On January 22, Music of Remembrance presents Art From Ashes, a defiant program of cultural resistance highlighting the human capacity to survive – and create extraordinary art – in the face of tremendous injustice. The event unites the stellar artistry of the MOR chamber ensemble, drawn from the Seattle Symphony, with vibrant community organizations including the University of Washington Chamber Orchestra, Northwest Boychoir, and Seattle Girls Choir, to commemorate International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
As Seattle’s Office of Arts and Culture recently noted, Music of Remembrance “exemplifies the power of music to help advance human rights and reaches into communities with cultural humility and artistic purpose.” This free concert at Benaroya Hall offers a renewed look at the Holocaust and its lessons in this current cultural moment.
While MOR’s programming often features world premiere testimonies for tomorrow, this annual concert emphasizes the important contributions made within the walls of Nazi concentration camps by brilliant musicians such as Gideon Klein and Viktor Ullmann. The program also features violinists Tokuji Miyasaka and Seohyun Hwang and cellist Leyna Kitaham, recent recipients of MOR’s annual David Tonkonogui Memorial Award, which nurtures young musicians who seek to address issues of human rights through their art.
“As the child of parents whose entire families were annihilated in the Holocaust, I grew up with a visceral awareness of the power of memory and storytelling,” MOR Artistic Director Mina Miller told Seattle Times. “It’s one thing to read headlines and quite another to realize there are real people behind these stories, with real emotions and real lives. With this concert, we do our small part to honor those who stood up to oppression and to keep their voices alive.”
Art From Ashes
Monday, January 22, 2024 @ 5:30 pm
Benaroya Hall (200 University Street)
Seattle, Washington
Free with reservation
musicofremembrance.org/ashes
Full Program:
Franz Schreker: Intermezzo for Strings
Featuring University of Washington Chamber Orchestra, conducted by David Rahbee
Ernest Bloch: “Nigun” from Three Pictures of Chassidic Life
Featuring 2022 David Tonkonogui Memorial Award recipient Seohyun Hwang, violin
Pre-war melody: Auschwitz Tango
Poetry written by 12-year-old Irka Janowski in Auschwitz concentration camp, arr. Bruce Rosenblum
Featuring Karen Early Evans, mezzo-soprano
Jozef Kropinski: Zál Tango
Written in Buchenwald concentration camp, arr. Bruce Rosenblum
Featuring Karen Early Evans, mezzo-soprano
Gideon Klein: Duo for Violin and Cello
Written just before Klein’s deportation to Terezin concentration camp
Featuring 2021 David Tonkonogui Memorial Award recipients Tokuji Miyasaka, violin and Leyna Kitahama, cello
Viktor Ullmann: Yiddish Songs
Written in Terezin concentration camp
Featuring Northwest Boychoir with Artistic Director Jacob Winkler, and Seattle Girls Choir with Artistic Director Sarra Sharif Doyle
Jake Heggie: Finale from Farewell, Auschwitz (MOR Commission)
Poetry written by Krystyna Zywulska in Auschwitz concentration camp
Featuring Megan Parker, soprano; Karen Early Evans, mezzo-soprano; Erich Parce, baritone; Northwest Boychoir; Seattle Girls Choir
Music of Remembrance Ensemble: Laura DeLuca, clarinet; Mikhail Shmidt, violin; Walter Gray, cello; Jonathan Green, double bass; Mina Miller, piano
About Music of Remembrance
Established in 1998, Music of Remembrance (MOR) has made a unique impact through works that honor the resilience of all people excluded or persecuted for faith, ethnicity, gender, or sexuality. Its programs pay tribute to historic memory – and directly confront challenges to human rights and dignity today. In addition to its work discovering and performing music from the Holocaust, MOR is admired around the world for its leadership in commissioning and premiering new works by leading composers, including varied chamber ensembles, song cycles, choral works, dance music, film scores, musical dramas, and full-length operas. MOR’s online concerts, nine albums, three documentary films, and many outreach programs have added to the impact experienced by live audiences. MOR’s annual David Tonkonogui Memorial Award welcomes new generations along on this journey, nurturing young musicians who seek to address issues of human rights through their art.