On Wednesday night, the music department held their Masterworks Concert in Opstad auditorium, which is a performance that is held every two years. Symphony orchestra and choir collaborated on the Requiem, Mozart’s final work. The Piece was composed only weeks before Mozart’s death, commissioned by a patron to compose a Requiem Mass.

​“It’s an epic work that it’s important that students are exposed to at some point in their lives. It’s really bona fide legitimate music; it’s not watered down. There are a lot of notes that we have to learn, and learn them well,” City High Orchestra Director Megan Stucky said. “Mozart is challenging in and of itself, and when you put a mass together that’s almost an hour long, it’s extremely difficult.”

​The Symphony Orchestra has been preparing for this concert for a couple of months, with several rehearsals combined with the choirs.

​“The hardest part was definitely just actually getting through the materials. It’s such a large work, and with simply so much music to learn, it’s hard to find the motivation to slog through practicing it all, whether on your own or during rehearsals. It overloads your brain the first time you give it a read, but the longer you play, the easier it becomes,” Abigail Sigafoose, concert master, said.

​The choice of Mozart’s Requiem was a collaboration between the choir and Orchestra directors, and the work featured several soloists from the community.

​“The concert overall felt like a success. The orchestra and choir really came together right when it counted, and our performance last night was the best we ever sounded, which is always the goal in a performance. Afterwards, we were just in awe that we had actually pulled that off, and I’m so proud of both ensembles for putting in so much time and effort,” Sigafoose said.