New England Premiere Of Gabriela Lena Frank's CONQUEST REQUIEM to be Presented at New England Conservatory

New England Conservatory (NEC) will return to Symphony Hall for the first time since 2018 in a wide-reaching program of orchestral and choral works. NEC Philharmonia and Symphonic Choir perform the New England premiere of Gabriela Lena Frank's "Conquest Requiem" with vocal soloists soprano YeonJae Cho '24 AD and baritone Libang Wang '23 MM. The performance also includes Lutoslawski's Concerto for Orchestra, and Brahms' Tragic Overture.

Taking place on April 26 at 7:30pm at Symphony Hall, tickets are $20-25 and may be purchased at https://www.bso.org/events/nec-philharmonia-april-26.

For full performance information, visit: https://necmusic.edu/events/nec-symphony-hall-philharmonia-symphonic-choir-hugh-wolff-brahms-frank-lutoslawski

Hugh Wolff, the Stanford and Norma Jean Calderwood Director of Orchestras and Chair of Orchestral Conducting, says "The New England Conservatory Philharmonia is thrilled to be returning to Boston's Symphony Hall after five years. The program features the Boston premiere of a major new work, a 20th century showpiece, and a 19th century classic - beautifully representing NEC's mission and its talented students.

Johannes Brahms' Tragic Overture sets the tone for Gabriela Lena Frank's "Conquest Requiem." The composer, whose works have been performed worldwide, is interested in the intersection of many cultures, reflecting her own Peruvian, Chinese, and Lithuanian Jewish heritage. This work - for full orchestra, chorus, and soprano and baritone soloists - mixes the Latin Requiem Mass with indigenous Nahuatl poetry and Spanish texts to explore the complex story of the Spanish conquest of Central America. Written in 2017, this will be the Boston premiere. Witold Lutoslawski's Concerto For Orchestra - music that showcases every section of the orchestra - promises to bring this unique concert to a rousing conclusion."

Gabriela Lena Frank's composer note on the "Conquest Requiem":

Much has been written of the violent meeting of the Old and New Worlds that produced the Americas - North, Central, and South - known to the world today. Over the centuries since, key figures have emerged - conquistadores Cristoforo Colombo, Hernán Cortés, and Francisco Pizarro; chroniclers Bernal Díaz del Castillo, the native Garcilaso de la Vega, and the Dominican friar Bartolomé de las Casas - as especially emblematic of the cataclysm that was the Conquest. These men and countless others bore witness and, oftentimes, great responsibility for the death and destruction of entire societies while simultaneously having a hand in the birth of new mestizo (mixed-race) civilizations.

Against such grand historical strokes, the stories of ordinary people are easily swept away but for the efforts of creative imagination, employed here in the Conquest Requiem. This piece is inspired by the true story of Malinche, a Nahua woman from the Gulf Coast of Mexico who was given to the Spaniards as a young slave. Malinche's ever-evolving prowess as an interpreter of her native Nahuatl, various Mayan dialects, and Spanish elevated her position such that she would convert to Christianity and become mistress to Cortés during his war against the Aztecs. She would later give birth to their son Martín, one of the first mestizos of the New World.

While Malinche has been conflated with Aztec legends, she has been variously viewed as feminist hero who saved countless lives, treacherous villain who facilitated genocide, conflicted victim of forces beyond her control, or as symbolic mother of the new mestizo people.

In the "Conquest Requiem," Malinche's story is the linchpin for the juxtaposition of traditional liturgical verses from the Latin Mass for the Dead against Nahua poetry as chronicled from the mouths of fallen indigenous princes. Newly composed Spanish words from playwright/poet Nilo Cruz round out the text.

- Gabriela Lena Frank

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