Every couple of years, the SNU choir focuses its spring concert on a larger work. For example, SNU’s Chorale and Concert performed Handel’s Messiah two years ago, acting as a reminder of the life of Jesus Christ and His teachings. For this upcoming concert, they will be focusing on two larger works: John Rutter’s Requiem and John Wykoff’s Out of This Darkness: A Normandy Cantata. This concert acts as a remembrance for all those who lost their lives in World War II, coinciding with the 80th anniversary of the end of the war. This is marked as both an opportunity to mourn their tragedies but also to celebrate their lives as well.
When talking to some of the choir students about performing in the concert, they all expressed their excitement about singing such special pieces of music. SNU student Tanner Luce says that one of his favorite parts about being involved in the SNU Chorale is “how intentional we are with our music,” and how each piece that is chosen has some kind of meaning behind it.
In addition to the concert, a number of choir members will be going on a mission trip to Poland this summer through SNU in Missions (SIMS). This will not only allow them to sing in another country, but it gives them a chance to experience a culture and a life unfamiliar to their own. SNU student Liberty Attaway elaborates on how the concert will prepare students for this upcoming trip, saying that this concert “puts students in the right mindset for Poland.” It is a country with a rich and complicated history, and it warrants a concert as big as this one will be.
The concert will take place on April 22, 2025, at Oklahoma City First Church of the Nazarene. It will be a concert to remember–not just for the performance itself, but for what it represents: the ending of one of the darkest chapters in world history and the peace that followed.
Photo by: Jacob Mash