On March 21 and 22, The Stonewall Chorale, the nation's first LGBTQIA+ choir, presents a program that speaks to the heart of the choral tradition: reflection, restoration and the enduring power of communal voice.

In "Remembrance," the nearly 70-voice mixed ensemble and full orchestra bring together two composers who shared the same Viennese world of the Classical era but whose legacies have traveled very different paths: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Marianna Martines.

Center stage is Mozart's Requiem in D minor, one of the most iconic works in the choral canon. Paired with it is Martines's exuberant Dixit Dominus--a virtuosic sacred work that reflects both her stature in 18th-century Vienna and the long arc of history that obscured her name. For Stonewall, the juxtaposition is as meaningful as it is musical.

Mozart's Requiem: Monument and Intimacy

Few works carry the cultural and emotional weight of Mozart's Requiem. From the fury of the "Dies Irae" to the suspended grief of the "Lacrimosa," the piece traverses judgment and mercy, despair and transcendence. Its unfinished state--Mozart died in 1791 before completing it--has only enhanced its mystique.

Yet beyond legend, the Requiem endures because it invites singers and listeners into collective reflection. For chorus, it demands precision in its contrapuntal writing, clarity of diction in moments of dramatic urgency and sustained legato in its pleas for mercy. It is monumental in scale, yet intimate in emotional reach.

"The Requiem is one of the most emotionally charged works ever written," says Artistic Director Cynthia Powell. "Mozart draws us into profound reflection."

Marianna Martines: A Voice Restored

If Mozart's Requiem represents the pillar of the canon, Martines's Dixit Dominus offers something equally powerful: reclamation.

A prodigy raised in Vienna's vibrant musical circles, Martines became the first woman elected to the Accademia Filarmonica of Bologna in its century-long history. As the first woman of record to compose a symphony, she also produced keyboard works and sacred music of striking sophistication. Her salons drew leading intellectuals and musicians, including Mozart, who performed four-hand piano works with her that he composed for the occasion. Scholars believe Mozart may have modeled portions of his Mass in C Major on Martines's Mass in D Major.

Yet like many women composers of her era, Martines's reputation faded under the weight of institutional bias. Only in recent decades has her music regained visibility. Dixit Dominus reveals a composer fully in command: buoyant rhythms, brilliant choral writing and vocal lines that shimmer with virtuosity. For a chorus, the piece offers athletic brilliance and radiant lift, serving as an invigorating counterpart to the gravity of the Requiem.

Performing Martines during Women's History Month underscores Stonewall's ongoing commitment to representation in the choral repertoire. "Martines's radiant Dixit Dominus restores a brilliant voice too long overlooked," Powell notes. "As the nation's first LGBTQIA+ choir, we understand the power of being seen and heard."

A Shared Classical World

The pairing of Mozart and Martines is not only thematic, but historically grounded. Both were child prodigies. Both were elected to the Bologna Academy. Both moved within the same cultural networks of Enlightenment Vienna.

Martines's salons were hubs of artistic exchange, and her friendship with Mozart suggests a relationship of creative dialogue rather than hierarchy. By placing their works side by side, Stonewall invites audiences to hear the Classical era more expansively, while encountering both an iconic monument and a voice restored.

A Living Choral Legacy

Founded in 1977 in a Greenwich Village living room, The Stonewall Chorale was the first LGBTQ chorus in the United States. Over nearly five decades, it has become a vital presence in New York's performing arts community, appearing in venues such as Carnegie Hall, Brooklyn Academy of Music and Alice Tully Hall. Its repertoire spans canonical masterworks and contemporary voices alike.

In "Remembrance," that legacy continues. The program neither treats Mozart as untouchable nor Martines as token rediscovery. Instead, it allows both composers to stand fully in their artistry-one as a pillar of the tradition, the other as a brilliance reclaimed.

Together, the works hold tension without resolution: thunder and radiance, lament and affirmation. For singers and audience members, the experience becomes less about nostalgia and more about presence-what it means, in this moment, to sing of mortality, resilience and renewal.

*****************************

"Remembrance"
Saturday, March 21, 7:30 PM
Sunday, March 22, 4:00 PM
Church of the Holy Apostles, 296 Ninth Avenue (at 28th Street)
Tickets: General $40; students/seniors $30; premium $65.
Information and tickets: www.stonewallchorale.org/tickets.