The singers will be directed by Liberty’s Choir Director Timothy Williams and Frontier Choir Director Michael Ellsworth. Accompanists are Laina Dang and Ashanti Law.
According to Mr. Williams, the orchestra accompanying the singers is “made up of high-level professional musicians, many of whom play for various orchestras throughout California” including the Bakersfield Symphony Orchestra. The orchestra is being paid for with money raised by the Liberty High School Choir Club. Admission to the concert is free, though donations will be accepted.
Mr. Williams said he has been planning this concert for almost two years and invited the Frontier students because they are “highly compatible with LHS students” and the groups would work well together. He added that the Chamber Singers are the top choirs from each campus and are capable of doing high level, artistic music.
John Rutter's Requiem is a musical setting of parts of the Latin Requiem with added psalms and biblical verses in English, completed in 1985. It is scored for soprano, mixed choir and orchestra or chamber ensemble. Rutter is a living British composer who is well-known for writing beautiful choral music.
Mr. Williams said, “John Rutter's Requiem celebrates the beauty and meaning of both life and death, acknowledging that a beautiful, meaningful life is made more beautiful and meaningful because there is an inevitable end to that life.”