The Choral Society of Durham, under the direction of Rodney Wynkoop, will perform Antonin Dvorák’s Requiem with orchestra on Sunday, February 28, 2010 at Duke Chapel.
Although not very well known, Dvorák's Requiem (1890), is an ambitious work for SATB soloists, chorus, and full orchestra with organ. Never intended for liturgical use, it was commissioned for concert performance at the Birmingham Triennial Music Festival in England, where Dvorák's music was much acclaimed.
The composer's native Czech folk music is present to a lesser degree in the Requiem than in other works. Instead, Dvorák's funeral mass is a musically dense, large-scale work which reflects the intensity and anxiety of its text.
The Choral Society, which has never before performed this work, is dedicating the performance to the many thousands who lost their lives in the earthquake in Haiti.
The concert will also serve as a fundraiser for Haitian earthquake relief. All donations (exclusive of ticket proceeds) will go to International Medical Corps, a global, humanitarian, nonprofit organization dedicated to saving lives and relieving suffering through health care training and relief and development programs. Established in 1984 by volunteer doctors and nurses, International Medical Corps is a private, voluntary, nonpolitical, nonsectarian organization.
International Medical Corps’ Emergency Response Team is currently in Haiti, providing medical care, emergency shelter and delivery of other essential items. International Medical Corps is also helping to train Haitian medical students in basic first aid and more advanced care.
The performance will take place in Duke University Chapel on Duke University's West campus at 4 p.m. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit http://www.choral-society.org/tickets.html. Tickets are $20 for adults. Admission for students is free.
The Choral Society's 2009-2010 season finale will be a performance of Beethoven's massive Missa Solemnis (May 8).
For more information on International Medical Corps, visit http://www.imcworldwide.org.
Founded in 1949, the Choral Society of Durham (North Carolina) has a long-standing reputation for excellence in performing great choral literature. We are a non-profit and also engage in outreach to music students in area public schools. We rehearse on Monday evenings from 7:30 to 9:45 at the Durham Arts Council Building, from September to May. Auditions are held in September and January.
