ARTS NOTES Symphony of prayer for the living and the dead

Kristen Peterson

Friday, March 24, 2006 | 7:18 a.m.

Twice a year the Southern Nevada Musical Arts Society takes on a big undertaking - grouping together vocalists and musicians from throughout the Las Vegas Valley.

The society's annual spring concert is Sunday at UNLV's Artemus Ham Hall. It will present two requiems: Mozart's uncompleted Requiem and a Requiem done in 2001 by contemporary composer John Leavitt.

The performance of the Leavitt Requiem, featuring a 150-voice choir of students from Greenspun Junior High School and Thurman White Middle School, will open the program.

Guest vocalists include three returning performers: soprano Amy Cofield, bass-baritone Neil Wilson and mezzo-soprano Alice Swenson. New this year is tenor Michael Cochran, who recently joined UNLV's music faculty.

The society's 70-piece Musical Arts Chorus and 30-piece Musical Arts Orchestra will present Mozart's requiem and four selections from Mozart's "Vesper Psalms."

Doug Peterson, musical director of the Southern Nevada Musical Arts Society, arranged the evening's program.

In 1998, he conducted Mozart's Requiem along with "Requiem in C Minor" by Johann Michael Haydn, Joseph Haydn's brother.

"It seemed logical there," Peterson said. "Mozart used some of the same thematic material as Haydn."

Sunday's performance is a little different. Mozart's Requiem is a Latin prayer for the dead. Leavitt's Requiem is in English and is designed to console the living.

"So you have this contrast between those two works, which is fascinating," Peterson said. "Then to sandwich in these delicious 'Vesper Psalms,' a summation of Mozart's greatest church music ... It's going to be kind of a love feast."

The performance is at 3 p.m. Admission is $12. For more information, call 895-2787.

International films

UNLV's Film Department begins its International Film Series on Thursday with a presentation of "Look at Me" by French director Agnes Jaoui.

The film focuses on relationships via a young woman trying to earn the respect of her book publisher father.

The series, which runs through May 11, will screen films every Thursday at 7 p.m. in Room A106 of UNLV's Classroom Building Complex.

Next week will be Erik Van Looy's Belgium thriller "The Memory of a Killer."

Admission is free. For more information, call 895-3537.