Though there is usually a sizable gap between its fall and Christmas concerts, this year the choir has inserted a new performance in between the two; the Requiem Concert, which will occur November 10 at 7 p.m. at Custer Road United Methodist Church in Plano.

“The reason we didn’t just do [the requiems] for a fall concert is because there’s things we have to do at the beginning of the year,” choir director Bethany Stuard said. “But now that everybody has five to six weeks of experience, we can start this major works stuff, so it fell at a good time.”

The choir will be performing a different type of music; a requiem which is a musical composition associated with death and mourning.

“It has been really interesting learning about the different components and different composers of the requiems,” junior Madeline Nelson said. “I think that the concert will be very good and interesting to all those who have never heard requiems before.”

The students in choir are learning many new things in preparation for the concert.

“[The students] have learned what a master work is, what a requiem is specifically, we’ve learned the life of Mozart and the Mozart requiem,” Stuard said. “This week we’ll be talking about traditions of commemorating people both in our country and in different countries.”

The requiems have many elements that the singers must master.

“[The students have learned] how to sing a Gregorian chant in an expressive way,” Stuard said.  “And those big concepts like when you restate something, either musically or textually, that you make it different the second time. I hope that’s a big thing that people have taken away from this music.”

The students seem to enjoy this new kind of music.

“[Preparing for this concert] has helped us grow as singers by expanding the type of music we sing, and doing something we wouldn’t normally do,” sophomore Mallory Immel said. “Also by learning about Mozart and Durufle has given us some more background on the music world.”

Requiems have been around for a very long time, and are part of something bigger.

“I hope also that there is just a sense of being a part of something great and grand, with something like the Mozart requiem that people have been singing for hundreds of years,” Stuard said. “You are part of that, and you are sharing something with all of these musicians through the years and across other countries, and I think that’s really exciting.”