On Sunday, October 13, the Illinois State University Concert Choir, Belle Voix, University Glee, and Symphony Orchestra performed a requiem concert featuring Hye-Young Cho’s Evocation and Mozart’s Requiem in the Center for the Performing Arts. The theme of this concert reflected the emotions of death, loss, and remembrance. Evocation is about the empty space you feel in your life when losing a loved one, and never wanting or being able to forget about them. Mozart’s Requiem, originally composed for the Catholic Church, is considered a “mass for the dead” and serves the purpose of honoring the soul(s) of the deceased.
It is interesting to think about why these two pieces were specifically chosen for this concert, as they differ in many ways. Evocation is a five-minute choral piece composed by a contemporary Korean female composer and sung in Korean. Mozart’s Requiem is a Latin Mass nearly an hour-long, composed by German male composers in the late 18th century. Evocation features the choirs along with piano accompaniment, whereas Mozart’s Requiem features the choirs, orchestra, and four solo parts, which were sung by members of the School of Music’s voice faculty. Evocation’s central message is about remembrance, and while Mozart’s Requiem message is more grounded in religious text, it has become more about remembrance as the piece continues to be performed.
That being said, these two pieces unite with one another on several levels, as both honor the memory of lost loved ones. Both pieces are emotionally moving for the choirs and the audience. Sometimes, choirs practice a piece so many times that the performance might not have the same impact that the audience experiences when hearing it for the first time at a concert. However, the rich harmonies, meaningful texts, and contrasting instrumental and vocal parts in these pieces create an experience that impacts both the performer and listener.
Although Mozart’s Requiem was intended to honor the dead in church settings, it also serves to remember Mozart’s life and legacy. He died while writing this piece at the age of 35, and it was finished by some of his students following his death. The most well-known movement from Mozart’s Requiem, Lacrimosa, was not even fully written by Mozart! He composed the first eight measures, which only consisted of the orchestra, and then passed away. There are many renditions of Mozart’s Requiem, as many people have tried their hand at composing the rest themselves. However, the rendition performed by the Illinois State University choirs and orchestra this fall was finished by his student Franz Xaver Süssmayr. Mozart intended for the Requiem to be performed by a large choir and full orchestra, and Illinois State University fulfilled this by having a total of 189 students and faculty on stage. This piece could be considered a requiem mass for Mozart himself. With Evocation being performed right before Mozart’s Requiem, a listener could interpret that Evocation was placed there to directly honor Mozart. The first lyrics of Evocation translated to English are, “Unable to forget,” and it is undoubtedly impossible to forget Mozart’s Requiem, as well as his lasting impact on music even centuries later.
Students in Belle Voix, University Glee, Concert Choir, and Symphony Orchestra were interviewed about their experience in preparation for this concert. The following is an excerpt from the Q&A with those students and has been edited for length and clarity.
Is this the first mass or large-scale choral piece you have performed? If yes, will you explain that experience? If this is not your first time performing a mass, what has been different or similar about this process?
Sohee: In my first year of university, I had the incredible opportunity to perform Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony at South Korea’s finest concert hall. It was a moment when I truly felt like a vocal student, and I was so happy to be on such a grand stage.
Joshua: I performed Haydn’s Mass with Concert Choir in the 2022-23 school year. It was a similar experience to this production as it included full orchestra and faculty soloists. The rehearsal schedule was also similar, consisting of night rehearsals with just choir, and then choir plus orchestra.
Joe: This is my second time performing a large-scale mass with a choir, but it’s actually my first time in the orchestra. I also did choir in high school and sang in the choir when we performed the John Rutter Magnificat.
A big difference from high school to ISU is the size, the choir is almost triple in size and the orchestra is about the same size. Being able to be a part of an ensemble this large is truly amazing! The rehearsal process of putting everything together here at ISU was much more detailed than in ensembles I have done it with in the past. I love how Dr. (Andrew) Bruhn has been a proponent of active listening and finding which instrument/voice part you are doubling and really playing with them, it brings another level of musicality and really elevates the whole performance.
What is it like as a student performing in this concert?
Sohee: I think every vocal student dreams of singing Mozart’s Requiem on stage at least once in their life.
Isabella: Being a student and performing this is such a great honor. Whenever people ask what we are doing for our concert and I say the Requiem, their minds automatically think of Lacrimosa. Letting them know that we get to perform that along with many other awesome movements makes it very special.
Joshua: It’s essential to balance school and rehearsal priorities! There are several night rehearsals with just choir and choir plus orchestra, so trying to balance those rehearsals along with the typical responsibilities of a music student can be challenging.
Joe: It is really amazing to collaborate with our friends in the choir department! It can seem like at times we are all in our own worlds, but the fact we can collaborate on a scale like this and create something together that we couldn’t do on our own is incredible.
Nicole: I was excited to perform such a large collaborative work! Seeing the preparation process from the practice room, to orchestra rehearsals, to full ensemble rehearsals has been amazing. For every musician added to the rehearsal, the piece itself grew in color, texture, and emotion.
What has your experience been with preparing Evocation?
Sohee: Evocation is one of the songs I personally recommended to Dr. Bruhn. I’m thrilled to be singing a Korean art song with ISU students. It’s especially meaningful because my friends from Belle Voix and University Glee will also be part of this large-scale performance. Being able to share the beauty of the Korean language and Korean art songs with my friends at ISU brings me so much joy.
Isabella: I have loved Evocation ever since we first sang it, but doing the pronunciation to the best of my abilities can be a struggle.
Joshua: For me, the most challenging aspect of Evocation is the language barrier. Understanding the translation/meaning of the text and the correct pronunciations was one of the first things we worked on when learning Evocation.
