GSA Mile High Concert Chorale and Orchestra: Requiem Aeternam (John Rutter)
(unavailable for purchase)
This one's just for kicks and giggles. My first song celebrating 1996 features…me!
Well, me, a choir, an orchestra, and some soloists. And how we all came together to make this recording is pretty unusual.
The Geological Society of America holds an annual meeting every October, frequently in Denver. For the meeting in 1996, for some unexplained reason, GSA's head honcho also organized a performance of John Rutter's Requiem for any geoscientist who wanted to participate. GSA sprang for the venue (St. John's Cathedral), the professional orchestra (and some talented geologists), and the 4 soloists (who were terrific). We were mailed the sheet music and a tape ahead of time so we could learn it on our own. In fact, we had only one rehearsal and one final run-through before this performance. I think it sounds pretty decent, and I loved the piece, especially this first movement.
I still haven't worked out why it all came to pass—after all, it really has nothing to do with geology—but it was a great experience.