After nearly a year of planning and preparation, RainShadow Chorale is ready to present Mozart’s final composition, the Requiem Mass in D minor, at its fall 2017 concert, taking place this weekend.

Described by singers as “vibrant and tremendously energizing,” the piece is to be performed, along with other works at 3 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 18-19 at the Chimacum High School auditorium, 90 West Valley Road.

“The masked stranger, the mysterious commission, the dying Mozart frantically composing as his life ebbed away … if you’ve seen the film Amadeus, you’ll know the legend behind Mozart’s Requiem,” said RainShadow’s artistic director, Rebecca Rottsolk. “But the reality is even more incredible – as music’s greatest genius comes to terms with the ultimate mystery of human existence, and pours out his feelings in music of haunting beauty and compassion.”

The performance is made possible thanks to the generosity of community members and musicians who contributed the funds needed for some of the finest orchestra players on the Olympic Peninsula, who are to play alongside the singers.

Gregg Lewis, bass soloist, said he feels blessed to be able to participate in bringing this event to our community: “The heart has no other choice than to be pulled from one spectrum of soul and sound to another,” he said.

“Conducting this amazing masterwork with an exceptional choir and orchestra is both a thrill and an honor,” said Rottsolk.

The program opens with four contemporary works that also attest to music’s power to express and elevate the human spirit, Rottsolk said. Those works are “Prayer” and “Sure on This Shining Night” by Morten Lauridsen, “Luminous Night of the Soul” by Ola Gjeilo and “The Soul’s Own Speech” by Andrea Ramsey.

Pianist Lisa Lanza, who sustains RainShadow with her dedication and leadership, accompanies the singers on these pieces.

Rottsolk urges singers to feel the music’s message. In the words of singer Bob Bindschadler, “Rebecca inspires every RainShadow singer to transform our songs’ lyrics into a story and to use every note as a means to weave the score into a musical tapestry,” he said. The result is something that embraces the audience, inviting them to share in the experience. The selections amplify each other to deliver a message that leaves the audience enriched and uplifted.”