Marc-André Bougie Conducts New York Premiere Of His 'Requiem' At Carnegie Hall To Open MidAmerica Productions' 39th Season

On Saturday, March 19, Marc-André Bougie will conduct the New York premiere of his own Requiem. This premiere is to take place during the first concert for MidAmerica Productions at Carnegie Hall's Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage since 2019.

"We are beyond excited to be back on stage at Carnegie Hall!" Dr. Bougie wrote. "This will be our fourth tour to Carnegie Hall through MidAmerica Productions, and my third appearance as guest conductor. This time will be special, though, because of the very nature of the music, and because of the additional challenge of presenting an original work on the most famous stage in the world."

The Requiem is also known as a Mass of the dead, a special liturgy in the Roman Catholic tradition that is offered for the repose of the souls of the deceased. It is the basis of myriad musical works - some notable Requiems having been composed by Verdi, Mozart, and Fauré, to name a few - and sometimes, the text of the Requiem is set to music without the intention of it ever being used for religious purposes. For instance, Disney composer Alan Menken makes extensive use of the Requiem text during the dramatic climax of the film and stage adaptations of The Hunchback of Notre Dame. In Dr. Bougie's case, work on his Requiem began many years ago and was indeed inspired by prayers themselves and the meaning they hold.

"As a conductor, I have had the privilege of conducting many different Requiem settings, and thus I became familiar with the musical possibilities offered by the text," Dr. Bougie explained. "Latin liturgical texts have also always been meaningful to me, from a faith perspective first, but also from a philosophical standpoint of linguistic unity through the ages. I believe that words in themselves contain music, and that composing music on ancient texts brings together these centuries of musical expression through words. To me, there is a place within eternity where those prayers rest, and I wanted to see if I could connect to it. More than anything else, that inspired me."

The Requiem was completed and first performed at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Texarkana, Texas. Its first performance was in the context of a Latin Mass in the extraordinary form in 2020, during the height of the COVID pandemic. For Dr. Bougie, the pandemic lent additional weight to the meaning of the composition, as it became a meditation on loss and rest.

"I felt a strong sense of loss during the pandemic," he wrote, "but also a sense of rest. All of us were forced to stop, or at least slow down, and take in reality at that very moment. The essential meaning of the word Requiem is that of rest, and so I began a deep reflection on the concept of this eternal rest beyond temporal human rest."

Joining Marc-André Bougie onstage will be vocal soloists Ariana Wehr, soprano; Daniel Sutin, baritone; and a massed choir made up of seven ensembles, two of which Dr. Bougie himself directs: the Shreveport Chorale and the Texarkana Regional Chorale. The other five choirs will be:

• Albany Chorale, Albany, Ga. (Travis Kern, director)
• Grambling State University Choir, Grambling, La. (Natorshau Davis, director)
• Huntington High School Choir, Shreveport, La. (Arnese Brass, director)
• Lee County High School, Leesburg, Ga. (Bradly Bunce, director)
• Valdosta State University Chamber Singers, Valdosta, Ga. (Clell Wright, director)

Bringing the new Requiem to the iconic Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage in Carnegie Hall will herald a new beginning for Dr. Bougie and his choir. Anticipating their triumphant return to Carnegie Hall, he remarked, "These last two years have been an unbelievable whirlwind of emotions in the performing arts. For us, this performance will be a new beginning, and a chance to celebrate life and the power of music to its fullest."

Headlined by the New England Symphonic Ensemble (Preston Hawes, artistic director), the Requiem will be preceded in the first third of the concert by a performance of Poulenc's Gloria, conducted by Clell Wright and performed by the aforementioned seven choirs with Eilana Lappalainen as soprano soloist.

Following a brief pause in the program will be Mark Hayes' Te Deum conducted by Gary Packwood and Vaughan Williams' Serenade to Music conducted by Bradley Vogel. Packwood and Vogel will be conducting a choir comprising singers from the ensembles they direct - Mississippi State University State Singers and McPherson College Choir, respectively - plus voices from a third group, Wagner College Choir, Staten Island, N.Y. (Thomas Juneau, director). They will be joined by vocal soloists Ariana Wehr, soprano; Alison Bolshoi, contralto; Michael Boley, tenor; and Daniel Sutin, baritone.

A "Concert of Negro Spirituals" will be the last of three parts of the March 19 concert program, and the only third that will be after the intermission. This portion of the concert will be conducted by Paul T. Kwami, who will be joined by three choirs from Nashville, Tennessee - the Fisk Jubilee Singers whom he directs; the Harpeth Hall Chamber Choir, led by Esther Ting; and the Montgomery Bell Academy Choir, led by Michael Colavita - along with two others:

• Dorothy Cotton Jubilee Singers, Ithaca, N.Y. (Baruch Whitehead, director)
• Wilkes Central High School Chamber Singers, Wilkesboro, N.C. (David Brooks, director)

Purchase Tickets

Tickets for this concert in Carnegie Hall's Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage are $20, $50, $75, $100, or $150. They may be obtained by contacting CarnegieCharge at (212) 247-7800, visiting the Carnegie Hall Box Office at 57th Street and Seventh Avenue in New York, N.Y., or by going online to www.carnegiehall.org.

ABOUT MARC-ANDRÉ BOUGIE, composer and conductor

Praised for his visionary musical leadership and captivating performances, Marc-André Bougie is a highly sought-after conductor, composer, & educator in North America and abroad. He is now in his 18th season as Music Director and Conductor of the Texarkana Regional Chorale & Orchestra, and in his 15th year as Associate Professor of Music at Texarkana College. He was also the founding Music Director & Conductor of the Texarkana Symphony Orchestra, which he directed for twelve seasons. He has conducted the Orquesta Sinfónica de Falcón (Venezuela), Pleven Philharmonic (Bulgaria), Orchestra Cantelli (Italy), Orchestre des Sources (Canada), and the Shreveport Symphony, Shreveport Opera, & Shreveport Metropolitan Ballet. He made his Carnegie Hall conducting debut in 2010 with MidAmerica Productions.

Marc-André is married to soprano Candace Taylor with whom he collaborates as composer, pianist, & conductor. In 2015 they worked on an album featuring one of their new compositions, Ave Maria. He has won the 2001 MTNA National Composition Competition and holds a master's degree in Orchestra Conducting from the University of Missouri-Columbia. Marc-André was awarded the Texarkana College 2016 Endowed Chair of Teaching Excellence. He was also a National Finalist for the 2021 American Prize - Choral Composition Division for his Requiem.

ABOUT MIDAMERICA PRODUCTIONS AND MIDAM INTERNATIONAL

Peter Tiboris created and conducted his first concert in New York on January 7, 1984, at Lincoln Center, featuring The American Symphony Orchestra, soloists, and three choruses, the Louisiana Chorale of Acadiana, Camerata Singers of Baton Rouge, and Collegiate Chorale of New York.

For 39 years, MidAmerica Productions has brought together conductors, soloists, and choral and orchestral ensembles from the U.S. and abroad to appear at New York's top venues, including Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage, Weill Recital Hall, and Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall; and Alice Tully Hall and Avery Fisher Hall (now David Geffen Hall) at Lincoln Center. In addition to presenting orchestral and choral works, MidAmerica Productions has championed contemporary composers with 98 World Premieres, 38 United States Premieres, and 121 New York Premieres.

Additionally, MidAmerica Productions has presented concerts in numerous U.S. cities and in countries throughout the world, including Greece, England, Austria, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Italy, France, Portugal, Russia, Ukraine, Slovakia, and Mexico.