San Francisco Choral Society - Summer Festival Chorus: Mozart Requiem and Shchetynsky Requiem at Davies Symphony Hall

The San Francisco Choral Society returns to Davies Symphony Hall on Friday, August 18, at 8pm, for its 2nd annual Summer Festival Chorus, bringing singers from around the country and world to join our resident, San Francisco and Bay-Area based singers to perform Mozart’s Requiem, alongside a U.S. premiere of the full performance of another Requiem, by Ukrainian composer, Alexander Shchetynsky (b. 1960). Shchetynsky’s Requiem premiered in Lviv, Ukraine in 2004. He uses a musical “meta-language incorporating the stylistic elements from various periods: Gregorian Chant and early polyphony, Baroque figures, operatic melodies of the 19th century, and modernistic innovations of the 20th century…into one discourse, making the transitions from one style to another imperceptible.” Also having its U.S. premiere, Shchetynsky’s Lacrimosa—for violin, oboe, horn, two trombones, and organ—was composed in Kyiv during the first weeks of the Russian invasion in Ukraine and premiered in Lviv in April 2022. The piece was described by Euromaidan Press’ Christine Chraibi as “a sorrowful song of mourning for the people who have perished in the war and for the country suffering from destruction. It is also a powerful hymn to the spirit of the Ukrainian people”, …. Alexander Shchetynsky currently lives in Kyiv and was recently featured in Babylon13’s documentary series, “Art in the Land of War.” The August 18 performance is dedicated to the memory of Ukrainian conductor Yuri Kerpatenko, who was fatally shot after refusing to cooperate with Russian occupiers in September 2022. The SF Choral Society and California Chamber Symphony will be led by SF Choral’s Artistic Director, Robert Geary, winner of the 2023 Chorus America Michael Korn Award, and will feature a selection of guest artists, to be announced soon.