This is a homegrown video of our local performance of Mozart’s REQUIEM offered to the Visalia/Fresno community on May 5 last. St. Mary’s Schola, the Sanctuary Choir of Christ Lutheran, the Masterworks Chorale of our community College of the Sequoias, and members of our local symphony collaborated to present the Requiem to a SRO audience. In the Introitus the soprano soloist is my beloved first daughter, Charlotte Da Rosa, whom you’ll see on stage right of the stunning silver tressed mezzo-soloist, whom CMAA vets know truly is the better half of the Culbreth troth, my beloved Wendy. Wendy and tenor soloist Prof. Jeff Seaward (COS Choral Director) and bass soloist Limuel Forgey (Christ Lutheran Director of Music) sing in their respective movements both solo/soli, found underneath the first movement video.
I haven’t been able to find words, still to this moment, to describe the honor and privilege it is to be able to “bring this off” in one’s own parish, much less home town. There are so many to thank.
During my nearly two decades at my parish we’ve been blessed to offer to God some very refined medals of musical genius to our parishioners. But, I have to encourage those parishes who are blessed with the various environmental and talent resources to seek out collaboration among our own fellow RC churches, and with like-minded denominational parishes who value the sacred treasury as a missio, a pilgrimage to give glory to God and witness to our faith in Christ and as prayer for believers in Him.
For all our faithful departed in Christ….
Catholic musicians gathered to blog about liturgy and life