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The Program
André Thomas, guest conductor
Mid-Columbia Mastersingers
Reginal Unterseher, associate conductor
Justin Raffa, artistic director
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Requiem in D minor, K. 626 (completed by Franz Xaver Süssmayr)
André Thomas - Mass: A Celebration of Love and Joy
Concert Snapshots
Mozart’s Requiem was his final work. He died before completing it at the age of 35.
André J. Thomas composed Mass: A Celebration of Love and Joy as a parting gift to the Tallahassee Community Chorus when he retired after more than 30 years as their director.
Want to learn more? Click the button below to explore articles about the composers and the pieces, and read the program notes.
Explore the Music
About the Guest Artists
NaGuanda Nobles, soprano
NaGuanda Nobles discovered a love for singing at an early age. Mrs. Nobles accepted a full scholarship to attend Florida State University (FSU) and received her BM and MM degrees in Voice Performance. Receiving rave reviews for her “big, warming soprano with a lovely shimmering top that she uses with a ravishing effect”, Mrs. Nobles offers a winning combination of beauty and intensity in her singing.
She has made her mark on concert and operatic stages all across the world. Mrs. Nobles released her debut CD of spirituals, entitled “Homage to the Journey”, as a tribute to the slaves whose battered shoulders upon which she stands and the people who have been instrumental throughout her career.
Mrs. Nobles is also the founder of The HighArt Foundation, a non-profit organization that awards scholarships and provides mentorship to graduating high school seniors who are planning to pursue a degree in music.
naguandanobles.com
Nicole Sonbert, mezzo-soprano
Nicole Sonbert has distinguished herself as a dynamic mezzo-soprano, captivating audiences with her rich tone and compelling stage presence. Her operatic repertoire includes Madame Flora in Menotti’s The Medium, Aunt Lou in Still’s Highway One, USA, Suzuki in Puccini’s Madama Butterfly, the Mother in Menotti’s The Consul, and Buttercup in Gilbert & Sullivan’s H.M.S. Pinafore. As a concert artist, she has appeared as alto soloist in Handel’s Messiah, Mozart’s Requiem in D minor, and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 in D minor.
In addition to her performing career, Nicole is a passionate advocate for the arts and a sought-after collaborator. She has worked with symphonies, festivals, and educational institutions to create projects that connect music to broader cultural conversations. She currently serves as Director of Voice at Eastern Washington University and as Assistant Editor for Youth Vocal Repertoire with the African Diaspora Music Project.
Roderick George, tenor
© Nathaniel Thompson
Renowned for his commanding stage presence, exceptional vocal prowess, and unwavering commitment to musical excellence, tenor Roderick George has captivated audiences across the globe. His concert repertoire spans from the classic masterpieces of Bach and Mozart to the contemporary compositions of composers like Adolphus Hailstork and Mark Hayes, including recent performances of Hailstork’s I Will Lift Up Mine Eyes with the Nashville Symphony and in Minneapolis with VocalEssence, and Hayes’s Kindness with the Huntsville Master Chorale. He has sung over eighty performances of Handel's Messiah, including his Lincoln Center debut, and recent appearances with the Alabama Symphony Orchestra, North Carolina Baroque Orchestra, and El Paso Choral Society. Recent engagements have included Mozart’s Requiem with the Northwest Florida Symphony, Orff’s Carmina Burana with the Northeastern Pennsylvania Philharmonic, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with the Alabama Symphony Orchestra, Lili Boulanger’s Faust et Hélène with the New York Repertory Orchestra, Dvořák’s Stabat Mater with the Highland Park Chorale, and Nathaniel Dett’s The Chariot Jubilee with the Savannah Philharmonic. Roderick has concertized internationally, with notable highlights including appearances throughout Russia with the Orpheus Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Krasnoyarsk Philharmonic.
As a music ambassador, he was privileged to perform at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow. Hailed for his “lyrical and profoundly expressive” voice (TriangleSings North Carolina), Roderick has performed a diversity of leading tenor opera roles such as Nemorino in L'elisir d'amore, Rodolfo in La Bohème, Alfredo in La Traviata, Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly, Tamino in Die Zauberflöte, Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni, Sportin’ Life in Porgy and Bess, Roméo in Roméo et Juliette, Gérald in Lakmé, and Camille de Rosillon in The Merry Widow.
A multifaceted artist, his professional ensemble affiliations have included recordings and multiple tours across North America and Europe with the American Spiritual Ensemble and more recently as a featured artist with the Jason Max Ferdinand Singers, including the ensemble’s London debut at Royal Albert Hall.
Robb Harrison, baritone
Robb Harrison is the Artistic Director and Conductor of the Walla Walla Choral Society in Walla Walla, Washington. In addition, he teaches choir and music at College Place High School in College Place, Washington.
Prior to his educational and conducting career, Robb spent several years as a professional operatic bass-baritone and musical theatre performer. He began as a young artist with Opera New Jersey and went on to debut as Lysander in Michael Ching’s new production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Opera America, eventually performing across the country.
In recent years, Robb lived in Salem, Oregon, where he taught middle and high school choir and served as conductor, music director, and vocal director for musical theatre productions at the Historic Elsinore Theatre. His credits there include Bye Bye Birdie, Annie Get Your Gun, and A Christmas Story.
