Music of Remembrance's Mission
Music of Remembrance fills a unique role throughout the world by remembering the Holocaust through music. With concert performances, educational programs, recordings, and commissions of new works by some of today’s leading composers, MOR honors those of all backgrounds who found the strength to create even in the face of persecution, and those who had the courage to speak out against cruelty. We tell stories that communicate urgent moral lessons for today with a scope that extends beyond the Holocaust itself to the experience of others who have been excluded or persecuted for their faith, ethnicity, gender or sexuality.
“I am honored to be associated with an organization that puts action behind a very important idea. Words and music matter. They have the power to change hearts, which is harder than changing minds.” – Laura Strickling, soprano in MOR commission The Parting
“Being part of MOR has made me more compassionate for other people who are oppressed or struggling in this day.” – violinist Zoe Lonsinger
“Music of Remembrance does what our most beloved cultural institutions always aspire to do when they preserve the voices of the past, or when they commission and midwife brand new works based on timeless themes. They educate us and inspire us. And oh how they inspire in concerts filled with beauty, passion, meaning, justice, heartbreak, comfort, and joy.” – composer Tom Cipullo
“Music of Remembrance has highlighted the reality that in the end we really are like a grove of aspen trees. We all share a common root network and if one tree is sick we all feel the effects. We’re not just learning about what happened. We’re learning about how we can grow as human beings.” –librettist Gene Scheer
Upcoming Events
Jun 27, 2021 - 5:00 PM

This June, Music of Remembrance (MOR) will stream a special all-new production of two works by composer Jake Heggie and librettist Gene Scheer: For a Look or a Touch and Intonations: Songs from the Violins of Hope. The concert was originally scheduled for live performances at Seattle’s Benaroya Hall and San Francisco’s Presidio Theatre. Because of continuing pandemic restrictions, MOR will instead create a compelling video production and make it available around the world on its streaming platform. Details on the exact streaming date will be announced soon, along with ticketing information.
Still Available Online
Concert: Art From Ashes

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.
Concert: Return to Amasia

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.
Concert: Stormy Seas

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.
Concert: To Life!

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.”
Gala: Ginkgos Blossom; Hope Endures

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.
Webinar: INSIGHTS - Building Bridges Across Generations

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.
Webinar: INSIGHTS - Haim

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.
Webinar: INSIGHTS - Hans Gál

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.
Webinar: INSIGHTS - Out of Oblivion

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
Webinar: INSIGHTS - Stormy Seas

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
Webinar: INSIGHTS - The Transformative Journeys of Four Composers

