On Friday, April 19, Lawrence students performed their annual Major Works in the Lawrence University Chapel. The Major Works is when the three Lawrence choirs — Cantala, Concert Choir and Viking Chorale — perform with the Lawrence Symphony Orchestra. This year, the performance focused on the works of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The orchestra started out with the “Overture” to Mozart’s opera “The Magic Flute” and was then joined by the choir for the “Great Mass,” a four-movement mass.
Throughout the four movements, members of the choir were able to shine and show off their talent with solos. Soloists include senior Tanvi Thatai, junior Mariah Schaumberg and senior Lenny Crino. The talent shown across the orchestra and choirs was absolutely incredible to see. To watch people express their talent and their love of music was very fun.
The orchestra started working on learning the music for the concert at the start of this term. When asked how she prepared for the major works concert, junior Louisa Olsen said she treated it like any other orchestra performance. Olsen plays bass and says that after rehearsals she would practice her part individually, ensuring that she knew the music inside and out so she could focus more on playing with the rest of the group. Additionally, Olsen said that her favorite part of the Major Works is collaborating with the choirs alongside the rest of the orchestra. “I love playing music with other people because of the focus it requires on working together to make the music work,” Olsen said. “It’s just a really satisfying thing to then get to perform for other people.”
For the choirs, they had to start learning their music eight weeks before the concert, beginning at the end of winter term. Sophomore Jazmine Cool said the choir started practicing with just their sections before practicing with the rest of the choir. “We just had four rehearsals with the orchestra before the concert.” Cool stated that her favorite part of preparing for the Major Works was working with and getting to know the other choirs better. When asked what her favorite part of the Major Works was, sophomore Eavin Puknys said that “singing with the full orchestra is just insane, you can feel every bone in your body, and you are a part of something much bigger than yourself.” Similarly to Olsen and Cool, Puknys’s favorite part was being able to make music with different people: “It’s just so much fun to work with people you don’t normally work with.”
The Major Works is one of the few annual performances at Lawrence where different areas of the Conservatory come together to express their love for music. When asked what their favorite part of the concert to perform was, Olsen, Cool and Puknys all answered the “Credo,” the third movement of the “Great Mass.” “It’s just so bouncy and fun. Like I wanna start dancing” Cool said, with Puknys agreeing.
Overall, the Major Works was an incredible experience to watch. It was extremely powerful to watch both the orchestra and choirs come together to produce absolutely incredible music. If you missed the opportunity to attend this year, I highly recommend making time to go see the 2025 Major Works Concert.