"We were hungry, we were tired, we were sick. But we had something to live for." *
October 20 & 21 in Bismarck, ND
at Belle Mehus Auditorium,
presented by Bismarck-Mandan Symphony Orchestra
Defiant Requiem: Verdi at Terezín
Complete live performance of Verdi's Requiem (arranged for chamber ensemble), interspersed with historic film, testimony from survivors and narration tells the moving story of courageous performances by prisoners in a WWII concentration camp
* Quote at top by Edgar Krasa, Terezin survivor and chorus member
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 in Bismarck, ND at the Belle Mehus Auditorium (201 N 6th St, Bismarck, ND) on Friday, October 20 & Saturday, October 21, 2023 at 7:30 pm. 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. This is the first time Defiant Requiem is being performed in North Dakota.
Note: The performances on October 20 and 21 are of a specially-created chamber arrangement.
Defiant Requiem: Verdi at Terezín was created by Murry Sidlin who will lead the performance in a special chamber arrangement. It features soprano Korliss Uecker, mezzo-soprano Tammy Hensrud, tenor Emerson Eads, and bass Jason Thoms; the Bismarck-Mandan Civic Chorus led by Tom Porter; pianist Arlene Shrut, violinist Maureen Murchie, and cellist Abbie Eads; and actors Dan Bielinski and Beverley Everett.
Ticketing information and more for Defiant Requiem: Verdi at Terezín is available in the calendar listing below.
The Defiant Requiem Foundation also produced an Emmy-nominated documentary film narrated by Bebe Neuwirth that has been praised as a "gripping documentary" (Examiner.com), with "a very powerful message" (CNN). On October 17, the Bismark-Mandan Symphony Orchestra presents a screening of the film at the Belle Mehus Auditorium (201 N 6th St Bismarck, ND), followed by a Q & A. Admission is free thanks to sponsorship from Humanities North Dakota.
CALENDAR LISTING
Defiant Requiem: Verdi at Terezín
October 20 & 21 at 7:30 pm
Belle Mehus Auditorium
201 N 6th St, Bismarck, ND 58501
Tickets are $29-$44 ($18 students; $24-$34 seniors) and available at this link:
bismarckmandansymphony.org/events/DefiantRequiemVerdiatTerezin
Murry Sidlin, creator & conductor
Korliss Uecker, soprano
Tammy Hensrud, mezzo-soprano
Emerson Eads, tenor
Jason Thoms, bass
Arlene Shrut, piano
Maureen Murchie, violin
Abbie Eads, cello
Dan Bielinski & Beverley Everett, narrators
Bismarck-Mandan Civic Chorus
Dr. Tom Porter, choir director
Presented by the Bismarck-Mandan Symphony Orchestra
Defiant Requiem Foundation: Fall 2023 Performances and Events
Live-streamed ~ conversation with the author
October 1, 2023: Washington, DC | Rescue and Resistance: The Remarkable Village of Le Chambon
Join author Maggie Paxson as she speaks with Holocaust survivor Peter Feigl, who was rescued from the Nazis as a young boy in France. From 1940 to 1944, the citizens of the small French village of Le Chambon-sur-Lignon provided refuge for an estimated 5,000 people. Maggie Paxson, author of The Plateau delves into the fascinating question of why and how the villagers of Le Chambon resisted the Nazis.
Washington Hebrew Congregation in Washington, D.C. In person and livestreamed. REGISTER
First performance in North Dakota
October 20-21, 2023: Bismarck, ND | Defiant Requiem: Verdi at Terezín (chamber version)
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.
Belle Mehus Auditorium, Bismarck, ND. TICKETS
Live-streamed ~ world premiere
October 25, 2023: New York City | they burn, the fires of the night: lamentations from the ashes
Ghosts of the past weave their way into our present and future in Menachem Z. Rosensaft's book Poems Born in Bergen-Belsen. Composer Gerald Cohen has brought Rosensaft's words to the concert stage in his settings of these poems. Mezzo soprano Leah Wool and baritone David Kravitz are featured performers in the world premiere of Cohen's song cycle, they burn, the fires of the night: lamentations from the ashes.
The program also includes selections from Messiaen’s Quartet for the End of Time and music by composers who were imprisoned at the concentration camp at Terezín during WWII.
Hebrew Union College, Manhattan. Admission is free; reservations are required. In person and live-streamed. REGISTER