To a Stranger: A Requiem for the AIDS Crisis
To a Stranger: A Requiem for the AIDS Crisis
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The world-premiere of Eddie Spear's To a Stranger: A Requiem for the AIDS Crisis
Join us as The Emmanuel Choir presents the world-premiere of To a Stranger, a major new work by choir member Eddie Spear: a Requiem Mass dedicated to the generation of lives lost during the AIDS crisis.
Since 1981, more than 700,000 American lives have been lost to HIV — and yet this catastrophe has remained largely unaddressed in the concert repertoire. Spear's Requiem steps into that silence. Set for choir, soloists, and string quartet, the work weaves the traditional Latin Mass with the recitation of names, historical testimony, and Walt Whitman's To a Stranger — in which the poet addresses an unknown passerby as a lost intimate, reaching across anonymity toward individual personhood — creating not a narrative of the epidemic, but a space of communal remembrance honoring the lost and the communities that refused to forget them.
This premiere reflects Emmanuel's enduring commitment to the LGBTQIA+ community of Baltimore and beyond: to perform this music is an act of witness — a declaration that the church stands with those silenced by stigma, abandoned by institutions, and mourned without ceremony. We have never been willing to forget.
- Eddie Spear, featured composer
- The Emmanuel Choir
- Christian Lane, direction
About Tickets
A ticket is required of all attendees, and may be obtained prior to the concert or at the door beginning 30 minutes prior to the performance.
Emmanuel Church is committed to ensuring all persons have access to its space and its musical offerings, regardless of income and ability to pay. Therefore, for most concerts, a limited number of Free Rush Tickets will be made available, online only, beginning 24 hours in advance of a concert's start time.
Ticket Refund and Cancellation Policy: Cancellations made more than seven days before the event will be refunded as vouchers redeemable for any Music at Emmanuel program within six months. Refunds are not available to the original payment method or in cash, and cancellations within seven days of the event are not eligible for a refund.
We thank Emmanuel's Friends of Music for their ongoing and significant support of programming at Emmanuel. If you are intersted in becoming a Friend of Music, please click here.
Music at Emmanuel is grateful to the Maryland State Arts Council and the William G. Baker, Jr. Memorial Fund, creator of the Baker Artist Portfolios, www.BakerArtist.org, for their support of the 2026–2027 season.
About the choir
One of the region's most adventurous and accomplished choral ensembles, The Emmanuel Choir is the sixteen-voice fully-professional choir of Emmanuel Episcopal Church in Baltimore's historic Mt. Vernon neighborhood. Anchoring the worship life of the community week by week, the ensemble also presents a full concert season — "a concert series full of intriguing programs" marked by singing Washington Classical Review has called "strikingly beautiful." The choir performs more than 200 works each year in liturgy and concert.
Rooted in the great and expansive traditions of the Anglican church, the Emmanuel Choir's repertoire spans the centuries — from Italian Renaissance polyphony to English Romantic masterworks, from plainsong to the 21st century — and includes regular world-premiere performances of music composed for the Church of today and tomorrow.
Praised for "impeccable ensemble unity" and performances that reach "stunning" heights, The Emmanuel Choir has earned a reputation as an ensemble whose concerts, at their best, "can restore your faith that music and choirs still matter." (Washington Classical Review)
The choir is led by Christian Lane, Director of Music.
Parking and Transportation
Emmanuel Church is located at 811 Cathedral Street in Baltimore, on the corner of Cathedral & W. Read Streets in the Mt. Vernon neighborhood.
Ample street parking, both free and metered, is available in historic Mt. Vernon. After 6:00 p.m. on weekdays, and all day on Sundays, many meters do not require payment and most residential restrictions are lifted. Please be sure to consult signage carefully.
However, we strongly encourage our patrons to avoid the stress of searching for street parking, and to make a parking plan before arriving into our residential neighborhood. To that end, the following websites and associated mobile apps may be very useful:
The closest paid parking lot is directly behind Emmanuel Church, at 810 N. Charles Street. Public lots within a three-block radius of the church include:
- 810 N. Charles Street*
- 910 N. Charles Street*
- 917 N. Charles Street
- 926 N. Charles Street
- 1000 N. Charles Street*
- 1017 N. Charles Street
- 124 W. Read Street
- 230 W. Read Street
- 600 Cathedral Street
*SAVE $5 on Parking!* Park in a PMI lot at 810, 910, or 1000 N. Charles St. and add promo code EEC when using the Honk app or honkmobile.com.
The church is also served by local bus routes on both Cathedral and N Charles Streets, as well as the Charm City Circulator (Purple Route) and Baltimore LiteRail Link (Mt Vernon/Centre St Stop).
Emmanuel Church is a 15-minute walk from Baltimore's Pennsylvania Rail Station (with regular MARC and Amtrak services).
About the venue
Emmanuel Episcopal Church is located in the heart of Baltimore's historic Mt. Vernon neighborhood. Its tremendous stone tower at the corner of Cathedral and W. Read Streets serves as a beacon in this community, and the nave's warm acoustic and gentle ambiance contribute to creating an ideal environment in which to hear choral and chamber music.
In 2022, the church building underwent a $3.2M transformation to make each space in its physical plant fully accessible to all; included in this project was an elevator, increased ramp access, and new restroom facilities.
Location
Emmanuel Episcopal Church, 21201