Mozart Requiem Undead at 10

Wow… time does indeed fly.

*I swear I was not napping (photo: John Anderson / Austin Chronicle)*

Mozart Requiem Undead received its world premiere ten years ago this week. Conceptualized by Peter Stopschinski, developed alongside Golden Hornet’s Graham Reynolds and myself, and co-presented by Fusebox & Texas Performing Arts, MRU featured wildly reimagined movements of Mozart’s famously incomplete score by such composer luminaries as Adrian Quesada (Grammy Award-winning bandleader of Black Pumas & Grupo Fantasma), Caroline Shaw (2013 Pulitzer Prize-winner), and Glenn Kotche (Wilco).

Attended by a 2000-capacity audience (not counting the legions of people listening from outside the stone walls of Austin’s historic French Legation), performed by 170 musicians, nationally lauded by New Music USA & Chorus America, and nominated for eight Austin Critics Table Awards (ultimately winning two: Best Choral Performance and best soloist by Convergence New Music’s Cameron Beauchamp), MRU remains Austin’s largest and most highly acclaimed event for new music.

It’s hard to believe it’s been a whole decade, but I remain honored to have directed such a memorable and celebrated event. Happy 10th Anniversary, MRU!