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Bach Festival Acknowledges A Year Of Illness And Racial Pain With Fauré's Requiem

Kalamazoo Bach Festival

Dr. Chris Ludwa joins Cara Lieurance to discuss a filmed performance of Faure's Requiem, featuring soprano Jessica Louise Coe and baritone Gerald Case-Blanchard, the Kalamazoo Bach Festival Chorus, and the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra, which will stream online at 8 pm Thursday, June 24. 

They discuss the importance of music and ritual to process grief and change, and how this work captures moments of both mourning and peace. As with his  earlier project, Awake, Arise, Ludwa has asked community members to read prose and poetry that reflect the devastation of the COVID-19 pandemic and the racial pain and reckoning of 2020. Recorded in several separate sessions, the performance and film was a huge undertaking by regional performers and technicians. Tickets are available through the Kalamazoo Bach Festival website. The performance will be available for 30 days for ticket link holders and tickets will remain on sale through July 23.  

Cara Lieurance is the local host of NPR's All Things Considered on 1021 WMUK and covers local arts & culture on Let's Hear It on 89.9 Classical WMUK weekday mornings at 10 - 11 am.
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