Chorus to premier Mozart Mass

Philip Wilby

Wilby, who lives in England , will be in Fresno for the performances, to talk with Fresno State students and meet supporters of the chorus.

Mozart died in 1791 before completing the "Mass in C Minor" and other composers have tried to the reconstruct the piece, said Dr. Anna Hamre, a Fresno State associate professor of music and director of the Community Chorus.

"Philip Wilby found fragments [of the score] that Mozart left and he analyzed Mozart's other compositions written during the same time period to produce a completed Mass that uses the same techniques to become stylistically unified."

The reconstructed Mass was published by Novello and Co. this spring and recently premiered in England . The Fresno performance will be the next unveiling.

Hamre said the 100-member chorus will be joined by a 20-piece orchestra of professional musicians and four vocal soloists.

Performances will be at 8 p.m. on Nov. 13 and 2:30 p.m. on Nov. 14 in the Concert Hall in the Music Building . Seating is limited. Tickets are $15 general admission and $10 students and are available from the Music Department at 278-2654 or TAM Architecture, 5650 N. Fresno St., Suite 110 .

Vocal soloists will be Brigid de Jong, soprano, a graduate student at Fresno State ; Deborah Farrand, mezzo soprano, who graduated from Fresno State and teaches at Fresno Pacific University ; Randolph A. Lacy, tenor, a lecturer in voice at Fresno State ; and Woody Hurst, bass, retired Fresno State voice professor.

Wilby is a professor at Leeds University , about 190 miles northwest of London . Mozart Reconstructions have been a recurrent theme in his academic work. They have been the

subject of a British television documentary with the Amadeus Quartet, and his reconstituted Concerto for Violin and Piano was recently recorded by Christoph Eschenbach and Midori for Sony Classical Records.

Wilby has had a connection with Fresno State for some time. He is a long-time friend of Dr. Larry Sutherland, Fresno State 's director of Bands, and the two have traveled to each other's universities on various occasions to share musical events.

Two years ago Fresno State did the American premiere of Wilby's "A New World Dancing" (which uses texts written by Archbishop Desmond Tutu) and it was exceptionally well-received at the Collegiate Band Festival held at Fresno State .

Fresno State and Leeds have an exchange program through which each sends students to study at the other's schools.

The Community Chorus, which has a growing reputation for excellent work, has been rehearsing the Mozart piece since August.

The Community Chorus includes singers from the university and surrounding communities who rehearse weekly and each semester perform one concert program of great masterpieces of choral orchestral literature.

Hamre said a donation from Elizabeth Lyles of Fresno will help the chorus meet the estimated $10,000 in expenses for the Mozart premier. Other donors are sought, and may contact Hamre at 8-2539 or Community Chorus president Martin Temple at 435-4750.