On April 5, Christians around the world will celebrate Easter as they reflect on what they believe to be the atoning death of Jesus Christ for sins and rejoice in the hope of his resurrection.  

Traditions during Lent—the 40 days before Easter—and Holy Week—the last eight days leading up to Easter—include various religious services marking events preceding Christ’s crucifixion, such as Ash Wednesday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Palm Sunday.  

Other celebrations like Easter egg hunts and chocolate-filled baskets have also become synonymous with the holiday and spring season. 

Gainesville’s Queen of Peace Catholic Community (QPCC) is holding fast to the roots of church tradition with a performance of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s final composition, the Requiem Mass in D Minor. A Requiem Mass is a Catholic liturgy offered for the repose of deceased souls. 

Mozart’s requiem will be performed at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday in the QPCC sanctuary (10900 SW 24th Ave.) by the church’s Regina Pacis Chorale and Strings of Peace, including classically-trained violinist QPCC Father Alberto Esposito. 

While the church will perform the piece in light of Christ’s death, Esposito said the whole community, Christian or not, is invited to hear the famous composer’s ultimate work, written with universal appeal to all.  

“I encourage people to come early to procure good parking, and hopefully to see it not only as a concert, but also as an opportunity to enter into the spirit of Holy Week,” Esposito said. 

QPCC Music Director Gary Kneal started the Regina Pacis Chorale a few years ago after some members of the worship team expressed interest in classical Catholic chorale music, including chants, Renaissance motets and requiems.  

Esposito said music is rooted in the religion’s core and how it aims to magnify God. He said the Catholic theology was influenced by Greek philosophy and its four transcendentals: the One, the True, the Good and the Beautiful.  

Music has a unique ability to glorify God as it becomes a mode of evangelization through beauty, he said, and the beauty of music calls forth emotions and feelings too deep for words.  

“And also, during Holy Week, [it] invites people to ponder more deeply the death and resurrection of Christ, since the requiem itself is a profound reflection on the mystery of death and the encounter with God in the ultimate sense,” he said. 

According to a program for QPCC’s concert, Mozart, a member of the Roman Catholic Church, expanded on the ordinary parts of the Mass in his requiem with movements like Dies Irae (Day of Wrath), Tuba Mirum and Lacrymosa. 

Kneal said legend has it that Mozart requested the Requiem’s unfinished manuscript be brought to his bedside on the eve of his death in December 1791. 

He sang alto through the vocal parts with friends and managed to get through the first eight bars of the Lacrymosa before breaking into tears and setting the score aside. Following Mozart’s death, his student Franz Xaver Süssmayr finished the piece. 

QPCC started rehearsing for Wednesday’s concert in August 2025. Esposito, who earned a bachelor’s degree in music from the University of Cincinnati and a master’s degree from Yale University, said Mozart’s Requiem is challenging stylistically because it blends classic and Baroque themes. The pastor said he finds the music haunting. 

“It really puts me in a reflective space and some of it is very emotionally charged for me,” he said. “Beethoven, who lived a little bit longer than Mozart, he described it as terrifying. I don’t think we perceive it that way with 21st Century ears, but there is something sober and moving about the work, no doubt.” 

Kneal said in the concert program he wasn’t expecting the piece to be so difficult when he started leading the music teams in rehearsal.  

He said QPCC’s 10-voice chorale rose to the challenge and will unite during Holy Week in expressive emotions of sorrow, contemplation and hope, magnifying God. 

“We offer this Sacred Concert in hopes of deepening your experience of a most Blessed Triduum and to help draw you closer to God,” Kneal said. “Music is a powerful expression of love in sharing your heart for the Lord. It is our distinct honor to bring such magnificent sacred music to our parish and the surrounding community.” 

For a list of more Easter events, visit mainstreetdailynews.com.