A chance encounter in a Sydney, Australia coffee shop has resulted in the premiere of a young Swedish composer's music by the New Jersey Choral Society on June 5, 2010. In July 2006 NJCS's artistic director and conductor, Eric Dale Knapp, was leading the Voices in the House Music Festival in Sydney, Australia. While Knapp was sipping coffee at a local café, reviewing his score of Duruflé's masterwork Requiem, the signature choral work for the festival, he was approached by a barista who had more than a casual interest in music. Joakim Seidevall, age 31 at the time and recently relocated to Sydney from his native Sweden, had been composing music since age 14. Intrigued by Seidevall's story, Knapp met with him later that week to review another Requiem - this one written by Seidevall between Septembers of 2001 and 2003. Seidevall began composing his Requiem in the wake of 9/11 as a musical comment on the grief caused by the tragic events in New York. Seidevall's desire was "to write something to turn to in times of grief." He finished the work on September 12, 2003, dating the piece on the final page and inscribing it with "in the shadows of all tragedies..." referring to both the memory of why he started the work but also as a comment on the murder of the Swedish Foreign Minister, Anna Lindh, who was killed the day before. The score has a dedication that reads, "To all of you who have loved and lost, let the beauty of the music fill your souls and take away your pain." 

Seidevall's Requiem is written for an unusual orchestra with harp, organ and strings. His inspiration was Te Deum, written by the Swedish composer Otto Olsson, a piece that he had admired for a long time and felt had a very sacred sound. He uses the serenity and airy sound of the harp with the power and might of the organ, combined with the flexibility of the strings to create a foundation for the choir and soloists. The harp represents heaven, the organ represents the church and the strings represent human emotion. These three components together create the foundation upon which the choir, representing humankind, can rest on, find comfort in, and seek strength from, to live through hard times.

Born in Mariestad, Sweden in 1975, Joakim Seidevall had an early interest in classical music and was introduced to opera as a child. He started playing piano and composing smaller works in his early teens, learning orchestration by studying scores of the old masters. He went from music college to study at Ingesund, one of Sweden's six music universities. As a piano major he also studied composing and choir conducting. He has worked as a music teacher, piano teacher and choir conductor in Sweden. In 2005 Seidevall moved to Australia and began composing full time.

The NJCS performance of Seidevall's Requiem on June 5 at West Side Presbyterian Church in Ridgewood, NJ was a triumph! The composer attended the dress rehearsal on June 4 - when he experienced hearing his Requiem for the first time - and helped to fine-tune the choir in preparation for the premiere. On concert night, audience members attending The Inside Line were treated to Seidevall's personal reflections on  his influences and compositional style. At the end of the concert, surrounded by family and friends (his mother and sister travelled from Sweden for the occasion), Seidevall was introduced and received a rousing standing ovation by the appreciative audience. He was thrilled with the performance and wrote the following several days later: "I enjoyed the concert even more than I ever could have imagined, the music sounded so good. Not only did you (perform) my music so well but all of it was just sublime. Please let the choir know how much I loved the way you sang the Requiem. I am also very glad to have made many new friends in the choir. It was so nice to be welcomed with such warmth."