WESTFIELD — Steeple Concerts at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Westfield is honored and delighted to invite the general, music-loving public to a long-awaited, live performance of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s masterful Great Mass in C-minor. On Sunday, May 17, at 5 p.m., performed with full chorus and orchestra, this year’s Masterworks tribute to Mozart’s genius will conclude the 2025-2026 Steeple Concerts season.
St. Paul’s is located at 414 E. Broad Street (near Euclid Avenue) in Westfield, NJ. Tickets, priced at $40 for adults and $20 for students, may be purchased online at steepleconcerts.org or on May 17 at the concert door. Free concert parking is available in the St. Paul’s parking lot off of Euclid Avenue or on St. Paul’s Street next to the church. Following the event, concert attendees are invited to a lavish reception in the church’s Hamersley Hall, where they can meet and greet concert soloists, chorus singers, and members of the professional orchestra.
Mozart (1756-1791) composed his Grossemesse (K. 427) in 178283, age 26, when he had moved from Vienna to Salzburg. This move came shortly after his marriage to Maria Costanze Weber (17421842). the Austrian singer, businesswoman, and beloved wife who managed Mozart’s legacy after his untimely death in 1791.The Great Mass was possibly “written as a votive offering” to that beloved wife. (Letter to Mozart’s father, Jan 4, 1783).
Though never completed, the Great Mass is considered one of Mozart’s finest, most beautiful works. The work presents on a much grander and more ambitious scale than the 15 settings Mozart had first laid out for it. With coloratura soloist Constanze singing the Soprano 1 parts, the Mass premiered in Salzburg (1783) with only the Kyrie, Gloria, Sanctus, and Benedictus completed. The Mass remains unfinished and will be performed as composed by Mozart, with additional editorial orchestration of the incomplete sections.
Masterworks conductor Mark Hyczko, St. Paul’s celebrated Music Director and organist, notes that, “This Masterworks concert tribute to Mozart brings together a chorus of more than fifty voices, made up of singers from both our St. Paul’s Choir and local Westfield-area communities, together with a full orchestra of professional players, many from the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra.” Mr. Hyczko adds that, “We look forward to presenting soprano Nadine Robinson, mezzo-soprano Cornelia Lotito, tenor Jeremy Blossey, and bass Charles Schneider as our distinguished Mozart Mass soloists.”
