Duruflé Requiem

Durufle Requiem

 

Sunday

April 19, 2026

3:00 p.m.

 

Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist

$10 suggested donation

 

A sacred choral music festival featuring Requiem by Maurice Duruflé.

The choirs of Eastern Washington University and Gonzaga University, conducted by Geoffrey Boers, DMA.

 

Program

 

Jubilate Deo in C – Benjamin Britten (1913-1976)

Seek Him That Maketh the Seven Stars – Jonathan Dove (b. 1959)

Requiem – Maurice Duruflé (1902-1986)

 

with

Esther Kelley – mezzo-soprano

Jadrian Tarver, DMA – baritone

Helen Byrne, SPC – cello

Joseph Schubert, PhD – organ

 

Download program – mobile version

Download program – print version

 

________

 

Conductor

Geoffrey Boers, DMA

Geoffrey Boers, DMA

Geoffrey Boers is Director of Choral Activities and Professor of Music at the University of Washington Seattle, where he leads a nationally-recognized graduate choral program and conducts the Chamber Singers. Geoffrey loves working with choirs of all ages, and teaches nationally and internationally, most recently in Tallinn, Estonia, and Xi’an China. Geoffrey also conducts the Symphony Tacoma Voices. Each summer he leads Cascade Masterclass Choral Classes. This weeklong intensive course attracts conductors from North, Central, and South America.

His primary passion during his career is to foster the love of choral music in all ages of singers, and to equip them with the joy of discovery in growing as a choral artist. When reflecting on his work with young singers and teachers, the word most often spoken is “connection”—singers feel connected to their instrument, each other, and to the music they are singing. Alongside his work with singers, his hope is to affirm and enable the work of choral teachers, and provide opportunities for growth and inspiration. Over recent years, he has developed the Choral Literacy and Skills rubric, which is now in its second iteration as Together, We Sing. This rubric guides teachers and singers in developing various literacies which define choral artistry, and which has been adopted by the National Association for Music Education (NAfME) as national standards for choral performance. He is currently working on a project to translate and broaden traditional choral pedagogy into globally diverse language and processes. His vocal pedagogy addresses that all voices can make any sound that the human voice can create in a healthy fashion. His focus on the instrument of the voice, leads to group vocal pedagogies which address voices in transition, global sounds, as well as the challenges of ensemble singing.

 

Joseph Schubert, PhD – organist

Joseph Schubert, PhDJoseph Schubert, PhD, retired from teaching in 2020, after 36 years of teaching choral music in public schools at the junior high, senior high, and university levels. From 2009 through 2023, Dr. Schubert also taught music theory, choral literature, and academic research and writing in the Three-Summer Master of Music in Choral Conducting program at California State University, Los Angeles. Dr. Schubert’s dissertation dealt with twentieth-century French organist Jean-Jacques Grünenwald, providing an extensive biography and a comprehensive analysis of Grünenwald’s solo organ works in the context of the twentieth-century French organ school. He has been a church organist since he was 18 years old and is currently organist at Saint Augustine Catholic Church, Spokane. Dr. Schubert serves on the Board of Officers for the AGO Spokane chapter in the role of Secretary, with a focus in the area of program.

 

 

 

 

 

Eastern Washington University Choir

Kristina Ploeger-Hekmatpanah, DMA – conductor

Kristina Ploeger-Hekmatpanah, DMA

Kristina Ploeger-Hekmatpanah, DMA, earned her Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Kentucky. She is a professor of music at Eastern Washington University serving as director of choral activities and coordinator of undergraduate music education. Previously, she was the artistic director of the Spokane Area Youth Choirs, and director of Spokane Symphony Chorale. She did periodic adjunct work at Gonzaga University and Whitworth University, St. George’s School, West Valley High School (Spokane Valley), Everett High School, Ephrata High School, and A.C. Davis High School (Yakima).

Ploeger-Hekmatpanah has served on the Washington American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) board in four repertoire and standards chair positions. She is the current president-elect of Washington ACDA. She has presented numerous times for state and all-northwest National Association for Music Education/Washington Music Educators conventions and Washington ACDA summer institutes. Directing honor groups and all-state choirs in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Kentucky from elementary through high school levels has allowed her to work with a wonderful array of choristers and directors.

 

 

Gonzaga University Choir

Meg Stohlmann, DMA – conductor

Meg Stohlmann, DMA

Meg Stohlmann, DMA, is director of choral and vocal studies at Gonzaga University. She conducts the Glee Club, Concert Choir, and Chamber Singers. Additionally, Stohlmann serves as director of the Spokane Symphony Chorale.

Stohlmann earned her Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the University of Washington and Master of Vocal Performance and Choral Conducting degree from the University of Kentucky. A graduate of the United States Air Force Academy, Stohlmann served on active duty in the Air Force for five years in Arizona, Korea, and Germany. She separated from the military in 2004 to pursue a second bachelor’s degree in music education at Sonoma State University.

Most recently, she was assistant professor of choral music education in the Hayes School of Music at Appalachian State University in Boone, N.C. She conducted the Appalachian Glee Club, Appalachian Chorale, Appalachian Youth Chorale, and mentored many pre-service music educators. Stohlmann is an active member of the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) and serves on the northwest region’s board. She was also selected as one of six conductors to participate in the ACDA International Conductor Exchange program; in 2023, she hosted a conductor from Germany and traveled to Germany during the summer to represent the United States.

Originally from Santa Rosa, Calif., Stohlmann taught choir and guitar at the middle and high school levels in Lexington, Ky., for six years and conducted the Danville Children’s Choir. Her children’s choir and high school advanced women’s choir performed at the Kentucky Music Educators state conference in 2014 and 2015, respectively.

 

Street Team Assets

Durufle RequiemPost information about this throughout your network and your social media pages. Help spread the word to sacred music fans about this event!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Spokane Chapter DONATIONS