Good Friday Concert Features Two Requiems from Maurice Duruflé and Dan Locklair (Photo – Friends of Music at Pasadena Presbyterian)
Pasadena Presbyterian Church’s 28th annual Good Friday Devotional Concert will offer a rare pairing of two Requiems, one a beloved 20th‑century masterwork, the other a contemporary reflection receiving its West Coast premiere.
By Melanie Hooks
The free concert begins at 7:30 pm on Friday, April 3, and will be performed by the church’s resident and guest singers with the Friends of Music Orchestra.
The program brings together Maurice Duruflé’s Requiem and Dan Locklair’s Requiem, the latter conducted in its regional debut by Timothy Howard. Organizers describe the evening as a “must experience” event.
Duruflé, writing about his own work, emphasized its deep roots in the Gregorian themes of the Mass for the Dead. He noted that the composition alternates between strict adherence to the ancient melodies and freer passages inspired by them. His aim, he said, was to capture the “holiness, lyricism, free flowing meter…and serenity” of Gregorian chant while allowing the rhythmic accents of the Latin text to move naturally within modern musical tempo.
Far from a detached meditation, Duruflé described the piece as reflecting “the agony of [humans] faced with the mystery of [their] ultimate end,” shifting between drama, resignation, hope, and terror. The final movement, In Paradisum, he wrote, offers “the ultimate answer of Faith…by the flight of the soul to Paradise.”
Locklair’s Requiem arrives with a personal history. Initially composed between 2012 and 2014 for organ alone, the work underwent extensive revision beginning in late 2014, culminating on Good Friday of 2015 with the addition of string orchestra. The piece was envisioned decades earlier following the death of the composer’s father and gained renewed momentum after his mother’s passing in 2005. Locklair dedicated the work to both parents, calling it “a small, yet fitting, memorial to their rich lives.”
There will be no reception following the performance.
Attendees are advised to check posted signs and newly installed parking meter kiosks around the Pasadena Presbyterian Church campus, as parking changes may be in effect. Additional details are available through the church’s parking information page and the City of Pasadena’s Playhouse District resources.
Program
- Maurice Duruflé: Requiem
- Dan Locklair: Requiem (West Coast premiere)
Artists
- Kirk Choir of Pasadena Presbyterian Church with members of Trinity Choir and guest Community Singers
- The Pasadena Singers
- Judith Siirila Paskowitz
- Bonnie Snell Schindler
- Sheen Sanchez
- Michael Daniels
- The Friends of Music Orchestra
- Michelle Kardos
- Timothy Howard, conductor
Good Friday Devotional Concert: Two Requiems Friday, April 3, 2026 7:30 pm Location Pasadena Presbyterian Church 585 E. Colorado Blvd. Pasadena, CA 91101 Free Program. Voluntary Offering.
Maurice Duruflé’s Requiem is so beautiful.