Kicking off Dessoff’s centennial season is Brahms Ein deutsches Requiem, led by Malcolm J. Merriweather, on Saturday, November 2, 2024 at 4:00 pm at The Town Hall. As the inaugural program of the 100th anniversary season, Dessoff is inviting all Dessoff Alumni to join on stage for this beloved work. In addition, Dessoff will welcome back former conductors Kent Tritle and Christopher Shepard who will be conducting some of the Requiem movements.
Dessoff is thrilled to offer an Anniversary Ticket in honor of our centenary season. The Anniversary ticket grants access to front orchestra or loge seating. $50 of the Anniversary Ticket price is considered a donation. The Dessoff Choirs is a 501(c)3 tax-exempt organization. All donations are tax deductible to the extent allowed by law.
Ticket Prices:
Senior/Student: $27
General Admission: $42
Preferred Seating: $52
Anniversary Ticket: $102
Tickets for the Brahms Requiem concert are purchased via The Town Hall, and are subject to additional processing fees from The Town Hall and Ticketmaster.
This program is significant as Brahms and Otto Dessoff (founder Margarete Dessoff’s father) were friends. Brahms provided Dessoff the opportunity to conduct the premiere of his Symphony No. 1, and Dessoff dedicated his String Quartet in F, Op. 7 to Brahms. Further, The Town Hall has been an important partner to The Dessoff Choirs, as the group has performed at the venue over 50 times since its initial concert in 1926.
Johannes Brahms
PROGRAM
Requiem
The Dessoff Choirs & Orchestra
Malcolm J. Merriweather, conductor
Kent Tritle, guest conductor
Christopher Shepard, guest conductor
Will Liverman, baritone
Joélle Harvey, soprano
Will Liverman
Called “a voice for this historic moment” (Washington Post), GRAMMY Award winning baritone Will Liverman is the recipient of the 2022 Beverly Sills Artist Award by The Metropolitan Opera and the co-creator of The Factotum – called “mic-drop fabulous good” (Opera News) – which premiered at the Lyric Opera Chicago in 2023. Described as “nothing short of extraordinary” (Opera News) with a “beaming, high baritone that easily asserts” (LA Times), Liverman has been hailed by critics for his versatility in dramatic and comedic roles, as well as on concert stages in North America and internationally, and for his dedication and vision as a composer, artist, and advisor helping to evolve and push the performing arts industry forward.
This season Liverman returns to the Metropolitan Opera in the title role of X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X. He was previously seen at the Met opening its 21-22 season in a celebrated “breakout performance” (New York Times) as Charles in Terence Blanchard’s Fire Shut Up In My Bones, which won the 2023 GRAMMY Award for Best Opera Recording.
Liverman’s 2023-24 season further includes productions with Opera Philadelphia for the world premiere of Rene Orth’s 10 Days in a Madhouse and the Met Opera for Roméo et Juliette. In concert, he joins the Lexington Philharmonic for the orchestrated world premiere of Shawn E. Okpebholo’s Two Black Churches, Houston Symphony’s Carmina Burana, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra for Brahms’ A German Requiem, and The Washington Chorus’s Elijah Reimagined, Tanglewood, Grand Rapids Choir of Men and Boys, Nu Deco Ensemble, and Experiential Orchestra, plus Dayton Opera, Caramoor, Cincinnati Song Initiative, and Ithaca College for vocal recitals. He serves as Artistic Advisor for Renée Fleming’s SongStudio at Carnegie Hall.
Last season, the Lyric Opera of Chicago presented the world premiere of Liverman’s new opera, The Factotum, which he starred in and composed with DJ King Rico. Inspired by Rossini’s Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Liverman and Rico place the story in a present-day Black barbershop on Chicago’s South Side, and celebrate the strength of community and power of the human spirit. Blending together diverse musical styles, including hip-hop, R&B, funk, gospel, and traditional barbershop quartet to create a soul opera, The Factotum “offers a chameleonic pastiche of soul, funk, and classical elements that is incredibly effective” (Opera News). Houston Grand, Portland, and Washington National Operas are all slated to put on The Factotum in future seasons.
Cedille Records released Liverman’s Dreams of a New Day: Songs by Black Composers with pianist Paul Sanchez in February 2021. The album debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Traditional Classical chart and was nominated for a GRAMMY Award for Best Classical Solo Vocal Album. His 2020 album, Whither Must I Wander, with pianist Jonathan King, released on Odradek Records, was named one of the Chicago Tribune’s “best classical recordings of 2020.”
Liverman is an alumnus of the Ryan Opera Center at the Lyric Opera of Chicago and was a Glimmerglass Festival Young Artist. He holds degrees from The Juilliard School (M.M.) and Wheaton College in Illinois (B.M.). www.willliverman.com.
Photo by: Jaclyn Simpson