Three Choirs, Orchestra, to Perform Brahms Requiem

The Knox College Choir, Monmouth Chorale and Galesburg
Community Chorus join forces to perform one of the best-known choral
works, “A German Requiem,” by Johannes Brahms, at 7:30 p.m., Saturday,
May 6, in Central Congregational Church, on the Public Square in
Galesburg.

Tickets are $12 for adults, $10 for senior citizens and free to all
students, and are available at the door.

“The Brahms Requiem is an epic work, challenging to perform and
thrilling to hear,” said Laura Lane, professor of music at Knox
College and director of the Knox College Choir. The Monmouth Chorale
and Galesburg Community Chorus are directed by Tim Pahel, associate
professor of music at Monmouth College.

Lane will direct the combined choirs totaling 135 singers — 50 from
Knox, 40 from Monmouth and 45 from the Galesburg Community Chorus —
along with two soloists, baritone Wayne Tigges and soprano Michelle
Areyzaga.

Accompanying the choirs will be a 42-member orchestra of professional
musicians from throughout the region.

A native of Iowa, Tigges has performed with the San Francisco Opera,
the Opéra National de Paris, the Metropolitan Opera, and the Lyric
Opera of Chicago, Austin Opera, and the Washington National Opera. He
also has sung in concert with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Chicago
Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra of Saint Luke’s and Teatro Regio di
Parma.

Areyzaga has performed operatic roles with New York City Opera,
Chicago Opera Theater, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Opera Birmingham,
Ravinia Festival, and Orquesta Sinfónica del Estado de México. As an
orchestral soloist, she has appeared with Cleveland Orchestra,
Minnesota Orchestra, Oregon Bach Festival, Richmond Symphony, Toledo
Symphony, Israel Philharmonic, Colorado Symphony Orchestra, and the
Grant Park Music Festival.

The performance of the Brahms is the final concert of the 2016-17
season for the Galesburg Community Chorus, the oldest community music
organization in the Galesburg area. The Monmouth Chorale is a highly
selective mixed ensemble which performs regularly on and off campus.
The Knox College Choir, the premier choral ensemble of the College,
will conclude its 2017 season with a Mother’s Day Concert at 3:00
p.m., Sunday, May 14 in Knox’s Kresge Hall.

The performance of the Brahms Requiem is sponsored by Blick Art
Supplies, with additional grant funds from the Galesburg Community
Foundation, the City of Galesburg, and the Illinois Arts Council, a
state agency.