Mozart’s Requiem in D minor is one of the most popular and well-known pieces of classical music ever written. On May 3 and 4, Santa Cruz Symphony will join forces with Cabrillo Symphonic Chorus and four stellar vocalists to bring you the brilliance and emotional impact of this magnum opus.

Our program will also feature a new arrangement of Björk's Overture to Dancer in the Dark by our very own Maestro Daniel Stewart, and a stunning world premiere of Daniel Stewart's Lux Perpetua.

Mozart’s Requiem in D minor is one of the most popular and well-known pieces of classical music ever written. On May 3 and 4, Santa Cruz Symphony will join forces with Cabrillo Symphonic Chorus and four stellar vocalists to bring you the brilliance and emotional impact of this magnum opus.

Our program will also feature a new arrangement of Björk's Overture to Dancer in the Dark by our very own Maestro Daniel Stewart, and a stunning world premiere of Daniel Stewart's Lux Perpetua.

This concert is an opportunity to hear one of the most defining works of the 20th century. Completed in January 1962, Benjamin Britten’s War Requiem was written for the consecration of the new Coventry Cathedral in Warwickshire, England, which was built after the original 14th-century structure was destroyed in a bombing raid during the Second World War. Composed for soprano, tenor and baritone, adult and children’s choirs, organ and two orchestras (one full and one chamber), this is a large-scale work that embodies Benjamin Britten’s pacifist and humanitarian beliefs.
Britten intersperses the traditional setting of the Requiem Mass with poems by Wilfred Owen, one of the greatest poets of the First World War. Owen was killed in action seven days before the Armistice, and this further emphasised the composer’s central theme – the criminal waste of human life in futile conflict. Britten uses nine of Owen’s poems to form a kind of song cycle that weaves in and out of the formal sections of the Latin Mass, resulting in subtle and powerful contrasts and ironies. A chamber orchestra accompanies the intimate settings of the English poetry, while soprano, choirs and orchestra are used for the Mass sections. The result is one of the most moving and personal works of modern times, considered by many to be Britten’s masterpiece in the non-operatic sphere.
A number of forces come together to perform the work: in addition to the Municipal Symphony, the Lírico and Paulistano choirs will be conducted by maestro Roberto Minczuk.

This concert is an opportunity to hear one of the most defining works of the 20th century. Completed in January 1962, Benjamin Britten’s War Requiem was written for the consecration of the new Coventry Cathedral in Warwickshire, England, which was built after the original 14th-century structure was destroyed in a bombing raid during the Second World War. Composed for soprano, tenor and baritone, adult and children’s choirs, organ and two orchestras (one full and one chamber), this is a large-scale work that embodies Benjamin Britten’s pacifist and humanitarian beliefs.
Britten intersperses the traditional setting of the Requiem Mass with poems by Wilfred Owen, one of the greatest poets of the First World War. Owen was killed in action seven days before the Armistice, and this further emphasised the composer’s central theme – the criminal waste of human life in futile conflict. Britten uses nine of Owen’s poems to form a kind of song cycle that weaves in and out of the formal sections of the Latin Mass, resulting in subtle and powerful contrasts and ironies. A chamber orchestra accompanies the intimate settings of the English poetry, while soprano, choirs and orchestra are used for the Mass sections. The result is one of the most moving and personal works of modern times, considered by many to be Britten’s masterpiece in the non-operatic sphere.
A number of forces come together to perform the work: in addition to the Municipal Symphony, the Lírico and Paulistano choirs will be conducted by maestro Roberto Minczuk.

A programme inspired by the culture and heritage of the African diaspora. 

This recital programme highlights the personal journey from New Orleans to Europe and back of Joshua Stewart, who will perform the title role in Idomeneo this season. It is his coming to terms with feelings of being alien in most spaces. Realizing that those places were not created for him. With so much talk about having a seat at the table drowning out the essence of art, struggling was an option, but thriving in his authenticity was the antidote. 

