Luminos Ensemble
Island Choral Society
Luminos Chamber Orchestra
Dr. Margot Rejskind, artistic director & conductor

Georgia Edwards, soprano
Hannah O’Donnell, mezzo-soprano
Justin Simard, tenor
Brodie MacRae, bass

Luminos Ensemble
Dan Aitken, Kara Callaghan, Annette Campbell, Jamie Feinstein,

Rebecca Hulme, Melissa Lewis,Darin MacBeth, Jordan MacLean, Troy Martin,

Marlee Saulnier, Wendy Wade-Maxwell, Gaige Waugh

Luminos Chamber Orchestra
Madeline Kapp MacDonald & Olasunkanmi Omotosho, violin
Jeffrey Bazett-Jones, viola  Matthieu Hughes cello  Adam Hill, bass
Morgan Saulnier, flute  Marc Desroches, oboe  Amy Simon, clarinet
Laura MacLeod, trumpet  William Costens, horn  Jacob Reddin, trombone
Michael Gallant, timpani
Leo Marchildon, keyboard
Sean McIntyre & Noelle Pettipas, tromba di lontana
Timothy Luk, rehearsal  pianist

Island Choral Society
Teresa Aitken, Ember Benson, Wayne Benson, Gillian Bramwell,
Laurie Brinklow, Dianne Campbell,  Martha Deacon, Brenda Dewar,
Brenda Dunne, Sarah Freeborn, Linda Gaudet, Margarita Gonzalez,
Darcy Gorman, Llew Gorman, Natasha Hall, Martha Jacobson, Insook Jang, Sam Lantz,

Scott MacDonald, Cam MacDuffee, Doug Macmichael, Douglas Malcolm,

Claire Martin, Stephanie McCormick, Sean McIntyre,
Jean McKearney, Barbara McPherson, Valerie Moore, Lise-Michelle Morin, David Morris,

Paul Mullin, Gillian Nichol, Mary Nicholson, Shirlene O’Brien, Rebecca Parent,

Hervé Poirier, Candace Ritchey, Caitlin Roosenboom, Carolyn Ryan, Serge Savoie,
Mike Sheen, Chantal Thibeault, Rob Thomson, Devon Turcotte, Clare Waddell,

Buffy Wallace, Ivy Wigmore, Miriam Wood, Ruolin Zhu, Kate Zhang
 

VERDI:
Messa di Requiem
Sunday April 28, 2024

I. Requiem & Kyrie

II: Sequentia
Dies Irae
Tuna Mirum
Liber Scriptus
Rex Tremendae
Recordare
Ingemisco
Confutatis
Lacrymosa

III. Offertorio

IV. Sanctus

V. Agnus Dei

VI. Lux Aeterna

VII. Libera Me


Special Thanks To:
St. James Presbyterian Church
UPEI Department of Music
Rob Thomson

Major Donor:
Gillian Bramwell

We acknowledge that we live and make music in Epekwitk, which is located in Mi’kma’ki, the ancestral and unceded territory of the Mi’kmaq People. We honour the “Treaties of Peace and Friendship” which recognized Mi’kmaq title and established an ongoing relationship between nations.
We are all Treaty People.

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Messa di Requiem - Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901)
In 1873 the Italian poet, novelist and national hero Alessandro Manzoni died. Verdi had been a lifelong admirer and was deeply affected by his death. He decided to write a Requiem in Manzoni’s memory. Though it is Verdi’s only large-scale work not intended for the stage, the Requiem is unashamedly theatrical in style, with passages of great tenderness and simplicity contrasting with intensely dramatic sections. Writing at the time, the eminent conductor and pianist Hans von Bülow aptly described it as ‘Verdi’s latest opera, in church vestments’

The first performance of the Messa di Requiem took place on 22nd May 1874, in St. Mark’s Church, Milan. Special permission had to be obtained from the Archbishop for the inclusion of the female choristers, who were hidden behind a screen and clad in full-length black dresses and mourning veils. Though it was a successful performance, the restrained circumstances and prohibition against applause produced a somewhat muted reaction. In contrast, the second performance three days later, at La Scala Opera House, was received by the capacity crowd with tumultuous enthusiasm. The Requiem became an overnight sensation, and was equally ecstatically received at the many European performances that soon followed. One journalist described the work as ‘the most beautiful music for the church that has been produced since the Requiem of Mozart’ – a view that was echoed by most people.

Few choral works have captured the public imagination in the way that Verdi’s Requiem has. The uncomplicated directness of his style, his soaring, lyrical melodies which lie perfectly for the human voice, the scintillating orchestration and, most significantly, the work’s extraordinary dramatic and emotional intensity, all contribute to the Requiem’s status as one of the great icons of Western music.