New Haven, CT (April 4, 2014): Allow the New Haven Symphony Orchestra (NHSO) and the New England Conservatory Concert Choir to lift your spirits with Brahms’s emotional Requiem for the living. Music Director William Boughton conducts Brahms Requiem on Thursday, April 24 at 7:30pm at Woolsey Hall (New Haven) and on Friday, April 25 at 7:30pm at the Cathedral of St. Joseph (Hartford). The exclusive sponsor of both concerts is the Knights of Columbus.
Johannes Brahms was devastated by the loss of his mother in 1865. In the dark days following her death, he completed a Requiem that was both profound and revolutionary. Because the work was composed, in Brahms’s own words, for the sake of all those whose hearts suffer loss, it is often performed as an act of healing after tragedy. In the wake of the Boston Marathon attack, Boston area singers gathered at MIT to perform the work. “It begins with blessing those who carry the tremendous grief, and it ends with blessing the dead,” explained participant Danica Buckley. “And throughout it’s all about journey and peace and comfort and solace.” Take a journey through grief and into peace and solace with the Symphony; by the work’s climax you will be lifted up as the soprano soloist spirals heavenward, interweaving blissful melodies with the harp.
The New England Conservatory Concert Choir, under the direction of Erica Washburn, is one of the nation’s premiere training grounds for professional singers. Ms. Washburn approached the New Haven Symphony about performing together through two personal connections: NHSO Music Director William Boughton, a New England Conservatory alumnus, and NHSO Education Director Laura Adam, who attended the Eastman Conservatory with Washburn. Soloists for the Brahms Requiem are Danielle Barger, soprano, and Joshua Quinn, baritone, both NEC graduates and emerging performers of opera and song throughout the country.
Tickets for the performance at Woolsey Hall are $15-69, student tickets are $10, KidTix are free for kids ages 6-17 (with paying adult), and Blue Star tickets are free for military families. Hartford Cathedral admission is by goodwill offering. For tickets or more information, contact 203.865.0831 x10 or www.NewHavenSymphony.org.
