The Oratorio Chorale and Bowdoin Chorus bring the drama and beauty of Mozart’s “Requiem” to Studzinski Recital Hall at Bowdoin College for three exciting performances, Saturday, Nov. 22, at 3 and 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, Nov. 23 at 7:30 p.m.

Director Emily Isaacson will conduct a chorus of nearly 100 singers and 45 orchestra players who range in age and experience from high school and college students to longtime members of both choruses and professional musicians.

Soloists include soprano Estelí Gomez, alto Virginia Warnken, tenor Eric Dudley and bass Dashon Burton. Instrumentalists for the Requiem include players from the Bowdoin Orchestra, the Maine Chamber Ensemble, the Midcoast Symphony Orchestra, and the Mozart Mentors Orchestra.

Clorinda Noyes and Anthony Antolini originated the “Mozart Mentors” in 2010 during the New England Suzuki Institute (NESI). Formed in 2011, the group brings together dedicated students with their Suzuki teachers in an orchestra under professional direction. Five Mozart Mentors and 16 of their students will take part in the “Requiem.”

Through the centuries the much beloved “Requiem” has been shrouded in mystery, with questions about the person who commissioned the work, and more importantly, who really composed the piece.

In her notes for the program, Isaacson states that there really was an unknown man who commissioned Mozart to compose a requiem mass — the mass for the dead. Despite what the 1979 stage play and 1984 film showed, it is more likely that Mozart knew the identity of his patron. Although the stranger did not reveal his identity, Mozart learned that it was a Viennese Count whose wife had recently died.

Nevertheless. letters show that Mozart, who was quite ill in the fall of 1791, believed the “Requiem” was destined to be his own funeral piece. As it turned out, he died in November of that year, leaving the “Requiem” unfinished. Mozart’s wife Constanze eventually turned to his favorite pupil, Franz Xaver Süssmayr, who completed the work for performance.

Although speculation continues about how much Mozart wrote and what he might have done differently, and various editions may be chosen for performance, the uncertainties around this “Requiem” add to its mystery without diminishing its appeal.

All performances are full. To place your name on a waiting list, in case of cancellations, please contact 207-577-3931.