We Are Here: Songs from the Holocaust, a concert of music written inside the Nazi camps and ghettos, plays Carnegie Hall's Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage January 26.
Written by Emmet Smith and Ira Antelis, the evening is directed by Noah Himmelstein with musical direction by Lee Musiker.
The 7:30 PM concert, commemorating International Holocaust Remembrance Day, features performances by Harvey Fierstein, Joel Grey, Shoshana Bean, Andrew Lippa, Brenda Russell, Steven Skybell, Wendy Moten, Justin Jesso, Talia Sauskauer, Becca Sauskauer, Danielle Bowen, Jaden Waldman, Noah Marlowe, and Mehret Marsh plus Cantors Daniel Mutlu, Danny Mendelson, Rachel Brook, and Yanky Lemmer.
Presenters include Chita Rivera, Archbishop Timothy Michael Dolan, and CNN reporter Gary Tuchman. Rabbi Charles Savenor hosts the evening.
In the years after the Holocaust, Jewish artists collected and published 14 songbooks of wartime music. This concert, paying tributes to the artists murdered during the Holocaust, spotlights songs from each book and stories about the composers behind them, including tributes from living relatives.
Producer and composer Antelis, who developed the production, asks, “What could be more important than giving voice to the voices that were taken from us? In 1943, just before being sent to Auschwitz, composer Martin Rosenberg’s last wish was for his requiem to be sung so that the world would not forget. These artists never knew if their songs would be heard again, much less by thousands at Carnegie Hall. Singing these songs at a venue such as Carnegie Hall and now the attention we are getting has shown people to want to never forget. From heart-wrenching folk ballads to up-tempo satire, this music presents a powerful spectrum of the human experience.”
“Eighty years after the Holocaust, we strive to carry on their voices and songs, and honor their memories,” adds Rabbi Savenor. “This music reminds us as much about the Jewish people’s perseverance as the human will to hope. The diversity of voices in this concert constitutes a chorus of love and harmony when we need it most."
We Are Here: Songs from the Holocaust has partnered with the Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center as their educational partner and benefactor.
Ira Antelis, Rabbi Charles Savenor, and Brannon Bowers are the executive producers; the producers are Eric Wanger, Stacy Futterman-LaVictoire, David Mendelson, David Kirshenbaum, Billy Jay Stein, Maddie Burton, and Bonny Dolan.
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