The Denison University Choirs and Orchestra, under the direction of Bonnie Borshay Sneed, will present the United States' premiere of Franz von Suppe's "Requiem" at 7 p.m., Monday (April 10) in Swasey Chapel. Admission is free and open to the public.

Soloists for the performance are senior soprano Mary Sheridan (Troy), juniors alto Joanna Hamilton (Plainfield, Ind.) and bass Jesse Koza (Lancaster), and sophomore tenor Ryan Gingo (Hamilton, N.J.).

TheMissa pro defunctisdates from 1855 in Vienna, and was written by von Suppe to showcase his abilities as a serious composer. It predates much of his better known orchestral overtures and operettas. According to Carus Verlag, the publisher of the "Requiem," the orchestral parts to the composition have never been sold to anyone in the United States, and the company is unaware of a complete performance of the choral and orchestral versions.

Sneed, coordinator of choral activities and associate professor of music at Denison, premiered the choral parts with organ accompaniment in 2005 in Shawnee, Okla. "Many portions of the work sound like Mozart, and others remind us of Verdi operas," she said. "Structurally, the composition is a conservative liturgically-appropriate Mass for the Dead. Indeed, the first seven performances in Europe were for actual masses themselves. But as a concert work, it was such a great piece to perform that I felt we must find a way to perform it authentically with orchestra. Hopefully our audiences will enjoy hearing a new addition to the wealth of choral and orchestral requiem settings already heard in many concert halls today," said Sneed.

CALENDAR INFORMATION: Denison University,The Denison Concert Choir and Orchestra will present the United States' premiere of von Suppe's "Requiem"; 7 p.m., Monday (April 10) in Swasey Chapel. Free and open to the public. Please call (740) 587-6220 for more information.

About Denison:

Denison University, founded in 1831, is an independent, residential liberal arts institution located in Granville, Ohio. A highly selective college enrolling 2,100 full-time undergraduate students from all 50 states and dozens of foreign countries, Denison is a place where innovative faculty and motivated students collaborate in rigorous scholarship, civic engagement and the cultivation of independent thinking.

For press inquiries:

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