Audrey Hua '26
Apr 18, 2025
` On the weekend of April 12 and 13, The Mercersburg Area Community Chorus and Orchestra performed at the Irvine Memorial Chapel at Mercersburg Academy.
The spirit—or perhaps, the departed soul—of the concert was Mozart's emotional masterpiece, “Requiem.” “We’ve done the ‘Requiem’ before,” Richard Rotz, former Chorale Director at the academy and current Director of the Community Chorus, said. “This is our third time.”
The Requiem is split up into eight sections, including the “Introitus,” “Kyrie,” “Sequenz” (which includes several movements such as the powerful “Dies Irae” and the fan-favorite “Lacrymosa”), “Offertorium,” “Sanctus,” “Benedictus,” “Agnus Dei,” and “Communio.”
Conductor Mark Hartman said, “My vision was to try to make the piece really come alive. I wanted this Mozart to really have the detail that comes from paying attention to phrasing, to the emphasis on different notes.” He further added, “I didn't want it to be just perfect; I wanted it to have some kind of emotional effect. The “Dies Irae” is often done slower than I wanted to do it; I like to just punch that one out.”
The featured soloists were Kara Goodrich, a soprano with gentle trills; Allison Deady, a confident and resonant mezzo-soprano; Luke Norvell, a clear tenor; and Brandon Bell, whose baritone timbre mirrored rumbling thunder.
Founding director Rotz explained the thrill he gets while conducting: “It's how I always feel when I'm doing music – I love it.” He described the concert in three words: “Beauty. Shape. Form.”
“This is one of my favorite things, coming twice a year to play in the orchestra,” Elizabeth George, a flutist, said. “I've done it for 40 years now. It's something else to sit here among all this beautiful music and look at the chapel. It's some of the times that almost brought tears to my eyes.”
During the offertory and intermission, Jim Brinson — Academy organist and carillonneur — performed J.S. Bach's “Cantata 29 Sinfonia” on the organ. Brinson said. “It is always a privilege to share music with others.”
After the intermission, the Chorus performed Ola Gjeilo’s commissioned work, "No Coward Soul Is Mine." The concert ended with Alice Parker’s arrangement of "Hark, I Hear the Harp’s Eternal," Mack Wilberg’s arrangement of "Deep River," Aaron Copland’s "Simple Gifts" from Appalachian Spring Suite, and Glenn Rudolph’s "The Dream Isaiah Saw."
Donna Metcalfe, an alto, said, “It's so hard not to cry during ‘The Dream Isaiah Saw’ and I'm not a pretty crier.” Marilyn Houck, another alto, said, “I hope we inspire them [the audience] in some way with the music that we sing and the words of the music, especially ‘No Coward Soul Is Mine’ and ‘The Dream Isaiah Saw’”.