Saturday May 31, 2008 - 8pm

"Celebrating Inspiration" - A concert of classical music with Philomusica, the remarkable concert choir of central New Jersey. I'll be playing trumpet in the orchestra. The program examines the works that inspired Mozart's Requiem. Specifically, his youthful "Te Deum," the "Vespers de Dominica" and Johann Michael Haydn's Requiem in C minor. The Michael Haydn piece is especially interesting: it is a completely authentic work (as compared with Mozart's Requiem, which was finished by others after his death), and sets some of the texts to music that Mozart imitated quite closely when he composed his famous Requiem Mass 20 years later. Also, the Michael Haydn work is scored for 4 trumpets in the orchestra (2 parts labeled "Clarino" and 2 "Tromba"), and some fascinating sonorities result. The Philomusica choir is celebrating the 25th year of Dennis Boyle's directorship, and the group is a very "precise" choir - a real rarity in this type of repertoire. The vocal soloists (Nadine Robinson, Teresa Buchholz, Oliver Mercer, and Scott Dispensa) are terrific - really well-matched with each other, and just right for this music. The concert is in East Brunswick, NJ at St. Bartholomew's Church. Visit the Philomusica Choir website for ticket information and directions. This program will have a repeat performance on Sunday, June 1.