No one in the St. Francis de Sales Church choir knew the generous parishioner who inspired the group's upcoming performance of Mozart's Requiem, but all agree that timing the performance of the masterwork near the observance of All Souls' Day next week is a fitting tribute to the deceased benefactor, Irene Kross.

The Nov. 5, 7:30 p.m. church concert with 22-piece orchestra promises to be a musical and religious experience, said choir director Jeannine Wagner. Daughter of choral legend Roger Wagner and founder of The Wagner Ensemble, she is combining the two choirs for the gala community event which will donate a portion of the proceeds to Gulf Coast hurricane relief.

"Every great composer has been attracted to this Requiem text from the Mass for the Dead with its universal themes of faith and loss. Listeners will be inspired by the beauty of the music," said Wagner. Besides commemorating the church's celebration of All Souls' Day Nov. 2, the concert is also an early tribute to Mozart's 250th birthday on Jan. 27, 2006.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, who died at age 35 from what modern doctors believe was rheumatic fever, was working on the Requiem at the time of his death. According to Wagner, only the "Introitus" and "Kyrie" were completed, so the choral work was finished by one of Mozart's students, Franz Xavier Suessmayr, based on the composer's musical drafts.

"People should come to hear the Requiem because it's a masterwork composed by a genius performed in a proper habitat," said Wagner, who noted the excellent acoustics of St. Francis de Sales Church.

Born into a musical family, Jeannine Wagner used to sit under her father's piano as a child as he accompanied singers such as Marilyn Horne and Marni Nixon (who dubbed the singing voices of actresses such as Audrey Hepburn, Natalie Wood and Marilyn Monroe in various films). Growing up, Wagner received musical training in piano, voice, viola and conducting. She majored in music at Marymount College (later merged into LMU), and received a master's in instrumental conducting at Cal State University, Fullerton.

She traveled as chorister and soloist with the Roger Wagner Chorale on tours throughout the United States, Europe, the Middle East and Japan. Career highlights include singing Bach's B Minor Mass at UCLA under her father's direction and traveling with his choir to Russia in the '60s. As a musical consultant to the entertainment industry, she has worked with director Steven Spielberg and composer John Williams on a number of projects, including "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom," "Close Encounters of the Third Kind," "Empire of the Sun," "Hook" and "Jurassic Park."

In 1992, Wagner substituted for her ill father as Roger Wagner Chorale director on a tour of Japan. Next month, the day before Thanksgiving, she will embark on her eighth musical tour of Japan with 20 singers, a pianist and a bass player performing works by Mozart and American Broadway composers, among others.

St. Francis de Sales choir soprano Tina McConnell, who has sung with the church choir since 1968 and also sings with The Wagner Ensemble, said she hopes the Requiem concert will kick off a new concert series aimed at bringing in members of the greater community. She enjoys singing the wide-ranging classical and American repertoire that Wagner has brought to the choir since becoming director in 1993.

"When Jeannine got ahold of us, we started doing spirituals," said McConnell. "She's opened up our world."

For tickets or information to the Nov. 5 concert, e-mail requests to sfdschoir@yahoo.com or call (818) 763-5825. Suggested donation is $10 per ticket. Donations of $50 or more will include two tickets along with mention of a loved one in the program and a pre-concert VIP reception. Twenty percent of all proceeds will be donated to hurricane relief efforts in the Gulf Coast. St. Francis de Sales Church is located at 13370 Valleyheart Drive in Sherman Oaks.