North American premiere of Requiem Mass by Oscar-winning Italian composer of The Godfather
Nino Rota, best known for scoring films for Fellini, Visconti, and Coppola—and whose score for The Godfather II won him an Academy Award—was a compositional prodigy. At age 12, upon the death of his father, Rota composed a Requiem mass without any formal training. That manuscript lay unnoticed for decades in an Italian archive, until now.
On January 18, 2025 at 8 PM at Old Saint Patrick’s Cathedral, Jonathan Hirsh, Director of Orchestral and Choral Activities at Smith College, will conduct the North American premiere of this mass performed by Italian organist Annarosa Partipilo alongside a choir of local professional singers.