Pioneer Valley Symphony offers a musical tribute to the community after a year of collective grief, resilience and hope

(Greenfield, Mass.) — On Saturday, May 8, 2021, at 7 p.m., the Pioneer Valley Symphony (PVS) will mark a year of collective grief, resilience and hope with the online event, Fauré’s Requiem: A Community Tribute. Music lovers, singers and musicians are invited to listen, sing or play along with the beloved work, interspersed with video stories from local community members reflecting on the tragedy and triumph they have experienced during the pandemic.
 
Tickets are $15 per device or free with a family pass available at any of more than 30 local libraries in the Pioneer Valley. To reserve access, visit www.pvsoc.org. 
 
“Isolation has been a challenge for everyone this year, so we felt it was vital to create a space for people to gather together and reflect on the pandemic’s impact in our community,” says PVS Chorus Director Sarah Paquet, who co-leads the program with PVS Music Director Tianhui Ng. “We’ve paired Fauré’s contemplative, uplifting Requiem with stories from local workers, who will share their trials during this time and the many ways they’ve responded with resiliency.”
 
Community members from across the Pioneer Valley will share their stories, including Kirsten Levitt, executive director of the nonprofit Stone Soup Cafe in Greenfield; Robin Driscoll, postmaster of the USPS branch in Old Deerfield; Rabbi Devorah Jacobson, spiritual life director at JGS Lifecare in Longmeadow; Mandi Jo Hanneke of the Amherst Town Council; and medical practitioners, educators and families from the local area. 
 
This event is sponsored in part by New England Public Media, Greenfield Cooperative Bank and the Mass Cultural Council, a state agency, with the additional support of Greenfield Savings Bank, Thomson Financial and Lathrop Communities.
 
This program is part of the PVS’s 82nd season. The PVS pivoted to virtual programming during the COVID-19 pandemic to continue to meet their mission of building community through music, offering online performances, musicians’ meet ups, and educational offerings. This summer, the PVS will return to in person music-making with an open air chamber concert at Black Birch Vineyard, Hatfield, on May 22 at 6 p.m. and a musical walking tour at Park Hill Orchard, Easthampton, on August 21 at 4 p.m. Visit pvsoc.org to learn more. 
 

About: The Pioneer Valley Symphony, one of the oldest community orchestras in the nation, has been bringing exceptional live symphonic and choral music to the Pioneer Valley for more than 80 years. Founded in Greenfield in 1939, the PVS ensembles perform high-quality symphonic and choral music primarily in Franklin and Hampshire Counties of Massachusetts, drawing its volunteer musicians and eager audiences from across the Pioneer Valley and beyond.

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