“I Believe — A Shoah Requiem,” the first liturgical music piece dedicated to the Holocaust, will have its world premiere on Sunday at Detroit’s Orchestra Hall as part of a communitywide interfaith observance of Yom Hashoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day.
The a capella oratorio was composed during 2009 by Daniel Gross, cantor at Adat Shalom Synagogue in Farmington Hills and makes use of both adult and children’s choruses as well as soloists, including Gross, his wife Lauren, an operatic soprano, and Neil Michaels, cantorial soloist at Temple Israel in West Bloomfield Township. All told, more than 140 singers will be part of the performance, with Jerry Blackstone conducting.
The piece — part of which was unveiled earlier this year in Berlin during a Cantors Assembly Mission in Germany — incorporates some standard prayers as well as Holocaust poetry by Primo Levi and Paul Celan.
Tickets have all been distributed, but Adat Shalom is maintaining a waiting list; call 248-851-5100. The performance will also be broadcast on Detroit Public Television, (WTVS-Channel 56) and streamed on www.dptv.org. It will be available on demand later in the week.
For more information visit www.ibelieverequiem.com.
