Community concert of Mozart’s Requiem to honor victims of Orlando shooting

June 13, 2016
Contact:
  • umichnews@umich.edu

EVENT ANNOUNCEMENT

DATE: 8 p.m. Tuesday, June 14, 2016

EVENT: “Requiem for Orlando,” a community performance of Mozart’s Requiem, will honor the victims of the shooting at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Fla. The concert is free; no tickets are required. Members of the media are invited to attend.

Through a social media and email campaign launched on Sunday, graduate student Austin Stewart and Kevin Fitzgerald, both alums of the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance, were able to bring together 50 instrumentalists and more than 135 singers to participate in the concert.

Fitzgerald will conduct the performers, which include SMTD students, faculty and alumni, as well as representatives of many local orchestras, such as the Ann Arbor, Dearborn and Rochester Hills symphonies, and the Michigan Philharmonic.

“In the aftermath of the tragedy in Orlando, there has been a lot of discussion among friends about building sanctuaries,” Stewart said. “We are striving to do that by creating a safe space with music, by creating a tapestry of voices representing every race, creed, sexuality and background. This is a timeless piece that expresses the full range of emotions that come with grief and healing. Our hope is for the concert to build solidarity and strength through music and communal reflection.”

PLACE: Hill Auditorium, 825 N. University Ave., Ann Arbor.

PARKING: Public parking structures are located on Maynard Street between Liberty and William streets and on Washington Street, west of State Street.

SPONSOR: U-M School of Music, Theatre & Dance