Weeks after what is now the most violent shooting in American history, tributes to the victims continue to unite communities around the memories of the 49 people killed. Members of the school of music came together through the power of music to express their grief for the 49 victims killed in the Orlando nightclub.
The impromptu performance was organized by the Activities and Vocal Area Coordinator at DePaul Eric Esparza, as a way to channel the grief he felt after the horrifying events. .
Upwards of 50 students, faculty and other community members performed Gabriel Fauré’s Requiem, a choral and orchestral Mass setting meant for the mourning of the dead, in the School of Music’s Concert Hall at 7:30 p.m June 15.
“Out of a sense of helplessness, I was hoping to find a pianist, soprano, alto, and bass that I could sing tenor alongside to work through some feelings,” Esparza said. “Nearly 48 hours later an orchestra and chorus assembled.”
As the world has shown not only in the wake of the shooting in Orlando, but last fall’s Paris attacks, as well as the recent Brussels bombings in March, millions of people can connect through social media to stand in solidarity over such hateful violence.
The event was communicated to the community primarily through a Facebook event page titled “Fauré Requiem Sing-Along for Orlando”, and was shared with musicians around the city. Despite the short notice, dozens of musicians showed up, some who performed the piece before and others who were seeing it for the first time. Scores were provided for all orchestra and chorus members to use during the performance. As the event description stated, “this is NOT about a perfect performance. This is about music bringing people together.” An overwhelming majority of those in the Concert Hall were participants in the vigil, with a dozen people listening to the performance.
Fauré’s Requiem consists of seven distinct movements. Each movement was preceded by seven seconds of silence, culminating in a total of 49 seconds of silence for each soul lost in Orlando the morning of June 12.
DePaul’s impromptu concert was not the only requiem performance in memory of the Orlando shooting victims. The community at University of Michigan’s School of Music performed Mozart’s Requiem the night before as a “Requiem for Orlando,” drawing in over 180 performers and thousands of attendees, including the mayor of University of Michigan’s home city, Ann Arbor.
The concerts not only stand as shining example of how the power of music outcries the hateful messages and violence that these attacks have exemplified, but have also shown how a great number of people can come together in the wake of tragedy to mourn victims they never met—but always shared common values with.
At the end of the performance at the Concert Hall, Esparza said, “Beautiful. Beautiful. (…) Thank you for being here in the heat, thank you for volunteering, thank you for everything.”
“There will never be another Fauré like what just happened,” Esparza said. “Everyone here is special and beautiful. Thank you for your talents.”
A recording of the performance is available here: https://www.facebook.com/terry.marc.5/videos/10154219917798279/
