A CALL FOR THE BATTLE TO CEASE To Have World Premiere At Carnegie Hall

Robert Sirota’s A CALL FOR THE BATTLE TO CEASE, with text by Victoria Sirota, will receive its world premiere on Friday, April 17, 2026 at 8:00 p.m. in Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage at Carnegie Hall. The performance will feature GRAMMY-nominated pianist Simone Dinnerstein with The Cecilia Chorus of New York and orchestra conducted by music director Mark Shapiro, joined by the Every Voice Choirs Concert Choir.

The concert program will also include excerpts from MISSA IN TEMPORE BELLI by Franz Joseph Haydn and the New York premiere of MASS IN EXILE by Mark Buller with libretto by Leah Lax. The evening’s repertoire reflects themes of justice, compassion, and peace.

Although Robert Sirota composed A CALL FOR THE BATTLE TO CEASE in 2016 with text by Victoria Sirota, the work was never premiered after the commissioning ensemble ceased operations before the performance could take place. The composition was originally written with Simone Dinnerstein in mind as soloist, whom the Sirotas have known since her childhood.

Robert Sirota explained the creative approach behind the work: “[I] was tasked with using the same instrumentation as Beethoven's Choral Fantasy –– solo piano, orchestra, and chorus. Victoria was tasked with writing a text which would address, in Beethovenian terms, the need for us to transcend the divisions of race, nationality, class and politics that tear at the fabric of our common humanity. What she came up with is stunning in its eloquent simplicity.”

Victoria Sirota’s text centers on solidarity and the value of difference. Robert Sirota noted that the work’s message has taken on renewed significance over time. “Expanded to incorporate youthful voices, A Call for the Battle to Cease comes across as even more achingly relevant to our current moment: ‘Rejoice in the gift of our differences!’ The virtuosic piano solo begins with the actual ‘call,’ picked up later by brass. The piece moves from anger and anguish –– from hatred and fear, to a place of love and wonder, at times echoing Beethoven's Choral Fantasy, and punctuated by the young people lifting their hearts to us; not a plea for mere tolerance or peaceful coexistence, but rather the triumphant assertion that it is our very diversity that gives joy and meaning to our lives together. Pianist Simone Dinnerstein ends the piece with the same ‘call,’ now presented as a question to us all: do we have the will to embrace this difficult world with love and hope?”

Robert Sirota is a composer, arranger, and arts leader whose works have been performed by ensembles including Alarm Will Sound, Sandbox Percussion, Yale Camerata, yMusic, and the Chiara, American, Blair, and Telegraph Quartets. His music has also been presented at festivals such as Tanglewood, Aspen, Yellow Barn, Cooperstown, and Bowdoin, and by orchestras including the Seattle, Vermont, Virginia, and New Haven symphonies. His honors include grants from the Guggenheim Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, and Meet the Composer.

Victoria R. Sirota is an Episcopal priest, organist, and author. She holds degrees from Oberlin Conservatory, Boston University, and Harvard Divinity School and has taught at the Yale Institute of Sacred Music, the Ecumenical Institute of Theology, Boston University, and Concord Academy. Her writings include articles and texts for hymns, cantatas, and song cycles, and she is the author of Preaching to the Choir: Claiming the Role of Sacred Musician.

Simone Dinnerstein has performed with orchestras including the New York Philharmonic, the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, the London Symphony Orchestra, and the Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale Rai. She has appeared in venues such as Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, the Berlin Philharmonie, the Vienna Konzerthaus, the Seoul Arts Center, and the Sydney Opera House. Dinnerstein has released fifteen albums, many of which have reached the top of the Billboard classical charts. Her recent recording Complicité was released in 2025.

Mark Shapiro is a conductor of chorus, orchestra, and opera and currently serves as music director of The Cecilia Chorus of New York, artistic director of Cantori New York, principal conductor of Marshall Opera, and conductor emeritus of the Prince Edward Island Symphony Orchestra. His work has been presented at venues including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, the Guggenheim Museum, and the Rubin Museum.