Sunday, January 18, 2004

By Johnna A. Pro, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

At St. Justin Church on Mount Washington, Luke Mayernik sits alone at the piano and begins to play, softly and quietly but in no way tentatively.

	About the concert For more information about the concert, contact the Slippery Rock University Music Department at 724-738-2063.

The melody echoes through the empty sanctuary, and Mayernik smiles.

The composition radiating from the keys is no small effort, but rather an 11-movement piece of music with lyrics in English, Latin and Hebrew that Mayernik, 21, has composed and titled "Requiem for Mister Rogers."

It will be performed at St. Justin's, 539 Boggs Ave., next month by the Slippery Rock University Concert Choir and the Slippery Rock University Orchestra.

"It came to me very quickly," Mayernik said, almost timidly. "It just flowed. All of it was written here at the church."

The composition grew out of a suggestion from Maggie Stewart, known as "Mayor Maggie" to legions of children who watch "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood," which continues in syndication.

Stewart knows Mayernik from St. Justin's, which serves as the home base for Pittsburgh's Catholic deaf community. Mayernik is the choir director there, and Stewart, because of her work with the deaf, is a member of the church.

In the wake of Fred Rogers' death on Feb. 27 of last year, Stewart thought it would be nice for Mayernik to compose a musical tribute in honor of her friend and everyone's neighbor.

"Sometime after Fred's death, I suggested to Luke that he could pay tribute to him in his own youthful way. It really was just a germ of an idea," Stewart said. "As soon as I handed it off to Luke, he flew with it."

Mayernik began working on the piece in April, and in doing so mentioned it to Mike Sypien, the son of the church's custodian and a voice major at Slippery Rock University.

Sypien, in turn, told Kevin Smith, SRU's new choir director, about the piece. Smith, who happened to be in Western Pennsylvania house-hunting over the summer, met with Mayernik.

He saw maturity beyond years in the young composer. He loved the music.

By the time summer turned to fall, the university choir and its orchestra, led by Warren Davidson, were on board with the project. Rehearsals have been under way since.

"I just got really excited when I heard the piece," said Smith, who will conduct the chorus and the orchestra. "I think it's going to be fantastic."

Smith said the university's involvement is special because among the many accolades bestowed upon Rogers in his lifetime was an honorary doctorate from the school.

Mayernik is a 1999 graduate of Monessen High School who went on to study organ at Duquesne University and composition at Carnegie Mellon University.

"Requiem for Mister Rogers" is the largest piece of music he's composed.

"I've done [smaller works] before, but nothing on this grand scale," Mayernik said.

He hopes Stewart and other "neighbors" will be involved with the concert, which is scheduled at 7 p.m. Feb. 29 to commemorate the first anniversary of Rogers' death. A second concert will be held at 7 p.m. March 2 at Butler County Community College.

He describes the work as uplifting but quiet, much like Fred Rogers.

"I believe Mister Rogers was a modern-day prophet. He was living gospel," Mayernik said. "This piece is not about me. It's about the singers, it's about the people involved. It's about the music. It's about humanity -- a belief in humanity."

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