A new season and a new stage: Queensland Ballet opens their 2026 season with Messa da Requiem, the first production to grace QPAC’s brand new Glasshouse Theatre from 27 March 2026.
Opening next week, Messa da Requiem marks Queensland Ballet’s first collaboration with acclaimed German choreographer, Christian Spuck, renowned internationally for his innovative storytelling, sophisticated musicality and emotionally charged choreography.
Spuck’s monumental production is a landmark collaboration with Queensland Symphony Orchestra, Brisbane Chorale and Canticum Chamber Choir, unleashing the full force of dance, music, and opera to elevate Verdi’s score to new heights.
Queensland Ballet Artistic Director Ivan Gil-Ortega describes the production as a masterwork that delivers a transcendent experience and redefines the possibilities of ballet:
“With a cast of over 100 artists, Messa da Requiem sweeps across the stage as Verdi’s score takes shape in movement and sound – summoning all the emotions we universally associate with mortality and hope for redemption.
Messa da Requiem is an emotional and spiritual journey brought vividly to life by extraordinary artists. This is a convergence of astonishing talent and vision, delivering a dramatic tapestry of music and dance, that will stay with audiences long after the final note.”
Principal singers include sopranos Eva Kong and Naomi Johns, Mezzo Sopranos Milijana Nikolic andCassandra Siederman, Tenors Diego Torre and Kyle Stegall, and Basses Jud Arthur andJeremy Kleeman. They are joined by a cast of 35 dancers, 110 choristers and 67 musicians.
Conductor, Simon Hewett, who will lead the Queensland Symphony Orchestra and the singers said Verdi’s score demands the highest calibre of musicians and vocalists:
“Messa da Requiem is Verdi at his most magnificent, brought to life in the hands of top-tier musicians and singers. Performed live, with a thunderous orchestra and the combined power of the choristers and principal singers, it captures both our fears and our hopes, emotions that lie at the heart of the human experience.”
Written and first performed in 1894, Messa da Requiem is based on the Roman Catholic liturgy and is a Mass to honour those who have died.
Winner of the 2019 Prix Benois de la Danse, Christian Spuck said his production reaches beyond the religious ideas of death and resurrection:
“Verdi’s Messa da Requiem stands as one of the most profound statements on life and death ever set to music. Verdi blended the drama of his operas with the solemnity of the Latin mass. It is a colossal fusion of operatic drama and sacred intensity.
However, I did not want to place the religious interpretation of the text at the centre. Rather, my intention was to transform Verdi’s score into a mass of human expression. The inevitability of death, the need for consolation, and our eternal hope for redemption.
Verdi’s music is beyond words. It’s a powerful reminder of how music can bring us together, and an invitation to reflect on something beyond ourselves.”
Messa da Requiem runs from 27 March – 4 April at the Glasshouse Theatre, QPAC.
Tickets: https://qpac.n.qtix.com.au/tickets/series/qbmessadarequiem26
Website: https://www.queenslandballet.com.au/performances/2026/messa-da-requiem
Socials: https://www.instagram.com/qldballet/
Hero image: Ines Hargreaves and Joshua Ostermann in rehearsal. Photo by Angharad Gladding
Fast facts Messa da Requiem:
First performed in Milan in 1874, the seeds of Messa da Requiem were sown with the death of Verdi’s compatriot, Gioachino Rossini. Shortly after, Verdi’s close friend, Alessandro Manzoni, also passed away.
Verdi composed Messa da Requiem in honour of both men, sending the completed score to his publisher in Milan, who not only printed it but also promoted it through the newspapers.
Messa da Requiem is structured in seven movements: Dies Irae (Day of Wrath), Offertorio (Offertory), Sanctus (Holy), Agnus Dei (Lamb of God), Lux Aeterna (Eternal Light), and Libera Me (Deliver Me).
The most well-known musical moment, Dies Irae, appears in the second movement. It symbolizes death, with the chorus crying out in fear of the approaching Judgment Day. Its thunderous percussion and dramatic vocals include some of the most recognisable phrases in classical music.
The haunting and lyrical Agnus Dei (Lamb of God) is a simple yet deeply moving acappella piece performed by the opera singers.
Christian Spuck first heard Verdi’s Messa da Requiem on the radio at age 17. At the time, he was writing a paper on Franz Kafka and recorded the legendary Toscanini interpretation on his cassette recorder.
