Under the Baton

Defiant Requiem: Verdi at Terezín Brings Conductor Ben Loeb Back to His Temple Roots

The April 23rd performance of “Defiant Requiem: Verdi at Terezín” will connect the dots between Ben Loeb’s childhood at Temple Emanu-El and his distinguished musical career.

“As a sixth grader, I was invited by Simon Sargon to play chamber music with a violinist here in a performance for the opening of the Levy building showcasing young musicians at Temple,” recalls Ben, who notes that the longtime musical director, now deceased, was one of his mentors.

“Simon was a great musician and a great person. I admired how he encouraged the kids to express themselves. This model I learned at Temple Emanu-El absolutely shaped me as the type of musician I am.”

Ben will conduct “De ant Requiem” as one of only a handful of conductors authorized for the role. He will join Maestro Murry Sidlin, founder and president of The De ant Requiem Foundation; Cantors Vicky Glikin, Leslie Niren and Hallie Weiner; the Dallas Symphony Orchestra and Chorus; the Temple Emanu-El Choir and guest soloists Allison Charney, Scott Conner, Eleni Matos and Bruce Sledge.

“Being able to come back and lead this piece at a Temple event is full circle, the absolute culmination of what I’ve been trying to do my whole life,” Ben says.

Ben describes “Defiant Requiem” as “one of the most, if not the most, powerful Jewish productions I have ever seen.”

The production is a multimedia concert-drama featuring the performance of Verdi’s “Requiem” by prisoners at Theresienstadt Concentration Camp (Terezín) during World War II. It includes narrated testimony and video by Terezín prisoners and conductor Rafael Schächter.

“To be able to tell the story of how the Jews in this horrible environment were able to mount performances of Verdi’s ‘Requiem’ in the face of the worst possible adversity, in a way that was a type of resistance and defiance, is so powerful,” Ben says.

In addition to highlighting the courage and resilience expressed by the Terezín musicians, “De ant Requiem” also brings diverse people together to explore spirituality, emotions, connections and thought, Ben says.

“During my career, I’ve been interested in how classical music affects people — bringing communities together, telling important stories and deepening relevance by contextualizing the art we experience it in.”

Ben first approached Cantor Vicky Glikin with the idea of performing “De ant Requiem” shortly after he moved back to Dallas in 2020. The Defiant Requiem Foundation had authorized Ben to conduct the piece in 2019, and he was ready to find the right home for it. Given the scope of the production, it took three years of planning to get the event on the calendar.

It was important to Ben that the performance reach beyond Temple’s walls. “Requiem” is a musical setting of the Catholic funeral mass, created for four soloists, two choirs and an orchestra.

“Performing at the Meyerson is a way for us to go out in the community, to invite them to join us in this spiritual journey through the lens of a particular Jewish experience,” Ben says. “It’s an example of how great art can take us so much deeper than the work itself, encouraging us to build communities, just as our religion does.”

Originally published in the March/April 2025 edition of The Window.