It has been 10 years since the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon and the thwarted attempt on another Washington landmark. Horrific images from that day have been indelibly imprinted on our nation's identity. All around the country, 9/11 commemorations will honor the dead along with the men and women who responded to this disaster and demonstrated the true meaning of heroes.
The Bel Canto Chorus and Milwaukee Chamber Orchestra will perform two beautiful and meaningful works to commemorate the event in their “United We Stand” concert: Mozart's immortal Requiem and Samuel Barber's Adagio for Strings.
Mozart's health was already failing when a mysterious patron engaged him to write a requiem mass. Indeed, Mozart had premonitions of his death during work on the requiem, which consumed him until the time of his death. The Bel Canto performance will feature conductor Richard Hynson and soloists Rebecca Whitney (soprano), Nicole Warner (mezzo-soprano), Gregory Schmidt (tenor) and Gerard Sundberg (baritone).
Maestro Hynson will also conduct Adagio for Strings, the well-known sound portrait from Barber's String Quartet, written in 1936. Its beauty is divine, impalpable and eternal.
“United We Stand” will take place 3 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 11, at Cathedral Square Park in Milwaukee's Downtown. In case of rain, the concert will move to the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist, 812 N. Jackson St.