Eric Whitacre Conducts The Cleveland Orchestra Chorus at Severance Music Center

ESMAIL When the Violin

WHITACRE The Sacred Veil

The Cleveland Orchestra Chorus
Eric Whitacre, conductor
Lisa Wong, conductor
Mingyao Zhao, cello
Daniel Overly, piano

"What if our departed loved ones are not truly gone, but are closer than we think? How can we mourn those we have lost while still moving forward? We have all experienced the loss, in one way or another, of someone or something we have loved deeply. How do we know when it’s time to move forward?”
-Charles Anthony Silvestri

Nearly a decade after the loss of his wife in 2005, librettist Charles Anthony Silvestri collaborated with his friend, renowned composer Eric Whitacre, to create a deeply profound and moving choral work that grapples with love, loss, and its ensuing grief. Whitacre himself leads The Cleveland Orchestra Chorus in this powerful work as the culmination of a week-long residency with the Chorus. The concert opens with Reena Esmail's When the Violin, based on a 14th-century text by Persian poet Hafiz that also searches for tenderness at a time of sorrow.