besides local performances, the South Metro Chorale has made three separate tours to Europe, performing in England, Austria and the Czech Republic, among other places. The chorale also has made three separate tours to the continent and plans to tour in Ireland next summer.

The South Metro Chorale will have auditions in August for any prospective members. For more information, visit southmetrochorale.org/.

For more information about the Minnesota Mormon Chorale, visit mnmormonchorale.org/.

 Lauren Olson can be reached at intern@swpub.com.