"I can think of no more fitting work with which to end my signature season. Verdi's Requiem is so special to me because of my lifelong love of opera and of Verdi in particular. I remember being overcome with emotion when I first heard the Requiem, and it will be a thrill to conduct it once again. The beautiful writing embraces an enormous range of human emotion: sadness, shame, terror, hope, exultation. In this hall it will be overwhelming to hear, with the thundering orchestra, the dramatic choruses, and those melting moments of sublime solo singing: and what a quartet we have for this piece. Imagine if there were a performance of the Verdi Requiem...and you missed it!" John DeMain