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
Community Partner Activities
April 8 12:30 - 1:30 PM PDT
In commemoration of Yom Hashoah, join us for a special event with Dr. James A. Grymes on his book Violins of Hope (winner of the National Jewish Book Award). A stirring testament to the strength of the human spirit and the power of music, Violins of Hope tells the remarkable stories of violins played by Jewish musicians during the Holocaust, and of the Israeli violinmaker dedicated to bringing these inspirational instruments back to life. The book, which composer John Williams described as “one of the most moving chronicles in the history of Western music,” presents a new way of understanding the Holocaust.
Click here to learn more and register
Spring 2021: Brundibar by the Seattle Youth Opera
This spring, the show must go on… online! Youth Opera Online offers young performers ages 7 – 18 the chance to learn, record and perform a virtual youth opera. The culminating video performance will be shared with family and friends at the end of the program. This eleven-week program not only fosters artistic development and expression, but also provides youth with a fun, supportive environment to connect and collaborate with their peers. This winter, youth will learn the 1944 Jewish-Czech opera Brundibár with the support of Seattle Opera teaching artists.
Commissions
2022
- Nicolas Lell BenavidesTres Minutos
Soprano, tenor, baritone, clarinet, violín, cello, double bass, piano
Chamber opera inspired by a real program that reunites families separated by immigration policies at the U.S. – Mexico border, but only for three minutes.
2021
- Eric HachikianReturn to Amasia
String quartet
Based on a grandson of the Armenian Genocide searching for his roots.
2020
- Sahba AminikiaStormy Seas
5 child singers, clarinet/bass clarinet, violin, cello, piano
Musical portraits of 5 true stories of child boat refugees. Based on the book of the same name by Mary Beth Leatherdale and Eleanor Shakespeare.
2019
- Tom CipulloThe Parting
Soprano, mezzo-soprano, baritone, flute, clarinet, violin, cello, piano
Chamber opera based on the life and work of Hungarian poet Miklós Radnóti set on his last night with wife Fanni before his WWII conscription.
- Ryuichi SakamotoPassage
Narrator, string quartet
Narrated poem by Kareem Lotfy with string quartet about an Arab Spring refugee.
- Shinji EshimaVeritas
Cello, double bass, projection
Multi-media work with media projections by Kate Duhamel based on Vandalized Doors series by sculptor Al Farrow.
2018
- Christophe ChagnardGaman
Soprano, baritone, clarinet/bass clarinet, string quartet, fue (Japanese flute), taiko drum
Multi-media work based on the diaries of Takuichi Fujii and Kamekichi Tokita from their WWII incarceration at Minidoka Relocation Center.
2017
- Choreography for Lullaby & Doina
- Mary Kouyoumdjianto open myself, to scream
Clarinet, bass clarinet, trumpet, violin, cello, double bass, recording, click track, projection
Multi-media work inspired by the life of Roma painter and writer Ceija Stojka who survived three concentration camps.
- Keiko FujiieWilderness Mute
Soprano, baritone, clarinet, violin, cello, double bass
Song cycle based on eye-witness accounts of Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
- Ryuichi SakamotoSnow Falls
Narrator, violin, piano
Text from a poem by Kiyoko Nagase about a mother visited by the ghost of her son lost in the atomic bombing with melodies from the film score to Nagasaki: Memories of My Son.
2016
- Jake HeggieOut of Darkness
2 sopranos, mezzo-soprano, baritone, actor/baritone, flute, clarinet (Bb and A), violín, cello, double bass, piano
A two-act opera. Act one, “Krystyna,” tells the story of poet Krystyna Zywulska in Auschwitz. Act two, “Gad,” imagines the renunion of homosexuals Gad Beck and Manfred Lewin torn apart under Nazi rule in Berlin.
2015
- Choreography for La Revue de Cuisine
- Tom CipulloAfter Life
Soprano, mezzo-soprano, bass, flute, clarinet, violin, cello, piano
Chamber opera based on an imagined reunion of the ghosts of Gertrude Stein and Pablo Picasso as they discuss culpability of artists in WWII occupied France.
2014
- Choreography for Arnold Schoenberg's Transfigured Night
- Choreography for Dick Kattenburg's Tap Dance
- Lori LaitmanIn Sleep The World Is Yours
Soprano, oboe, piano
Song cycle based on the poetry of Selma Meerbaum-Eisinger who died at 18 in a Nazi labor camp.
- Alicia SvigalsThe Yellow Ticket (arrangement)
Violin, clarinet, piano
Film score for 1918 silent movie Der Gelbe Schein based on Abraham Schomer’s melodrama Afn Yam un “Ellis Island” and Aleksandr Amfiteatrow’s novel The Yellow Pass.
2013
- Jake HeggieFarewell, Auschwitz
Soprano, mezzo-soprano, baritone, clarinet, violín, cello, double bass, piano
Based on Wiazanka z Effektenkammer by lyricist Krystyna Zywulska written in Auschwitz.
- Jake HeggieFor a Look or a Touch (Song Cycle)
Actor, baritone, flute, clarinet, violin, cello, piano
Based on the journal of Manfred Lewin written for his lover Gad Beck, who tells his story in the film Paragraph 175.
- Pat HonDestination Unknown (2013), choreography for Zeks Yiddishe Lider un Tantz from The Golem by Betty Olivero
2012
- