Sydney Philharmonia Choirs to Perform Britten's WAR REQUIEM at Sydney Opera House

Sydney Philharmonia Choirs will present a rare performance of Benjamin Britten's War Requiem at the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall on Saturday 17 October, a deeply moving denunciation of war that has remained as sadly relevant today as when it was first performed.

One of the greatest choral works of the twentieth century, War Requiem emerged from a world that was rebuilding after the harrowing trauma of World War II. Completed in 1962, the War Requiem was first performed for the consecration of Coventry Cathedral – where the Choirs only recently performed Evensong as part of its UK Tour – which was rebuilt after the original 14th century cathedral was destroyed in a bombing raid in 1940. Hope and consolation meets violence and despair as Britten weaves the traditional Latin text of the Requiem Mass with the anti-war poetry of First World War soldier Wilfred Owen, taking audiences on a musical journey through moments of profound intimacy and almost brutal magnificence.

Brett Weymark conducts Sydney Philharmonia's 430-voice Festival Chorus, 110 choristers from SPC's choirs, three fantastic soloists – Korean-Australian soprano Eva Kong, American-born tenor Kyle Stegall, and Australian baritone Jeremy Kleeman – alongside the Sydney Youth Orchestra and 50 Conservatorium High School choristers. Elizabeth Scott conducts the chamber orchestra, while Michael Bradshaw leads the children's choir.

Sydney Philharmonia Choirs' Artistic & Music Director, Brett Weymark OAM said: 'Over the last few years, much of our programming at Sydney Philharmonia Choirs has gravitated towards works that plead for peace in a world still fractured by inequality, violence and the futility of war. All roads in that trajectory lead to the greatest anti-war musical statement of the twentieth century, Britten's groundbreaking War Requiem. It is a work that speaks directly to the audience and never fails to be anything other than profoundly moving and relevant. It is as if the ink only dried on this work yesterday – it has a timeless and prophetic quality. It is a work that resonates with our choristers and I am thrilled that a new generation of instrumentalist from the Sydney Youth Orchestra will be exposed to this iconic work. It is as if we are passing on the knowledge of the previous generation to the next.'

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