Praised by The New York Times as "Poignant...a monument to the courage of one man to foster hope among prisoners with little other solace," Defiant Requiem: Verdi at Terezín will be performed at Northern Illinois University on Sunday, April 28, 2019 at 3:00 pm at Boutell Memorial Concert Hall (550 Lucinda Ave., DeKalb, IL). Complete details below.

 

The "extraordinarily beautiful and moving" concert/drama commemorates the courageous Jewish prisoners in the Theresienstadt Concentration Camp during World War II who performed Verdi's Requiem 16 times, as an act of defiance and resistance to their Nazi captors. Defiant Requiem is a complete live performance of Verdi's Requiem interspersed with historic film, testimony from survivors and narration that tells this tale of audacious bravery.

 

Led by Maestro Murry Sidlin, president of The Defiant Requiem Foundation and creator of this powerful concert/drama, Defiant Requiem: Verdi at Terezín features the Northern Illinois University Philharmonic, Northern Illinois University Concert Choir, Cor Cantiamo, McHenry County College Chorus, and Voices in Harmony. Soloists include Sarah Gartshore (soprano), Susan Platts (mezzo-soprano), Andrzej Stec (tenor), and Sam Hadley (bass).