On January 27, 1945 the Auschwitz concentration camp was liberated by the Soviet Army. Continuing its long-standing tradition, Music of Remembrance honors this anniversary with its Art From Ashes program, an annual concert marking International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

Starting Saturday, June 26, Music of Remembrance will stream a special all-new production of For a Look or a Touch by composer Jake Heggie and librettist Gene Scheer. The performance was originally scheduled as part of live concerts at Seattle’s Benaroya Hall and San Francisco’s Presidio Theatre. Because of continuing pandemic restrictions, we have instead created a compelling video production for viewing by people around the world on our streaming platform.

Our fourth and final virtual concert of this unique season shines a light on the Armenian genocide with Return to Amasia by American composer Eric Hachikian. During and after World War I, about one and a half million ethnic Armenians in Turkey and adjacent regions were systematically murdered or expelled by the Ottoman authorities. Hachikian is the grandson of survivors from the genocide and Return to Amasia is an intimate musical and visual account of his own journey to that city in in search of his roots. Parts of the music are adapted from Hachikian’s score for Voyage to Amasia, the feature-length documentary film that he produced. You’ll be able to view the complete film when we screen it online around the time of this concert.

Iranian-American composer Sahba Aminikia is also a performer and educator with a deep personal commitment to human rights causes. He is the founder and artistic director of the Flying Carpet Festival, a performing arts festival for children in war zones. His new work is based on the beautiful book Stormy Seas: Stories of Young Boat Refugees by Mary Beth Leatherdale and Eleanor Shakespeare. It tells five true stories about young people who braved the peril of setting sail in search of safe shores: from Nazi Germany; from communist Cuba; from war-torn Vietnam; from Taliban-dominated Afghanistan; from an orphanage in Ivory Coast. The work is a testament to hope and courage, and an appeal to our shared humanity.

Gifted Russian-born composer Polina Nazaykinskaya’s Haim (Hebrew for “life”) is a musical tribute to David Arben, a survivor of three concentration and four labor camps as a young boy who was saved by his violin when he was pulled from a crowd of 105 prisoners waiting to be shot or buried alive by the SS. After the war he came to America, penniless and barely speaking a word of English. Eventually he joined the Philadelphia Orchestra for 34 years, more than a dozen as Associate Concertmaster. In Arben’s words, “Music is Life. Music is Hope. Music is Peace.”

Ginkgo trees near the center of the atomic blasts in Hiroshima survived the inferno because of their resilience and deep roots, sprouting new leaves within days. The survivor trees have come to represent the endurance of hope.

MOR’s roots in our community are deep, our resilience strong. But we need your help to sprout new leaves.

By supporting our work, you’re also supporting our extraordinary performers and sustaining our arts community at this challenging time. 

By supporting our mission, you’re making it possible for us to tell stories of hope and courage that are so needed in today’s world. MOR performs music that matters – now more than ever.

In this webinar, Artistic Director Mina Miller catches up with DTMA recipients Julian Schwarz (2005), Marié Rossano (2008), Takumi Taguchi (2013), Sophie Denhard (2019), and Zoe Lonsigner (2019). Learn what these young artists are doing inside and outside music, and watch some of their performances.

A Story of Hope and Perseverance

Meet Polina Nazaykinskaya, whose moving work Haim receives its Northwest Premiere on our season-opening concert on November 1. You’ll learn the inspiring story of violinist David Arben, who survived three concentration and four labor camps as a boy and eventually made it to the Philadelphia Orchestra where he served for 34 years, more than a dozen as Associate Concertmaster. Meet violinist Rebecca Jackson, who commissioned and premiered Haim and authored the biography of Arben.

An Inspirational Life

Join us for a special program featuring the music of Hans Gál, whose charming early piano trio will also be part of the November 1 concert. Gál fled his native Vienna for England, but when the war broke out he became one of the tens of thousands of foreign nationals from Nazi-controlled countries to be interned as “enemy aliens.” Despite that experience he chose to remain in Britain, becoming a vital force in the country’s musical life and continuing to compose for over five decades. In this fascinating conversation you’ll meet the composer’s daughter Eva Fox-Gál and her son Simon Fox, who join us from the UK.

Portraits of Three Dutch Wartime Composers

Max Vredenburg (1904 - 1976)
Dick Kattenburg (1919 – 1944)
Paul Hermann (1902 – 1944)

They dared to create even in the face of unfathomable persecution
and we honor the precious legacy of their courage

Artistic Director Mina Miller in Conversation with

Carine Alders, music historian
Joyce Bergman, composer Dick Kattenburg’s niece
Paul van Gastel, composer Paul Hermann’s grandson
Mikhail Shmidt, violinist
Susan Gulkis Assadi, violist

Inspiring musical portraits of child boat refugees

A special program about Music of Remembrance's commission Stormy Seas. Artistic Director Mina Miller talks with composer Sahba Aminikia, author Mary Beth Leatherdale, stage director Erich Parce, and clarinetist Laura DeLuca about the true stories behind the work and the challenges of presenting the work during the pandemic.

Artistic Director Mina Miller in Conversation with
Sahba Aminikia, composer of Stormy Seas
Mary Beth Leatherdale, author of Stormy Seas: Stories of Young Boat Refugees
Erich Parce, stage director
Laura DeLuca, clarinetist 

Michel Michelet (1894-1995), Paul Ben-Haim (1897-1984)
Geza Frid (1904-1989), Eric Hachikian (b. 1982)

Their music and their stories

Artistic Director Mina Miller in Conversation with
Carine Alders, music historian
Eric Hachikian, composer
Mikhail Shmidt, violinist
Susan Gulkis Assadi, violist