Starting tomorrow, some Iowa State singers will have to face a life or death situation.

This weekend, 60 members of the Iowa State Singers and the ISU Chamber Choir will collaborate with the Des Moines Symphony, Des Moines Choral Society and the Drake University Choir to perform Gustav Mahler’s “Resurrection,” a song about life and death.

The ISU students involved will have the opportunity to rehearse with the symphony and the conductor, Joseph Giunta, on Thursday and Friday.

“The “Resurrection” is a long piece of music dealing with life and death and at the end it is dealing with life after death,” ISU music professor Robert Molison said.

Molison, the director of the Iowa State Singers, said that the “Resurrection” ends with a poem describing the process of the soul going to heaven. Mahler worked on the “Resurrection” for 10 years incorporating much of his own life experiences into the performance, Molison said.

Molison said that the last moments have to do with confronting God.

“It is the ultimate exercise of the human voice,” he said. He said that a very big sound is produced by the 105 piece orchestra and a huge chorus.

“Performing the Des Moines Symphony is a big challenge because the students are preparing to work with professionals,” Molison said. “Therefore, they need to be professional.”

Molison said the ISU Singers and Choir must be extremely disciplined, and know the music well. The students must also be able to follow a conductor’s beat. Not only is the beat communicated differently than what the students are used to, but the students must wait about an hour into the performance and then be ready to sing as powerfully as possible.

In order to prepare for singing with the orchestra, Molison said, “My job is to get them to the point where they don’t need me.” In a performance of this nature, the conductor is more directed toward the instrumentalist rather than the singers,” he said.

Tickets are available through Ticketmaster for shows on Saturday, Oct. 12 at 8 p.m. and Sunday, Oct. 13 at 3 p.m. at the Civic Center of Greater Des Moines. Student tickets are available one hour before the Sunday show at a discount price of $5. Student identification must be shown.