When Scholars Baroque Aotearoa performs Robert Schumann’s ‘Requiem’ on September 14, it will be just the second time it’s heard by an audience in New Zealand.

“I got my hands on the score and fell completely in love with the music,” says musical director Chalium Poppy. “It’s a beautiful piece of music that deserves to be heard.

“It blows me away that it’s only been performed here one time and that was in Auckland.”

He believes the 150-year-old piece is perfect for the current focus on wellbeing.

“It was written by Schumann at a time when he was struggling with mental health issues.

“His wife Clara checked him into an asylum so he thought it would be the last music he wrote.

"It comes from a very difficult time in his life. He was writing what he believed was his own requiem. In a modern context, the importance of mental health in our society is still very relevant.”

‘Psalm42’ by Mendelssohn will also be performed at St Peter’s Anglican Church, which has acoustics described by Chalium as ‘lively’.

“It’s a lovely historic stone building and we’ll be accompanied by the organ I designed to complement the church interior when I arrived in New Zealand 15 years ago.”

Scholars Baroque Aotearoa is the only auditioned early music choral ensemble in Bay of Plenty. With international accolades, it’s regarded as one of the country’s best.

Buy online tickets to ‘Requiem by R. Schumann’ on September 14 from 7.30pm at St Peter’s Anglican Church in Mount Maunganui, at: https://www.scholarsbaroque.com/