Rohan Smith, chair of the music department, joined with musicians from some of the world’s leading orchestras in a recent benefit performance of Verdi’s Requiem at New York’s Carnegie Hall. The goal of the concert, entitled Requiem for Darfur, was to raise funds for humanitarian relief in Darfur and to raise awareness of the situation in southern Sudan.

Smith, a conductor and violinist who played in New York orchestras for many years, said, “It was an unforgettable experience and privilege to play this overpowering work with such amazing musicians. During the performance, images from Darfur were projected on the back wall of the stage – it was as if this music had the power to make you feel the anguish of the victims. It brought home the humanizing potential of art. I will not be able to think of Darfur the same way. It is much more real, unavoidable and urgent.”

George Mathew, conductor and faculty member at the Manhattan School of Music, was artistic director and the moving force behind the concert, which brought together musicians from around the globe, including members of the New York Philharmonic, Berlin Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra and others. Eva Gruesser, concertmaster of the American Composers Orchestra, who currently teaches chamber music at Exeter, also performed.

"The over-arching goal of this event is to highlight the plight of communities and individuals in Darfur through the universally human medium of music," reads the concert's website, www.requiemfordarfur.org.

In an interview on NPR's Weekend Edition, Mathew cited the reasons he chose Verdi's Requiem for the concert. "The prospect of an individual dying unnoticed is not acceptable, it is not natural, and it is certainly not conscionable," he said. Verdi's Requiem is a "music of mourning, extremely stern, a music of fear … of abject terror in the face of death." It presents the "silent space which is the fertile ground for action …in those silences, we must act."

Interested in learning more?
Read more about the concert…

Listen to NPR's Weekend Edition interview with Mathew…

Check out the Open Source with Christopher Lydon interview with Mathew…

Read The New York Times review of the concert, "Making Music Speak for Those Without a Voice"…

Learn more about Exeter's music department offerings…