Richard Rossi, director of orchestral and choral activities, will unite three schools through music Sunday afternoon.

The Eastern Symphony Orchestra (ESO) and the Choral Ensembles along with University of Illinois graduate students and faculty will come together to perform Mozart’s “Requiem” as one of the ESO’s final performances of the fall semester.

Although this is the first time Rossi will conduct this piece at Eastern, he had directed and produced a recording of “Requiem” while attending St. Vincent College.

“This is a significant piece because it was the last music Mozart wrote before dying,” said Maureen Murchie, concertmaster of ESO and music faculty member. “Usually people write requiems at the end of their lives and it ends up being some of their best music.”

Murchie began playing the violin when she was six, but has been listening to music her whole life. She graduated from Baylor University with a Bachelor of Arts degree and her Master of Music degree.

One of the biggest highlights in her music career so far was playing “Spring” from Vivaldi’s Concerto at the Krannert Center at the University of Illinois.

According to Murchie, while she and Rossi were putting this program together, he decided he needed a shorter piece to round out the program. Together they decided on a violin solo she would play from “Autumn” by Vivaldi.

“One of the biggest challenges is to convey the spirit of the piece while keeping communication between the solo and the orchestra,” Murchie said. “Plus there’s a whole lot of notes in a small amount of time.”

Another Eastern faculty member along with Murchie who will be performing mezzo-soprano is Marilyn Coles, professor of voice.

“This piece is in Latin so it’s a different language,” Coles said. “A piece with such status, you want to give it its due justice.”

Coles began performing when she was three years old and received her Master of Music degree and Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of Illinois. She has been teaching for over 30 years and has been at Eastern since 1988.

She has performed in over 60 opera and oratorio roles panning from San Francisco to Europe. While she is proud of all her performances, her favorite role was performing in the musical Carmen while she was living in Germany.

Other voice talents include University of Illinois graduate student Desiree Hassler, and University of Illinois faculty members Jerold Siena and Ronald Hedlund.

Another guest appearance will include the Centennial High School String Orchestra from Champaign. Special guest Rodney Mueller will conduct several selections such as “The Curse of the Black Pearl” from Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean and “America” from West Side Story.

The “Mostly Mozart” will take place at 4:00 p.m. Sunday in the McAfee Auditorium. Tickets are $10 for general admission, $8 for senior citizens and $5 for youth 17 and under. This event is sponsored in part by the Charleston Area Charitable Foundation.