Stitt first wrote the full-length requiem when he was 17, rewrote it when he was 21, and now gives new life to the Mass of the dead.

"Requiem" refers to classical compositions used in liturgical services such as funerals or general remembrances. Usually these were sung in Latin within the Catholic church, however, the form has been adapted and changed over the centuries to where it is a genre of music. Many composers have written requiems, including Mozart, Verdi and Brahms.

The impetus for Stitt's requiem came out of viewing the movie "Amadeus" when he was young. In the movie, Mozart writes his requiem while on his death bed. Stitt was fascinated with the idea that the essence and creativity of an artist could be passed on through one piece of work - a way of contributing to the world your dying breath in musical notation.

"I've always liked the requiem format; there's something interesting about death, the solemnity of acknowledging life," he said. "I was concerned with death in a way I couldn't know when I first wrote it.

"Now I'm older and people close to me have died, and death has a different meaning to me," Stitt added. "It's no longer a vanity issue or a morbid romantic fascination that validated me."

"In my mind, composition has always been something that needed to be very difficult, and to get it out of the depths you have to squeeze blood from a rock," Stitt said. "But there's an ease in Mark about composing where it is not an arduous, strenuous task, but he would just compose.

"Realizing I could just write and not make a big deal of it," he added, "I decided to rewrite the requiem."

In addition, Stitt now possesses the voices to allow his requiem to live. Several chorus cast members from the musical will be taking on various parts. The entire performance will include a classic quartet, soloists, percussion, piano and pipe organ. Stitt describes the music as very dark and solemn, but says it also contains cacophonies of jubilations and fireworks of percussion.

Corey Wright, a member of the quartet, has done classical arrangements before and he said this requiem is incredibly bold.

"There are things I have never seen done before," he said. "Rory is pushing the envelope, but keeping it in a classical realm."

Betsy Sims, Stitt's manager and sound engineer, echoes Wright's praise.

"It's going to knock people's socks off," she said. "It might change your cell structure for the rest of time. Whether you can pay or not, you should be in the room."

But beyond how the music sounds, Stitt journeys into a dialogue between the living and the dead and what can be learned from both worlds. When a person focuses on death, they can realize why it is good to be alive, he said.

"I listen to 'Requiem' and I realize why I'm happy to be alive - whether I'm sad and crying about someone dying, or whether I'm angry about injustice in the world, or fearful of a god that going to pound me down," Stitt said. "The fact that I can have those feelings is a reason to wake up every day and be thankful."

The requiem isn't a piece about death for Stitt but, rather, about birth and realizing the potential for the day ahead, not the things that were left behind.

The piece itself is evolving right up to the start of the concert. Parts of the requiem haven't been scored and many parts may be added or deleted before the Friday's performance. Stitt says the process of finishing up the requiem for performance is at the heart of the theme of the piece.

"There are so many things left up to chance. It's all a huge risk, but that's what the piece is all about," he said.