Tickets now are on sale for "Defiant Requiem: Verdi at Terezin," a remarkable multimedia production that makes its Chicago premiere at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, March 23, at Symphony Center, 220 S. Michigan Ave.
Tickets for the event, a benefit to support Chicago-area Holocaust survivors through the Federation's Holocaust Community Services, can be purchased at JUF.org/DefiantRequiemTickets.
Created by Maestro Murry Sidlin, "Defiant Requiem" commemorates the story of how, in the depths of the Holocaust, within the notorious Terezin (Theresienstadt) concentration camp, one man's dream gave birth to an unparalleled act of defiance and hope.
The production combines full orchestra and concert choir with on-stage drama, video interviews and authentic film from the era. The Chicago performance, which Sidlin will conduct, features actors Jeremy Piven and Tovah Feldshuh, the Chicago Philharmonic, the Chicago Vocal Artists Ensemble conducted by Cheryl Frazes Hill, soprano Jennifer Check, mezzo-soprano Ann McMahon Quintero, tenor Zach Borichevsky, and bass Nathan Stark.
The local presentation, chaired by Virginia and Norman Bobins and Karyn and Bill Silverstein, is a one-time effort to raise significant funds for Holocaust Community Services. Lead sponsors are the Crown Family and Pritzker Family Philanthropic Fund, which have underwritten all productions costs. 100 percent of all other gifts and proceeds will go directly to support Holocaust survivors in need.
Sponsorship opportunities still are available. For information on those, call Rachel Sternberg at (312) 444-2893.
Since its debut in 2002, "Defiant Requiem" has been experienced by some 65,000 people across the United States and around the globe, most notably in New York, Boston, Washington, D.C., Budapest, Prague, Berlin, Jerusalem-and on the grounds of Terezín.