Defiant Requiem: Verdi at Terezin

In an extraordinary collaboration, the Buffalo Philharmonic Chorus and Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra will combine forces with distinguished conductor Murry Sidlin to present the concert/drama Defiant Requiem: Verdi at Terezin on Sunday, May 4th at 3 p.m. at Kleinhans Music Hall.

Defiant Requiem: Verdi at Terezin is the story of Raphael Schaechter, a choral conductor from Prague who organized and lead 16 performances of Verdi’s Requiem while interred at the Nazi concentration camp in Terezin during World War II. The story reveals Schaechter’s successful transformation of this traditional Catholic mass for the dead into a Jewish cry of defiance and liberation from the Nazis.

Along with the musical performances, the innovative program originated by Sidlin incorporates dramatic reenactments, archival film and interviews with camp survivors. The event is being held on the same day as Holocaust commemoration and remembrance in Western New York.

Defiant Requiem: Verdi at Terezin was first performed more than six years ago when Sidlin was the resident conductor of the Oregon Symphony. The April 2002 performance was taped by PBS and aired across the country. The production won several awards including New York Film Festival’s Gold World Medal — the top award for television programming and promotions.

For tickets to this performance, visit www.bpchorus.org or www.bpo.org. To order tickets by phone, call 716-885-5000.