LISTENING GROUP TO OFFER OPPORTUNITY TO EXPLORE
VERDI'S REQUIEM WITH MURRY SIDLIN
______________________________________________________________________________

Portland, Ore. … Resident Conductor Murry Sidlin, creator of the Oregon Symphony's Nerve Endings- style concert/drama "Defiant Requiem: Verdi at Terezin" will host a free, informal discussion titled "How to listen to music and the Verdi Requiem if you heard it in Terezin" during Fortissimo's Listening Group meeting Tuesday, April 16, at 6 p.m. at Classical Millennium Northwest (801 NW 23rd Ave.). Fortissimo, the Oregon Symphony's young professional volunteer organization, offers the Listening Group as a monthly, open forum for people with little or no formal music education to discuss works featured in upcoming Oregon Symphony performances. Fortissimo's Listening Group is sponsored by Classical Millennium Northwest.

Sidlin's discussion will focus on various musical settings of Verdi's Requiem and what makes the mass distinct, including why it was used by conductor Raphael Schächter during World War II as a means of bringing spiritual hope to thousands of imprisoned Jews while interned at a Nazi concentration camp in Terezin. The Symphony will present "Defiant Requiem: Verdi at Terezin," April 20 and 21 at the Portland Expo Center. Oregon Public Broadcasting and the Symphony will partner to produce a national PBS special focusing on the event. An airdate has not yet been scheduled.

Resident Conductor since 1994, Sidlin is also the creative force behind the Symphony's popular "Nerve Endings" series, innovative concerts designed to attract new audiences and expand the traditional role of the symphony orchestra. According to the San Diego Union-Tribune, "Sidlin is a conductor who speaks as skillfully as he conducts, very much in the passionate tradition of Leonard Bernstein."

Fortissimo Listening Group meets at Classical Millennium once a month (801 NW 23rd Ave.) and is free and open to the public. The forum was designed for people to share thoughts on music and expose themselves to new perspectives in a friendly environment. For more information and a schedule of meetings, call 503-228-4294, e-mail fortissimo@orsymphony.org or visit the Symphony's Web site at www.orsymphony.org.