Pittsburgh Cultural TrustGo to the home page

PREVIEW PERFORMANCE

A true marriage between West African and European classical traditions, Casop: A Requiem for Rice is composed for full symphony orchestra and choir, an African and African-American inspired take on a classic requiem. Casop is simultaneously a modern take on a classic European requiem—in the spirit of Verdi, Mozart, Faure, and Britten—that mourns the souls of the enslaved who died on Lowcountry rice plantations, their bodies unburied, their suffering unmourned, and their sacrifices unmarked for future generations.

The Colour of Music Black Classical Musicians Festival String Quartet previews this new music, before its 2019 premiere, as part of the Pittsburgh Humanities Festival.

Related Event, March 3: Vanessa German will interview Dr. Edda Fields-Black about her collaboration with internationally-acclaimed artists Jonathan Green and Julie Dash to produce this work in progress. Learn more.

Carnegie Mellon's Center for the Arts in Society selected Requiem for Rice as its Performance Initiative for 2015-2017. The full piece will premiere February 13, 2019 in Pittsburgh at the Carnegie Music Hall Oakland performed by the Colour of Music Festival Orchestra.