April 08, 2025
SIU Choral Union, Concert Choir to perform Brahms’ German Requiem
CARBONDALE, Ill. — The combined talents of the Southern Illinois University Carbondale Choral Union and Concert Choir will showcase composer Johannes Brahms’ German Requiem during a free, public concert April 15 in Shryock Auditorium.
The 7 p.m. performance will be final concert at SIU for Susan Davenport, professor and director of choral activities in the School of Music, who is retiring from teaching at SIU after 20 years.
The concert will feature the accompaniment for Brahm’s Requiem that features two pianos — with Junghwa Lee, professor, and Jiyeon Lee, a collaborative pianist, both from the School of Music — and soloists soprano Emily Yocum Black from Paducah, Kentucky, and baritone Jacob Lassetter from St. Louis.
The choral union and concert choir will feature about 120 singers, Davenport said. The SIU Choral Union is made up of SIU students and community members from across the region. The group gives one performance each semester and rehearses once a week.
Brahms’ German Requiem, his longest and largest ensemble work, will be performed in English. The requiem is “such a complete work” and was very personal for Brahms (1833-1897), who composed it following the death of his good friend, German composer and pianist Robert Schumann (1810-1856), Davenport said. Brahms added a fifth movement, which is performed by a soloist, after the death of his mother.
“The biblical texts were carefully chosen by Brahms where he emphasized the healing and comfort that we can experience after grief,” Davenport said. “He composes in a really orderly way, yet it is full of surprises. He never repeats exactly the same thing twice, so both the singers and the listeners are kind of on the edge of their seats to hear what comes next. It has some of the most exciting moments in music and also some of the most sublime.”
Davenport, who will continue to conduct the Paducah Singers, a semi-professional chamber choir, said she believed concluding her 20 years at SIU Carbondale “with one of my favorite musical works was the right thing to do.”