Requiem - European premiere of a new work by Martín Palmeri

Martin Palmeri became known worldwide for his combination of South American tango elements with classical European music and jazz music. The result is an energetic "world music" that captivates listeners all over the world. Palmeri's "Misa a Buenos Aires", for example, is one of the most frequently performed contemporary mass compositions of the present day, whether in churches or the world's great concert halls such as New York's Carnegie Hall, the Royal Albert Hall, the Vienna Musikvereinssaal or the Berlin Philharmonie.
Palmeri's newly composed "Requiem" was premiered a few weeks ago in South America's largest concert hall in Buenos Aires (broadcast live on the radio) and is dedicated to the late Pope Francis. The scoring is huge for a large symphony orchestra with percussion, piano, bandoneon, three soloists and a large choir. Performers include the Bayer Philharmonic Orchestra, Cologne soprano Agnes Lipka, tenor Markus Francke from Freiburg, Grammy award-winner Paul Phoenix from England, Christian Gerber from Hamburg, currently one of the best bandoneon players in Europe, and composer Martin Palmeri himself at the piano. Three choirs with a total of more than 100 voices complete the ensemble, including the Arnsberg chamber choir Forum Vocale under the direction of Angelika Ritt-Appelhans. The Corul Regal (conductor: Prof. Dr. Razvan Apetrei), one of Romania's best choirs, will also be coming all the way from Bucharest. They will be joined by Projekt 007 - the Lower Rhine Chamber and Pop Choir of Arnsberg native Dr. Matthias Regniet, who is also the overall director of the project.
The young Spanish master conductor Jesus Ortega Martinez will be conducting. Mayor Ralf Paul Bittner could be won as patron. How did such an event come about in Arnsberg of all places? Martin Palmeri and Matthias Regniet have been musical friends for many years. The idea for the joint Requiem project was born during a concert tour through Romania two years ago by Project 007 and Palmeri. Further performances of the "Requiem" will follow in numerous European music centers in the spring after the premiere in Germany.