Nationally-known composer and conductor Bradley Ellingboe leads the 40-voice Coro Lux (Chorus of Light) and a 6-piece instrumental ensemble in his Requiem on Sunday, September 11 at 2:00 pm at the United Church of Santa Fe.            

Ellingboe, retired Professor of Music from the University of New Mexico and Director of Music at the United Church, had already planned to write a requiem in 2001 while on sabbatical from UNM, when 9/11 occurred. The events of that day and its aftermath added a new and deeper dimension to the composition. Ellingboe’s Requiem blends traditional Catholic and Protestant understandings of the purpose of a requiem--both to bless the person who has died and comfort those who remain. In addition, through the music, it moves the listener through the stages of grief to an affirmation of life once again.            

Ellingboe’s first choral-orchestral work, Requiem received its premiere on the stage of the University of New Mexico’s Popejoy Hall on April 16, 2002. Since then, Requiem has seen over three hundred performances throughout the world including a 2010 Carnegie Hall performance of the work conducted by the composer.            

In presenting Requiem on the 21st anniversary of 9/11, Coro Lux and the United Church of Santa Fe offer it as a time to remember not only those lost on that day, but also all who have died in the wars since then, stretching from Afghanistan and Iraq to Ukraine and throughout Africa, and also to remember those who have died in the global pandemic.            

The concert is open to the public. Tickets ($15 for adults; $10/students) are available below. Masks and proof of vaccination required. For more information, please contact the Rev. Talitha Arnold at 505-988-3295 or
‍unitedchurch.talitha@gmail.com.