FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 15, 2008
Contact: Dr. Debra Atkinson
(662) 329-7430

MUW Chorale to perform May 1

COLUMBUS, Miss. -- The MUW Chorale, assisted by the All Saints' Episcopal Church Choir from Tupelo, will present the Faure Requiem at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, May 1, at First United Methodist Church in Columbus.

Dr. Debra Atkinson, director of the Chorale and the All Saints' Choir, will conduct the performance. The soloists will be MUW voice professor Dr. Cherry Dunn of Columbus, soprano; and Dr. Iwao Asakura, professor of voice at Mississippi State University, baritone. The accompanists will be Elaine Byrd, pianist, and Ben Orr, organist.

The Requiem was written in 1887 and was inspired by the death of Faure's parents. It was first performed on Jan. 16, 1888, for a funeral at the Church of the Madeleine in Paris, where Faure served as choirmaster and later as chief organist. After several revisions that did not hold true to the original intent of the author, British composer John Rutter published an edition that is believed to be closest to what Faure intended when he wrote it for his choir of men and boys. It is this version that the MUW Chorale will perform.

The concert is free.