Gabriela Lena Frank’s Conquest Requiem, ‘with a libretto by Pulitzer Prize-winner Nilo Cruz, took Latin American culture beyond a mere theme or niche. It was, if not political, grounded in the belief that history must be wrestled with.’
— Wei-Huan Chen, Houston Chronicle
The Houston Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, with soprano Jessica Rivera, baritone Andrew Garland, and music director Andrés Orozco-Estrada, premiered Gabriela Lena Frank’s Conquest Requiem, with a libretto by Nilo Cruz, in 2017. Performances followed around America, including the Nashville Symphony led by Giancarlo Guerrero. Those performances have been commercially recorded for Naxos and come out on November 14, 2025.
Conquest Requiem brings to life the complexities of colonization, identity, and survival through the story of Malinche, a Nahua woman from Mexico who was given to the Spaniards as a young slave. She became a translator, a mistress of conquistador Hernán Cortés, and mother of their son Martin. Frank observed, ‘while Malinche has been conflated with Aztec legends, she has been variously viewed as feminist hero who saved countless lives, treacherous villain who facilitated genocide, conflicted victim of forces beyond her control, or as symbolic mother of the new mestizo people.’
Upcoming performances include the Colorado Symphony and music director Peter Oundjian with Rivera and Garland in January, 2026 and the University of North Carolina directed by Evan Harger in April, 2026.
