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Dawn Has Come: Remembering 9/11


September 18, 2021

This powerful concert of remembrance will feature the monumental Requiem of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, featuring the Bismarck Mandan Civic Chorus, and soloists Melissa McCann, Dawn Hagerott, Emerson Eads and Jason Thoms. We will also present the WORLD PREMIERE of a new piece by Emerson Eads called "She Was." 

Tickets can be purchased here or in person at the Bismarck Event Center Box Office to avoid convenience fees.

Program information: 

"She Was"..........................................................Emerson Eads
                    Emerson Eads, tenor, Bismarck Mandan Civic Chorus

Elegy, op.58......................................................Edward Elgar (1857-1934)

His Eye is on the Sparrow..........................Emerson Eads 
                    Melissa McCann, soprano 

5 minute intermission 

Requiem K.626.........................................Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791), completed by Franz Xaver Süssmayr (1766-1803)

Introitus: Requiem aeternam
Kyrie
Sequentia: Dies irae, Tuba mirum, Rex tremendae, Recordare, Confutatis, Lacrymosa
Offertorium: Domine Jesu, Hostias
Sanctus
Benedictus
Agnus Dei
Communio: Lux aeterna, Cum sanctis tuis
    
Melissa McCann, Dawn Hagerott, Emerson Eads, Jason Thoms, Bismarck Mandan Civic Chorus 

Program Notes:

Tonight's concert is a commemoration of the 20th anniversary of 9/11 and honoring all whose lives were lost. The BMSO and the Bismarck Mandan Civic Chorus also performed the Mozart Requiem for the 10th anniversary in 2011. The work was chosen in part because of its connection to 9/11 through something called the "Rolling Requiem." Taking place in 2002, orchestras and choirs around the world commemorated 9/11 by performing Mozart's Requiem. The Requiem has a place in the orchestral/choral repertoire almost like no other because of all of the history and mystery surrounding it. Mozart began work on the Requiem in 1791, probably in the late spring, following a "secret" commission from a person who turned out to be Count Walsegg who wanted to honor his wife who had just died on February 14, 1791. Mozart died on December 5, leaving most of the work incomplete. His widow Constanza sought the help of his students to complete it so that the commission would be honored. Tonight's performance is of the edition completed by Franz Xaver Sussmayre. The Requiem has been performed at the funerals of many famous people including Mozart himself, Beethoven, Napoleon and President John F. Kennedy.

Emerson Eads is the choral director at Minot State University. A prolific composer, Eads captures the nuances of voice and orchestra texture, while giving almost coloristic meaning to the texts. She Was was composed in memory of Devin Miller. Both this piece and His Eye is on the Sparrow, are programmed this evening to provide a sense of hope, not just in the memory of 9/11 but in the wake of the struggles of the past year. The text translations for the Requiem as well as those of the Emerson Eads pieces are found in your program insert.