MUSIC THAT SURVIVED NAZI CONCENTRATION CAMP SHOWCASED AT FREE MUSIC OF REMEMBRANCE CONCERT

Children's Opera Brundibár Commemorates Spirit, Bravery of Child Inmates

SEATTLE, WA-April 1, 2008 - Seattle's Music of Remembrance (MOR) presents the concert-with-commentary Timeless at 2:30 p.m. on April 12, 2008, at the Seattle Asian Art Museum. The last program in this season's free Sparks of Glory outreach series, Timeless makes for a family-friendly afternoon, with scenes from Hans Krása's beloved children's opera Brundibár, sung by some of Seattle's top young vocalists, and chamber music by Robert Dauber and Gideon Klein.

MOR Artistic Director Mina Miller, an international speaker on musicians' spiritual resistance during the Holocaust, will introduce the 90-minute, Terezín-centered program. Terezín (Theresienstadt) was the infamous "model" concentration camp outside Prague that the Nazis used for propaganda purposes, deceiving the International Red Cross and the rest of the outside world about their treatment of the Jews. Virtually all the inmates who survived Terezín's harsh conditions were fated for transport to death camps.

Says Miller, "Our mission-to perform for everyone to hear this music, which speaks so movingly, so eloquently against the Holocaust-is amplified by children's voices when we turn to Terezín. Genocide knows no limits. Their courageous example reminds us we must always be vigilant." Miller, a concert pianist, will also perform, accompanied by cellist Julian Schwarz and violinist Jocelyn Chang (winners of MOR's youth musician David Tonkonogui Memorial Award, in 2005 and 2006, respectively).

In spite of the horrific conditions, Terezín's inmates shared a rich cultural life that asserted their humanity against Nazi oppression. Czech composer Hans Krása revised his children's opera Brundibár for the instruments available at the camp. The opera had 55 performances in Terezín, cast with child inmates, nearly all of whom would be killed before liberation. MOR presents excerpts from the opera, directed by Erich Parce, and featuring young Seattle vocalists Ross Hauck, Megan Chenovick, Malya Muth, Michael Drumheller, Signe Mortensen, and Cliff Watson. They will be singing Tony Kushner's English adaptation of the original Czech libretto.

The Brundibár score that Krása revised was smuggled into the camp; two musicians who wrote new music during their imprisonment there were Robert Dauber (1922-45) and Czech pianist/composer Gideon Klein (just 23 years old when he came to Terezín). Dauber played cello in Brundibár's orchestra; the Serenata for violin and piano is his only composition that remains. He died at Dachau in 1945. Klein's Duo for Violin and Cello was written in 1941; he spent three years at Terezín, composing, performing, and lecturing, and died at the Furstengrube concentration camp in 1945.

Offered free to the public-thanks to sponsorship by Chamber Music America and the National Endowment for the Arts-the performance takes place at the Seattle Asian Art Museum on Capitol Hill, which offers free parking for visitors.

Sparks of Glory Musical Witness Series
Stimson Auditorium, Seattle Asian Art Museum
1400 East Prospect Street, Volunteer Park
FREE TO THE PUBLIC*

Timeless
April 12, 2008, 2:30 p.m.
Stimson Auditorium, Seattle Asian Art Museum

Timeless works from Terezín make up the program, with scenes from Hans Krása's beloved children's opera Brundibár as the centerpiece. Cast with children inmates, Brundibár had 55 performances in Terezín. These excerpts, featuring some of Seattle's top young vocalists and directed by Erich Parce, use the new English adaptation by Tony Kushner. A young cellist named Robert Dauber (1922-45) played in Brundibár's orchestra; this program includes one of his compositions and one by Czech composer Gideon Klein (just 23 years old when he came to Terezín).

Gideon Klein: Duo for Violin and Cello (1941)

Robert Dauber: Serenata (1942) (Terezin)

Hans Krasa: Scenes from Brundibár: A Children's Opera (Terezin 1943); English language adaptation by Tony Kushner; Erich Parce, stage director

Ross Hauck, Megan Chenovick, Malya Muth, Michael Drumheller, Signe Mortensen, Cliff Watson: vocalists; Mina Miller, piano; Julian Schwarz, cello; Jocelyn Chang, violin (winners of the DTMA 2005 and 2006)

*This series is made possible, in part, by funding from the National Endowment for the Arts. Music of Remembrance is the recipient of a Chamber Music America Residency Partnership Program Grant with funding provided by the CMA Residency Endowment Fund.

About Music of Remembrance
Music of Remembrance (MOR) fills a unique spiritual and cultural role in Seattle and throughout the United States by remembering Holocaust musicians and their art through musical performances, educational activities, musical recordings and commissions of new works. Since its 1998-99 inaugural year, MOR has presented two major concerts annually at Seattle's Benaroya Hall, marking the anniversary of Kristallnacht (The Night of Broken Glass) each fall and Holocaust Remembrance Day each spring. More information available at: www.musicofremembrance.org.