Where have you found difficulties and joys in preparing Mozart’s Requiem?
Sohee: Mozart’s Requiem is a long and demanding piece that requires great concentration. As a soprano, I struggled with maintaining the high notes over extended scales. However, Dr. Bruhn was excellent at identifying the challenges students faced and guided us through them.
Isabella: The difficulty in the Requiem for sure is the complex rhythms and the fact that every voice part has something contrasting. The joy about preparing this is that all three choirs have come together to work hard and do our best.
Joshua: A challenging aspect of the Requiem is its length, it’s a long piece of music to stay mentally focused for. Within the context of the music, the most challenging parts are fast melisma, Latin text pronunciation, and wide vocal range within the bass part.
Joe: A difficulty in the beginning was trying to imagine the choir part when we were rehearsing just as the orchestra. We weren’t sure of the balance and how everything would fit together right away. A huge joy was that first rehearsal with the choirs. To hear how it all came together, especially those final chords at the end of movements really is a feeling that you can’t find anywhere else.
Nicole: The most challenging part of learning Mozart’s Requiem was switching characters between movements. Some movements are extremely contrasting compared to the previous movement.
What do you think about when singing these pieces?
Sohee: During practice, we often focus on the key or challenging sections, so it’s rare for us to go through an entire movement from start to finish. The sense of accomplishment that comes with perfecting each movement is indescribable.
Isabella: My main focus that I have while singing these pieces is to look at our director, Dr. Bruhn, because when you do not follow him, it could all fall apart. Dr. Bruhn has been very awesome in helping us get back on track, but it is our part to watch him.
Joshua: In performance mode, I often find myself getting lost in the music metaphorically. It’s an incredible sensation to sing with a group as large as we are and listen to all the voices. I also think about the musicality of my performance, the shaping of phrases, balance and blend within my section and across the choir, the pronunciations, and vowel shapes.
Nicole: When performing Mozart’s Requiem, I am thinking about what role I am currently fulfilling in the ensemble. During the preparation process, I learned what lines needed to come out of the texture and which lines are supportive of a bigger idea. There are some moments in the piece that require a lot of confidence to ensure my part is fulfilling its intended role.
What do you think are the most important similarities and differences between Mozart’s Requiem and Evocation/other orchestral pieces?
Sohee: Evocation is accompanied by piano, while Mozart’s Requiem is performed with an orchestra, and this is a key common element. Many choir pieces are a cappella, but when instruments are involved, it becomes more challenging as the choir and instrumentalists need to synchronize perfectly. Despite its brevity, Evocation is a powerful and emotionally charged piece, whereas Mozart’s Requiem, with its choir, soloists, and orchestra, feels grand and almost like a portrayal of life itself.
Isabella: The most important similarities between the Requiem and Evocation are the stylistic choices that each composer put in to make it different from regular pieces.
Joshua: The differences are that Latin and Korean are distinctly different in how they sound and use different vowel shapes. It’s hard to switch between the two, you must have a mindset switch to sing with correct pronunciation.
Joe: A key difference is not necessarily knowing the whole picture until right before the concert. With working with the choir and not being able to rehearse together 100% of the time, we would have to almost imagine what they are doing and be able to adjust our dynamics or tempo on the fly. In other orchestral situations we know the whole picture the entire time and have a more accurate representation of balance.
The Illinois State University Concert Choir, Belle Voix, University Glee, and Symphony Orchestra performed a requiem concert featuring Hye-Young Cho’s Evocation and Mozart’s Requiem in the Center for the Performing Arts Concert Hall. 
The Illinois State University Concert Choir, Belle Voix, University Glee, and Symphony Orchestra performed a requiem concert featuring Hye-Young Cho’s Evocation and Mozart’s Requiem in the Center for the Performing Arts Concert Hall. 
The Illinois State University Concert Choir, Belle Voix, University Glee, and Symphony Orchestra performed a requiem concert featuring Hye-Young Cho’s Evocation and Mozart’s Requiem in the Center for the Performing Arts Concert Hall. 
The Illinois State University Concert Choir, Belle Voix, University Glee, and Symphony Orchestra performed a requiem concert featuring Hye-Young Cho’s Evocation and Mozart’s Requiem in the Center for the Performing Arts Concert Hall.
The requiem concert was a pinnacle of unity and collaboration within the Illinois State University School of Music. Not only was this concert a collaboration between two contrasting musical pieces, but many people across the school came together to create this experience. The hard work put in by the vocalists, instrumentalists, and faculty culminated in a truly beautiful performance. While this concert reflected on loss and remembrance, it is heart-warming that the rehearsal process and performance brought so many people together. Ultimately, the idea of loss gives people that much more motivation to cherish and be with their loved ones, and this concert gave so many the opportunity to do just that.
Illinois State University Director of Choral Activities Dr. Andrew Bruhn shared his thoughts on how the concert came together. “I’m so proud and grateful for every person that went on this journey,” Bruhn said. “It was a joy to introduce a piece of this magnitude to the many students that have never experienced something like this before. I think that is a huge strength of ISU, being able to offer these kinds of experiences to our students and faculty. It was a labor of love and community: three ensemble directors, four different ensembles, all working together to bring beauty into our often ugly world. I think it’s a wonderful picture of what our culture can be at its best, working together to create something bigger than ourselves. It was such a privilege to share that music with such a large and appreciative audience as well, both in person and online. The ISU Choirs mission is Empowering Choral Artistry, and I feel like we lived into that with this moving performance.”
Additional information regarding upcoming events in the Wonsook Kim College of Fine Arts can be found on the University’s events calendar. Follow Wonsook Kim College of Fine Arts on social media, and keep up to date with Fine Arts news online.
