Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Murry Sidlin brings Defiant Requiem back to Terezín

Murry Sidlin, former resident conductor of the Oregon Symphony, will conduct a multi-media concert of Verdi's Requiem at the former Nazi concentration camp in Terezín, Czech. This will undoubtedly be similar to the special Oregon Symphony concert that he created and directed back in 2002 (and was broadcast on PBS).

Sidlin and the Berkshire Choral Festival (which is tied to this effort) are looking for singers who would be willing to do this concert. Here's the blurb from the web site:

The Defiant Requiem: Verdi at Terezín, a Concert Drama
In a concentration camp called Terezín (or Theresienstadt), one hour outside of Prague, there were sixteen performances of the Verdi Requiem during the years 1943-1944. Determined not to allow the Nazis to crush their spirit, the inmates there used music, poetry, and art to survive their circumstances. Although the Requiem successfully bolstered the spirits of singers and listeners at Terezín, the tragic reality of their final doom was felt. Of the 140,000 inmates, including 17,000 children, most did not survive.

Conductor Murry Sidlin has created a brilliant multi-media concert drama with actors, chorus, soloists, orchestra and video projections which tells the story of the conductor Raphael Schaechter and his choruses who learned this great work by rote from a single vocal score. The performance will take place in an old factory building in Terezín, on the afternoon of the Terezín Commemorative Day, following morning ceremonies.

The performance, on Sunday May 17, 2009, is the afternoon featured event of a day long commemorative celebration of Terezín.

For more go to: http://www.chorus.org/prague.php

Thanks to Ralph Nelson and Mark Petersen of the Portland Symphonic Choir for pointing out this opportunity.

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