One day, as he sat, newly married, at his mother’s country house outside of Birmingham, Alabama, he began to ask himself what the word ‘home’ meant to him. Was it a feeling? Was it place? A person? It was first a breath, then a poem with dreams of becoming a song: Man Without a Home. 

Under this title, Joshua Stewart and Courtney Bryan will present a recital centred on the legacy of the African diaspora, combining works by such African American composers as Moses Hogen, Alvin Batiste and Margaret Bonds with essential classics by Samuel Barber and Leonard Bernstein, and with some rare gems by Franz Liszt and Joseph Bologne. 

In Mozart's great breakthrough opera, a king faces the agonizing choice between the life of his son or the salvation of his people 

On his return home from the Trojan War, Idomeneo, King of Crete, is caught with his ship in a violent storm. Amid the turbulent waves and looming cliffs, he makes a terrible vow to Neptune, the god of the sea: if he and his men are spared, he will sacrifice the first person he encounters on dry land. When Idomeneo washes up on a beach in Crete and lays eyes on his own child, Idamante, he finds himself plunged in a veritable nightmare.

With Idomeneo, the 25-year-old Mozart made his major breakthrough as an opera composer. With its unbridled lyricism, richly varied arias and emotional depth, the opera is ideally suited to conductor Enrico Onofri. Director Calixto Bieito will dive into the labyrinthine head of Idomeneo, where memories ebb and flow, as if from the depths of the sea. 

In Mozart's great breakthrough opera, a king faces the agonizing choice between the life of his son or the salvation of his people 

On his return home from the Trojan War, Idomeneo, King of Crete, is caught with his ship in a violent storm. Amid the turbulent waves and looming cliffs, he makes a terrible vow to Neptune, the god of the sea: if he and his men are spared, he will sacrifice the first person he encounters on dry land. When Idomeneo washes up on a beach in Crete and lays eyes on his own child, Idamante, he finds himself plunged in a veritable nightmare.

With Idomeneo, the 25-year-old Mozart made his major breakthrough as an opera composer. With its unbridled lyricism, richly varied arias and emotional depth, the opera is ideally suited to conductor Enrico Onofri. Director Calixto Bieito will dive into the labyrinthine head of Idomeneo, where memories ebb and flow, as if from the depths of the sea. 

In Mozart's great breakthrough opera, a king faces the agonizing choice between the life of his son or the salvation of his people 

On his return home from the Trojan War, Idomeneo, King of Crete, is caught with his ship in a violent storm. Amid the turbulent waves and looming cliffs, he makes a terrible vow to Neptune, the god of the sea: if he and his men are spared, he will sacrifice the first person he encounters on dry land. When Idomeneo washes up on a beach in Crete and lays eyes on his own child, Idamante, he finds himself plunged in a veritable nightmare.

With Idomeneo, the 25-year-old Mozart made his major breakthrough as an opera composer. With its unbridled lyricism, richly varied arias and emotional depth, the opera is ideally suited to conductor Enrico Onofri. Director Calixto Bieito will dive into the labyrinthine head of Idomeneo, where memories ebb and flow, as if from the depths of the sea. 

In Mozart's great breakthrough opera, a king faces the agonizing choice between the life of his son or the salvation of his people 

On his return home from the Trojan War, Idomeneo, King of Crete, is caught with his ship in a violent storm. Amid the turbulent waves and looming cliffs, he makes a terrible vow to Neptune, the god of the sea: if he and his men are spared, he will sacrifice the first person he encounters on dry land. When Idomeneo washes up on a beach in Crete and lays eyes on his own child, Idamante, he finds himself plunged in a veritable nightmare.

With Idomeneo, the 25-year-old Mozart made his major breakthrough as an opera composer. With its unbridled lyricism, richly varied arias and emotional depth, the opera is ideally suited to conductor Enrico Onofri. Director Calixto Bieito will dive into the labyrinthine head of Idomeneo, where memories ebb and flow, as if from the depths of the sea. 

