Opera Orlando presents Defiant Requiem: Verdi at Terezín to commence its 2024-25 Destiny + Desire season. Hear the hopeful voices of imprisoned Jews who channeled Verdi’s Requiem into a firebrand for freedom during World War II. A choir of uplifted voices, conducted by the strong-willed Rafael Schächter, sang to the Nazis of their inescapable judgement day -- a nonviolent, yet impactful, revolt.

This symbolic visitation of history premiers in Orlando on stage at Steinmetz Hall, a collaboration between the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra, the Opera Orlando Chorus, and members of Orlando Sings, all conducted by The Defiant Requiem Foundation president and project creator Murry Sidlin. This stirring concert benefits the Holocaust Memorial Resource and Education Center of Florida, a unique museum that preserves the reality of the second world war and advocates for unity in the present day.