In 1996 Soli Deo Gloria began an international program of concert sponsorship called Project Uplift. The purpose of this ongoing program is to bring great works of sacred music to regions of the world where, for social, political, or economic reasons they are not frequently performed.
The first Project Uplift took place in Shanghai, China and featured the first performance of Johannes Brahms' Ein Deutsches Requiem in the history of the Chinese nation.
In an effort to give each of the three performances a special significance to Chinese audiences, Soli Deo Gloria commissioned Chinese composer Bright Sheng to translate the text of the Requiem into Chinese and the entire work was sung in the vernacular.
The event was co-sponsored by several organizations including Soli Deo Gloria, the General Motors Corporation, and the Chinese Cultural Institute.
