Rarely performed masterwork will feature three choirs, stellar soloists, chamber orchestra

By Julia Sommer for Ashland.news

The combined forces of Southern Oregon University’s Concert and Chamber choirs, Medford-based Rogue Valley Chorale, a professional chamber orchestra, and four nationally known soloists convene for 3 p.m. performances of Verdi’s Requiem Saturday, March 15, and Sunday, March 16, at SOU Recital Hall.

Under the direction of tireless Dr. Jerron Jorgensen, Director of Choral/Vocal Studies at SOU and Music Director of the Rogue Valley Chorale, this mammoth, gorgeous, rarely performed work is the first in an annual Master Voices series initiated by Jorgensen combining the three choirs.

“The Verdi Requiem has been on my radar for many years,” says Jorgensen. “It’s one of the most vaunted masterpieces in classical music. One is lucky to see/sing/hear it twice in a lifetime.” 

This Verdi Requiem has been a year in the making, including raising $20,000 to put on the blockbuster; fundraising is 75% of the way there. Donors are invited to list those they wish to remember in the program, and a slide show of those honored will be shown before the performances.

“I’m so impressed by support for the arts in this community!” exclaims Jorgensen.  (Those wishing to contribute may contact “Dr. J.” at [email protected].)

Giuseppe Verdi’s “Messa da Requiem” is a musical setting of the Catholic funeral mass composed in memory of Alessandro Manzoni, poet, novelist and philosopher. Considered too operatic to be performed in a liturgical setting, the 90-minute Requiem is usually given in concert form. Verdi is most famous for his many popular operas, among them “Aida,” “La Traviata,” “Rigoletto” and “Il Trovatore.”

“Verdi caught some flack for the Requiem,” notes Jorgensen.  “Critics said it was an opera in liturgical clothes. It’s almost cinematic. Verdi seems to fear his own death, his own mortality; he seems to be pleading for redemption, liberation, understanding how much we plead when we come to our earthly end.”

The first performance of Verdi’s Requiem, in Milan in 1874, conducted by the composer, marked the first anniversary of Manzoni’s death. Verdi conducted his work at major venues throughout Europe.

Auxiliary events to March 15-16 performances 

The four Verdi Requiem soloists — soprano Christi McLain, mezzo soprano Robyn Rocklein, tenor Justin Staebell, and bass Benjamin Sieverding — will present a free master class with selected choristers open to the public from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Friday, March 14, in SOU’s Recital Hall.

In addition, a free showing of the documentary, “The Defiant Requiem,” will take place at 7 p.m. Wednesday, March 12, at the Varsity Theatre. It documents performances of Verdi’s Requiem by Jewish prisoners at the Nazi concentration camp Theresienstadt. The documentary is free, although seats are limited and available through OCA’s box office.

Tickets to the March 15-16 performances of Verdi’s Requiem are $30/general, $25/ seniors, free for all students and educators K–college. There is also a livestream option. For tickets, go to sou.universitytickets.com.

Jorgensen’s Backstory

Before arriving at SOU in 2022, Jorgensen was Assistant Professor of Music at Coker University in Hartsville, SC. He received his Doctor of Musical Arts in Voice Performance from The Hartt School, University of Hartford, a Master of Music in Voice Performance from Arizona State University, and a bachelor’s degree in Music from South Dakota State University, his home state.

At SOU, he teaches Chamber Choir, Concert Choir, applied voice, Music History I, II, and III, Conducting 1 and III, and Secondary Choral Methods. Jorgensen and soprano soloist Christi McLain are married with two children in Ashland public schools. McLain is on SOU’s voice faculty.

Among Jorgensen’s initiatives at SOU are a high school choral invitational every fall and a Lyric Theatre for SOU students to perform one-act contemporary American operas. Its first presentation last year, “The Ghosts of Gatsby,” sold out all eight performances. This January, he took the SOU Chamber Choir to perform at the Oregon Music Education Association Conference in Eugene.

“We’ve been so lucky with our last several new hires in Music to bring in bold, innovative faculty with fresh ideas,” says Andrew Kenneth Gay, Dean of the School of Arts & Communication at SOU. “Jerron’s ambitions for SOU Music have helped elevate our stature in the local community and beyond. The Requiem project is sure to blow our audiences away!”

Email freelance writer Julia Sommer of Ashland at [email protected].