Ensemble Con Fuoco marks All Souls with a Requiem across centuries, pairing Tomás Luis de Victoria’s Missa pro defunctis—drawn from his 1605 Officium Defunctorum, the summit of Spanish Renaissance polyphony—with Kerensa Briggs’ Requiem (2022), a contemporary setting for mezzo-soprano, choir, and organ rooted in the same plainchant tradition that shaped Victoria’s writing. Each work turns grief toward consolation in the language of its own age. The performance will feature organist Michael Unger and mezzo-soprano soloist Lauren McAllister.

Based on the West Side of Cincinnati, ENSEMBLE CON FUOCO brings bold, expressive, and artistically ambitious performances in this region and throughout Cincinnati. Its singers are accomplished vocal artists and educators from across the community who share a love for the choral tradition and for one another’s artistry. Together, they’ve shared powerful performances of Brahms’ Requiem, Duruflé’s Requiem, Handel’s Dixit Dominus, Macmillan’s Cantos Sagrados, and multiple other works that lift the spirit and deepen the heart. What began as conductor David Castillo Gocher’s doctoral recital has become a movement—a flame sustained by community support, artistic collaboration, and the shared belief that great music belongs everywhere.