‘REQUIEM: What Remains is Love’ is a choral work, 75 minutes in length, by MARIA RICCIO BRYCE. Maria is local composer, pianist, and songwriter. Her musical, HEARTS OF FIRE, about the Schenectady Massacre of 1690, and featuring a cast of 60, was produced twice at Proctor’s Theatre. For her earlier choral work, THE AMSTERDAM ORATORIO, about her hometown of Amsterdam, NY, she was presented with the Key to the City on Opening Night….and Amsterdam native Kirk Douglas paid for the cast recording.

‘REQUIEM: What Remains is Love’ melds Maria’s settings of parts of the traditional Requiem Mass with her own songs about Life, Death…and where we might be going from here. It premiered last November at St. Luke’s on State Street in Schenectady. The premiere was a triumph, and since then, Maria has received many requests from people desirous of hearing the work again. This past May, she produced a Memorial Tour of the Requiem, wherein the piece was sung at three different churches in the Capital District over three days of the Memorial Day weekend.

The upcoming performance of the Requiem on November 3 is in honor of All Souls Day, and also marks the anniversary of the Requiem’s premiere.

The Requiem will be sung by 23 glorious voices, including Ann Marie Adamick, mezzo soprano; Jean Johnson, alto; Timothy Reno, tenor; and John Allen, baritone. The work is scored for flute, violin, and cello. Maria will accompany and conduct the performance from the piano.

One of the songs in the Requiem is entitled SOLDIER. It tells the story of a young man who loses his life on the battlefield. Devin Canavally, a 24 year old baritone from Latham, NY, will sing the song. Maria is especially proud to have the song performed as Veterans Day approaches.

‘REQUIEM: What Remains is Love’ celebrates the mystery, honors the faith, mourns the losses,m and sings the glory of invincible love. If you are mourning someone, this musical masterpiece will offer you comfort. If you are grieving, you will find consolation. This Requiem is both a hymn to the living, and a sublime farewell to those who have left us, whom we loved.