Raised Voices: 200 musicians join concert

Mar. 23—VALDOSTA — Valdosta Symphony Orchestra patrons can expect the thunderous sound of a hundred-plus voices.

"We will have about 200 people onstage," said Howard Hsu, Valdosta Symphony conductor and music director, adding the concert includes about 120 singers and about 80 members of the orchestra.

This is no Brahms lullaby.

No, it is Johannes Brahms' "A German Requiem," which Hsu describes as "monumental."

Or as Brahms called it, "Ein Deutsches Requiem."

Clell E. Wright, Valdosta State University director of choral activities, solicited South Georgia for singers to participate in the requiem's massive choir.

In January, Wright, who serves as chorus master for the requiem, put out the call.

"We are looking for singers with experience in a church, school or community chorus who enjoy or would like the opportunity to perform with a professional orchestra," he said then. "The ability to read music and to learn quickly is advantageous as rehearsals will be paced very quickly."

The solicited singers joined the combined choirs of Valdosta State University, Wright added, including the community choir, Musical Union. Valdosta State University Voce Vita and Albany Chorale are also part of the 120 voices.

They have rehearsed weekly, each Monday evening, since early January preparing for the performance scheduled for this weekend.

They will be joined by featured soloists, Tamara Hardesty, soprano, Brian Kontes, bass.

Hardesty is well known to Valdosta Symphony audiences. She is married to Hsu and has performed in past VSO concerts as well as other concerts in the region.

She is known beyond South Georgia.

New York Times music critic James R. Oestreich wrote that Hardesty is "a particular joy, singing with a clear, agile soprano and spinning out the coloratura with ease." Andrew Porter wrote in the New Yorker magazine that Hardesty "gave pleasure in many gentle, fluent, well-shaped passages."

She has performed in the Kennedy Center and in opera performances in halls across the United States.

She is featured on composer Luis Andrei Cobo's recent album, "The Disarrange."

Kontes is known for his "dark bass and strong dramatic energy," according to Opera News.

He performs throughout the country and abroad.

Kontes began the 2022-23 season at the Metropolitan Opera in New York with

assignments on "Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk" and "Die Zauberflöte."

"Recently, he returned to Pittsburgh Opera where he sang the role of The Commendatore in 'Don Giovanni.' Additionally, he made his debut with the Pittsburgh Symphony for their concert of Bruckner's 'Te Deum," according to biographical information supplied by the VSO. "Brian Kontes also made an important debut with Washington Concert Opera as the Spectre in 'Hamlet.' He then returned to the Metropolitan Opera for their production of 'Manon Lescaut.'"

"The German Requiem" is considered a Brahms masterwork.

The work "begins with a message of reassurance to those experiencing the pain of loss, but it ends with the view that the dead find eternal life and peace from earthly strife," according to Alan M. Rothenberg in www.noteperfectnotes.com. "It does not try to explain death, and it is notable that the word 'death' does not appear in the text until the sixth movement. Choral director Nick Strimple writes the requiem 'does not pretend to know anything about an afterlife. It simply comforts the living and honors the dead: those ancestors who went before us and, for better or worse, helped create the world we inherited. and perceptive listeners on hearing it understand that they are connected to these ancestors, but also to the present and the future.'"

Brahms first presented the requiem on Good Friday 1868. Following this tradition, Valdosta Symphony presents the requiem during the Easter season.

Valdosta Symphony Orchestra presents "Contemplation," featuring Strauss' "Solemn Entrance," MacMillan's "Larghetto for Orchestra," Brahms' "A German Requiem," Op. 45, 7:30 p.m. Saturday, March 25, Whitehead Auditorium, Valdosta State University Fine Arts Building, corner of Oak and Brookwood. More information, tickets: Visit www.valdostasymphony.org or call (229) 333-2150.