With the end of the semester within reach and a hint of summer on the air, it’s easy to notice the breath of life returning to a tired campus.

Though the future is different for each person, a unifying, yet largely unacknowledged element of life is its inevitable mortality.

This is a concept fully explored in this Thursday’s oratorio concert. An oratorio is a combined performance of choir, orchestra, and soloists.

Death may seem a morbid subject matter for a spring concert. But in the season’s spirit, the performance will focus on the rebirth that comes after a long winter.

Choral director Michael Hanawalt, Ph.D., will conduct the performance with music professors Tom Wine and Mark Laycock.

The concert includes pieces which Hanawalt said transcend the somber tone of mortality to focus on the hope of the life cycle.

Mozart’s “Requiem” is the most recognizable piece on the programt. The accompanying pieces, O’Regan’s “Triptych” and Thompson’s “The Last Words of David” also hold great relevance to the concert theme.

“I think the context of those (accompanying) pieces actually help to make the “Requiem” even have more power and relevance in our society today,” Hanawalt said.

He compared the cycle of rebirth to daily life.

“You see kids taking over the family business that their fathers use to run, (and) you see teachers saying the same things to their class that their teachers said to them,” Hanawalt said.

The life cycle concept is also personified in soon-to-be graduates.

As they end their undergraduate careeers, they also are launching their futures. Senior Chy Billings will graduate this month with a bachelor’s degree in vocal performance.

The Oratorio Concert marks Billings’s last undergraduate performance, and he said he couldn’t be more excited.

Billings’s undergraduate career will end on what he described as a promising and well-contemplated performance.

“There has to be a commonality, there has to be a link, and there has to be a reason for these people to get out of their homes and go to these (performances),” Billings said. “It is entertainment, and if there’s not a plot line in a movie, it’s not entertaining.”

Billings said that the theme of mortality and rebirth is a common thread that everyone can grasp, whether they perform or listen.

“They should bring their memories. They should bring those times with them where they felt the things we are trying to convey,” Billings said. “That will increase the impact of the performance. This music will glue all of us together in keeping those memories.” Billings said.

For only teaching here at WSU for one year, Hanawalt made a remarkable impact with the students, Billings said. He explained that the difference in quality is caused by a demand for excellence.

“He pushes us a lot harder than most of the previous instructors did, because he knows what we’re capable of. He challenges us to strive to be his vision. And he always, in the end, gets the vision he wants. And I love that about his directing,” Billings said.

This is the final performance for many undergraduates. For them, Thursday is the final chance to attend their performances before they move on to greener pastures.

The performance is will be this Thursday May, 9th, in Miller Concert Hall. Tickets for adults are $7, with discounts for seniors and seniors. Tickets are available in Duerksen Fine Arts Center, by phone and online.