When Marek Rachelski thought back over the time since the COVID-19 pandemic, he felt that people who lost someone during that period needed an opportunity to heal. A good way to do that, he thought, would be a requiem concert.

That concert was presented on May 23 at St. Juliana Parish, 7201 N. Oketo Ave., and on May 25 at Church of St. Mary in Lake Forest.

As founder and conductor of the Niles Metropolitan Chorus and music director at the Church of St. Mary, Rachelski has experience bringing people together through music. He and the choir also had their own experiences of loss during the pandemic.

“We’ve been directly influenced by COVID,” Rachelski said. “Of course, when COVID came about, a lot of people stopped singing because the virus is transmitted through the air.”

During the pandemic, the chorus had to cancel two concerts due to COVID-19 outbreaks in the group, he said.

Rachelski’s mother also died during the pandemic, and he was unable to say goodbye because of the restrictions in the nursing facility where she lived.

“I knew that other people experienced the same tragedy,” he said. “I also felt as though there really wasn’t any type of closure to the pandemic. We just simply marched on, and we didn’t want to have anything to do with it. That eliminated one of the steps of grieving that so many of us needed to grieve and to remember.”

Music is a good vehicle to help people grieve, he said.

“Music therapists know that music has the power to heal when they are working with people in hospitals and in hospice,” he said. “It heals their hearts. It heals their souls.”

That made the lack of music during the pandemic particularly difficult.

“None of us were singing in church,” he said. “Choirs were disbanded. Only one person would sing and the rest of us would listen. I think there was a lot of tragedy and hurt that needed some sort of release.”

Singing helps people get in touch with the Holy Spirit, he said.

About 50 people attended the concert at St. Juliana, including Joyce Rachmaciej, who used to be in the chorus and is a parishioner at Mary Undoer of Knots Parish in Chicago.

When she was a member of the chorus, the group also sang requiems.

“This one was different. It was an opera that had joyful parts in it too,” Rachmaciej said. “It wasn’t like a requiem we sang before. We enjoyed it.”

Both she and her sister, Marge, sing in their church and she feels music is important to a life of faith.

“The music does a lot for me personally to increase my faith. I’m happy to go sing,” Rachmaciej said. “I look forward to going to sing every week at church. It makes Mass so much more enriching. It helps with the service.”