WT Choirs, Orchestra to Perform Mozart’s Masterful Requiem April 6

Copy by Chip Chandler, 806-651-2124, cchandler@wtamu.edu

CANYON, Texas — The West Texas A&M University Choirs and Symphony Orchestra will join forces for a performance of one of the most titanic compositions in classical music.

The ensembles—under the direction of Dr. Sean Pullen, professor of music and director of choral activities—will perform Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Requiem in D Minor at 2:30 p.m. April 6 in Mary Moody Northen Recital Hall on WT’s Canyon campus.

General admission tickets—available at cur8.com/22281/project/130000—are $10. Tickets are free for WT students, faculty and staff with a Buff Gold card.

Soloists will include Sarah Beckham-Turner, soprano and WT assistant professor of voice; Kaleigh Sutula, alto and Denver musician; Matthew Oglesby, tenor and WT associate lecturer of voice; and Brian Kuhnert, bass and director of vocal studies at Wayland Baptist University.

“One cannot listen to Mozart's Requiem in D minor without realizing the work is deeply personal,” Pullen said. “While he was able only to work through about half of the piece himself, due to his untimely death, Mozart left enough of his genius behind so that his student, Franz Xavier Süssmayr, could finish the work.

“While the Requiem is a display of Mozart's ability as a composer, it also exemplifies the power of education,” Pullen continued. “Süssmayr was required to live up to an extraordinary standard set by his teacher, and the result was one of the greatest choral-orchestral works of all time.”

More than 150 musicians will be featured in the performance.

Fostering an appreciation of the arts is key component of the University’s long-range plan, WT 125: From the Panhandle to the World.

That plan is fueled by the historic One West comprehensive fundraising campaign, which reached its initial $125 million goal 18 months after publicly launching in September 2021. The campaign’s new goal is to reach $175 million by 2025; currently, it has raised more than $160 million.

About West Texas A&M University

WT, a Regional Research University, is redefining excellence in Canyon, Texas, on a 342-acre residential campus, as well as the Harrington Academic Hall WTAMU Amarillo Center in downtown Amarillo. Established in 1910, the University has been part of The Texas A&M University System since 1990. WT, a Hispanic Serving Institution since 2016, boasts an enrollment of more than 9,000 and offers 66 undergraduate degree programs, including eight associate degrees; and 44 graduate degrees, including an integrated bachelor’s and master’s degree, a specialist degree and two doctoral degrees. The University is also home to the Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum, the largest history museum in the state and the home of one of the Southwest’s finest art collections. The Buffaloes are a member of the NCAA Division II Lone Star Conference and offers 14 men’s and women’s athletics programs.

—WT—