Symphony Tacoma to premiere “Eternal Light 2.0,” created as community project during the pandemic

On June 4, Symphony Tacoma will present the world premiere of a new work, Eternal Light 2.0, on a program also featuring Mozart’s Requiem. Music Director Sarah Ioannides will conduct the concert at University Place Presbyterian Church, which will feature music and artwork by young people from Tacoma. Eternal Light is a multi-arts community youth project that originated online during the COVID-19 pandemic. Ioannides conceived and produced the program, in which local students were invited to submit original music, lyrics, drawings, and poetry inspired by “Lux Aeterna” from Mozart’s Requiem that reflected their interpretation of “eternal light” or whatever inspired them during difficult times. A film production team helped create the first Eternal Light, released on the Symphony Tacoma YouTube channel in February 2021. For the 2022 project, the orchestra received 14 music compositions and nearly 40 artworks from area youth ages 8 to 18. Ioannides worked with co-producer Kim Scharnberg to orchestrate the works and Fernanda Films to weave the artworks into an audio and visual “music gallery” that will be synchronized to the music in the performance. Six of this year’s young artists will perform live at the concert, which will include a chorus and Symphony Tacoma musicians.