Press

"Kent Tritle devoted the opening of the 23rd season of the Sacred Music in a Sacred Space series at the Church of St. Ignatius Loyola to the New York premiere of Juraj Filas’s grandly scaled requiem “Oratio Spei” (“Prayer of Hope”) on Wednesday evening. Technically, the work is not a response to the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, but it has a connection that makes it a fitting commemoration..."

"Czech Center New York in collaboration with Harmony Foundation and Czech Consulate General in New York will present Requiem 2021, a multimedia project commemorating the 20th Anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. Directed by Anna Eva Kotyza and set to the powerful score of Requiem "Oratio Spei" (Prayer of Hope) by the noted contemporary Slovak composer Juraj Filas, Requiem 2021 is an immersive cinematic artwork that will be projected on the walls of Bohemian National Hall."

"The audience of the prestigious New York concert hall Carnegie Hall also appreciated the eight-minute standing ovation of the Requiem Oratio Spei (A Prayer for Hope) by Juraj Filas, a Czech composer of Slovak origin, which was performed by the Oratorio Society of New York under the direction of conductor Kent Tritle..."

"Then the mood changed again. All hell broke loose in crashing percussion, blaring brass, and panic-stricken song. It was here that I figured out that I was listening to a Requiem. The text, unmistakably in Latin, was the "Dies irae" sequence, conjuring up the Last Judgment. Of the many who have set the Mass of the Dead, none has surpassed Mozart or Verdi for fear and terror. Yet here was another composer, likely of our day, bold enough to compete on equal terms..."

"Talented teens brought a variety of musical and theatrical acts to Rye Country Day School’s Dunn Performing Arts Center stage March 11. The occasion was The Rye City Lions Club fourth annual “Rye’s Got Talent.”"