Dr. Mark Ramsay, Western University

The London Pro Musica Choir presents Brahms’ German Requiem at 7:30 pm on Good Friday, April 3, 2026, at St. James Westminster Church in London, Ontario. We’re singing it in an intimate setting, using Brahms’ four-hand piano accompaniment performed by pianists Hayoon Kim and Sing Yuan Liew. Soprano Jennifer Krabbe and bass-baritone Chad Louwerse are our soloists. All of us are led by guest conductor Dr. Mark Ramsay, Assistant Professor and Coordinator of Choral Activities at Western University’s Don Wright Faculty of Music.

Johannes Brahms (1833-1897), ca. 1866

There’s no day of judgment in this Requiem, no day of wrath. Instead, the music and texts bring comfort for those who mourn the death of loved ones—as Brahms did, having lost his mother in 1865, the year he began to compose this work. Using texts from the German Luther Bible, rather than the Latin texts of the Roman Catholic Requiem Mass, Brahms takes us on a seven-movement journey from life through death and to the dwelling of God.

His Requiem begins and ends with words of blessing, first for the living and then for the dead. The opening words are Selig sind, die da Leid tragen, denn sie sollen getröstet werden—Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted (Matthew 5:4). And the work concludes with Selig sind die Toten, die in dem Herrn sterben …; denn ihre Werke folgen ihnen nach—Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord …; for their deeds follow them (Revelation 14:13).

Please join us, if you can, to experience this richly textured and soul-stirring music. General admission tickets are $30.00 in advance at the choir’s website and $35.00 at the door.