In Mozart's great breakthrough opera, a king faces the agonizing choice between the life of his son or the salvation of his people 

On his return home from the Trojan War, Idomeneo, King of Crete, is caught with his ship in a violent storm. Amid the turbulent waves and looming cliffs, he makes a terrible vow to Neptune, the god of the sea: if he and his men are spared, he will sacrifice the first person he encounters on dry land. When Idomeneo washes up on a beach in Crete and lays eyes on his own child, Idamante, he finds himself plunged in a veritable nightmare.

With Idomeneo, the 25-year-old Mozart made his major breakthrough as an opera composer. With its unbridled lyricism, richly varied arias and emotional depth, the opera is ideally suited to conductor Enrico Onofri. Director Calixto Bieito will dive into the labyrinthine head of Idomeneo, where memories ebb and flow, as if from the depths of the sea. 

In Mozart's great breakthrough opera, a king faces the agonizing choice between the life of his son or the salvation of his people 

On his return home from the Trojan War, Idomeneo, King of Crete, is caught with his ship in a violent storm. Amid the turbulent waves and looming cliffs, he makes a terrible vow to Neptune, the god of the sea: if he and his men are spared, he will sacrifice the first person he encounters on dry land. When Idomeneo washes up on a beach in Crete and lays eyes on his own child, Idamante, he finds himself plunged in a veritable nightmare.

With Idomeneo, the 25-year-old Mozart made his major breakthrough as an opera composer. With its unbridled lyricism, richly varied arias and emotional depth, the opera is ideally suited to conductor Enrico Onofri. Director Calixto Bieito will dive into the labyrinthine head of Idomeneo, where memories ebb and flow, as if from the depths of the sea. 

In Mozart's great breakthrough opera, a king faces the agonizing choice between the life of his son or the salvation of his people 

On his return home from the Trojan War, Idomeneo, King of Crete, is caught with his ship in a violent storm. Amid the turbulent waves and looming cliffs, he makes a terrible vow to Neptune, the god of the sea: if he and his men are spared, he will sacrifice the first person he encounters on dry land. When Idomeneo washes up on a beach in Crete and lays eyes on his own child, Idamante, he finds himself plunged in a veritable nightmare.

With Idomeneo, the 25-year-old Mozart made his major breakthrough as an opera composer. With its unbridled lyricism, richly varied arias and emotional depth, the opera is ideally suited to conductor Enrico Onofri. Director Calixto Bieito will dive into the labyrinthine head of Idomeneo, where memories ebb and flow, as if from the depths of the sea. 

In Mozart's great breakthrough opera, a king faces the agonizing choice between the life of his son or the salvation of his people 

On his return home from the Trojan War, Idomeneo, King of Crete, is caught with his ship in a violent storm. Amid the turbulent waves and looming cliffs, he makes a terrible vow to Neptune, the god of the sea: if he and his men are spared, he will sacrifice the first person he encounters on dry land. When Idomeneo washes up on a beach in Crete and lays eyes on his own child, Idamante, he finds himself plunged in a veritable nightmare.

With Idomeneo, the 25-year-old Mozart made his major breakthrough as an opera composer. With its unbridled lyricism, richly varied arias and emotional depth, the opera is ideally suited to conductor Enrico Onofri. Director Calixto Bieito will dive into the labyrinthine head of Idomeneo, where memories ebb and flow, as if from the depths of the sea. 

In Mozart's great breakthrough opera, a king faces the agonizing choice between the life of his son or the salvation of his people 

On his return home from the Trojan War, Idomeneo, King of Crete, is caught with his ship in a violent storm. Amid the turbulent waves and looming cliffs, he makes a terrible vow to Neptune, the god of the sea: if he and his men are spared, he will sacrifice the first person he encounters on dry land. When Idomeneo washes up on a beach in Crete and lays eyes on his own child, Idamante, he finds himself plunged in a veritable nightmare.

With Idomeneo, the 25-year-old Mozart made his major breakthrough as an opera composer. With its unbridled lyricism, richly varied arias and emotional depth, the opera is ideally suited to conductor Enrico Onofri. Director Calixto Bieito will dive into the labyrinthine head of Idomeneo, where memories ebb and flow, as if from the depths of the sea.