Robb holds a Bachelor of Music in Music Education and a Master of Education from Willamette University, as well as a Master of Music in Vocal Performance from the University of Arizona.
Program Notes
WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART
Born January 27, 1756, in Salzburg, Austria
Died December 5, 1791, in Vienna, Austria
Requiem in D minor, K. 626 (1791)
Last WWS Performance: May 16, 2006
Approximate length: 50 minutes
The work was left unfinished at Mozart’s death. It is scored for SATB choir, SATB soloists, two clarinets, two bassoons, two trumpets, three trombones, timpani, organ, and strings.
In Mozart’s day, musical plagiarism was considered acceptable; imitation was the sincerest form of flattery. It was also common, if not viewed as completely honest, to accept credit for a work you commissioned. Therefore, when the wife of Count Franz von Walsegg-Stuppach died in February of 1791, he planned a memorial service using the music of another composer. In July, he sent his steward, Franz Anton Leitgeb, to visit Mozart. Dressed in a dark cloak and wearing a dark mask, the messenger presented the composer with a letter commissioning a Requiem Mass at a price to be named by Mozart. Any attempt to discover the identity of his patron would result in cancellation of the order.
The work was put into Mozart’s queue of pieces to be completed, but writing a clarinet concerto, two operas, and a Masonic cantata pushed composition of the Requiem to the end of October. Mozart worked on the piece for just twenty days before falling ill on November 20, only to die two weeks later. It is worth noting that Antonio Salieri, a composer more respected than Mozart in the late eighteenth century, had no role in the composition of the Requiem or in Mozart’s untimely demise. Despite centuries of creative storytelling that have delighted audiences and angered historians, it remains no secret that Mozart died of either rheumatic fever or uremia (kidney failure, a buildup of urea in the bloodstream). Despite what the speculative and entertaining play and movie Amadeus would have us believe, Salieri had no role in Mozart’s death.
Mozart’s Requiem should never have been performed. He completed only one section of the eight. Although fragments in varying degrees of completion were left for the remainder of the work, most of the Requiem required the intervention of another composer if it was ever to reach a performable state. Mozart’s widow, Constanze, needed the money promised by Count Walsegg-Stuppach, so she led the patron to believe that her husband had finished the work before his death. She called upon Mozart’s pupil Joseph Eybler to make the necessary additions. Eybler, feeling overwhelmed by the monumental task, quit soon afterward, passing the job to fellow pupil Franz Xaver Süssmayr. Composers Maximilian Stadler and Franz Freystadtler also made minor contributions to the effort. The Sanctus, Benedictus, and Agnus Dei were completely the work of Süssmayr.
The difficulty of reconstructing exactly which composers had completed which sections of the work would require much more space than the present setting allows. Musicologist H. C. Robbins Landon, in his exhaustive Mozart’s Last Year, returned to original manuscripts and analyzed the types of paper used for individual parts of the Requiem. He established, as suspected, that Süssmayr completed the bulk of the work, while Eybler filled in some of the orchestration.
Count Walsegg-Stuppach held the memorial service for his wife on December 14, 1793, at the Cistercian monastery of Neukloster in Wiener Neustadt. The Count conducted the Requiem as his own work. Modern scholarship shows that Mozart was probably aware of Walsegg-Stuppach’s identity through his connections with musicians at Neukloster.
© 2025 Orpheus Music Prose & Craig Doolin
www.orpheusnotes.com
ANDRÉ J. THOMAS
Born August 15, 1952, in Wichita, Kansas
Mass: A Celebration of Love and Joy (2019)
Last WWS Performance: First performance at tonight’s concert
Approximate length: 22 minutes
This work was premiered in 2019 in Tallahassee, Florida, by the Tallahassee Community Chorus conducted by the composer. It is scored for SATB chorus, vocal soloists, two flutes, oboe, English horn, two clarinets, two bassoons, four horns, three trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion, piano, and strings.
Dr. André J. Thomas is an Associate Artist with the London Symphony Orchestra and Emeritus Professor of Music at Florida State University. He served as Visiting Professor of Choral Conducting at Yale University (2020-2022) and has been a faculty member at the University of Texas at Austin.
A renowned guest conductor, Dr. Thomas has led prestigious orchestras and choirs worldwide. He is also a distinguished composer and arranger, with works published by prominent music publishers such as Gentry, Hinshaw, Lawson Gould, Boosey & Hawkes, Heritage Music Press, and others.
His book, Way Over in Beulah Lan'...Understanding and Performing the Negro Spiritual is a significant contribution to the field. Dr. Thomas has received numerous honors, including the Robert Shaw Award from ACDA (2017) and the Samuel Simons Sanford Medal from Yale University. He is a Past National President of ACDA.
Thomas’ Mass: A Celebration of Love and Joy dates from 2018 and was composed to commemorate the conclusion of his 31 years as Artistic Director of the Tallahassee Community Chorus. It uses the text from the Ordinary of the Mass, which has been mostly standard for 1000 years. Thomas uses an English translation with occasional Biblical interpolations. His setting is in a traditional Gospel style with soloists and chorus.
Throughout the work, Thomas has expertly set his text with moments of mindfulness balanced with glorious climaxes. This is music to be felt deeply and enjoyed in the moment.
Biography provided by the composer