Annapolis Chorale has Two Free Concerts Planned in Remembrance of 9/11

On Sept. 11, 2001, J. Ernest Green, was at his home in Severna Park when the tragedies took place that would define that day and many days thereafter.  

Since then, the conductor/music director of Live Arts Maryland, which encompasses the Annapolis Chorale, the Annapolis Chamber Orchestra and the Annapolis Youth Orchestra, has tried to put it all into perspective.

"I still have a very difficult time wrapping my head around those events—wrapping my brain around the events of 9/11," said Green.

He is an artist though and with that, for some, comes an innate sense of responsibility.     

"I feel it's incredibly important, as musicians, for us to make a very strong statement that says, we are not going to destroy, we are going to create," said Green. 

And create he has—two free concerts to remember 9/11, both to take place on Sunday. 

"For musicians, we have this unique opportunity to use music to help with the healing and to bring people together in the community," he said. "Music tends to be the glue that holds people together at time of crisis." 

The two concerts are planned three hours apart on Sunday—one at 4 p.m. at St. Anne's Church, the other at 7 p.m at Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts. 

, the Annapolis Chorale and Annapolis Chamber Orchestra will perform during a service of remembrance led by The Rev. Amy E. Richter, the church's rector.

"The one at 7 is much more of a secular remembrance," said Green.

, the Chorale will perform Mozart's Requiem and Ave Verum Corpus. In addition, the Chamber Orchestra will perform Samuel Barber’s Adagio for Strings.

The Chorale has participated in a 9/11 commemorative event before. 

"We had done a concert for the one year anniversary at Maryland Hall—we performed the Mozart Requiem as part of the worldwide series of remembrance at the time," said Green. "It was called the Rolling Requiem - choruses from all over the world participated. It was an amazing event." 

It is Mozart's Requiem, which will be performed again this Sunday and performed with good reason.   

"There is a power in that music—there is a very definite gravitas in that music," said Green. "Mozart wrote nothing that is not brilliant—you're dealing with that unmistakable genius; Mozart has the ability to move us, without being over the top to do it." 

In layperson's terms?

"It's a very nice, moving piece of music about sending the souls of the departed to eternal rest and hopefully, peace," explained Green.

He said the work is meaningful for another reason—it's symbolic of those who left us too early.    

"That was possibly the last piece Mozart worked on, on his deathbed at tragically the young age of 35," Green explained. "This is possibly his last words to us."

Those "last words" will hopefully resonate.   

"This is a way for us in Annapolis to come together, as a community, for a minute and forget about the stuff that's unimportant," said Green. "You have an hour to be alone with your thoughts.  My hope is people will come to St. Anne's and Maryland Hall and think about 9/11 and the people who aren't here."  

The Chorale will also be performing on Sunday at the as part of the 10th Anniversary of 9/11 ceremony.

Editor's Note: This article has been corrected from an earlier version to correct the following quote: "It's a very nice, moving piece of music about sending the souls of the departed to eternal rest and hopefully, peace," explained Green.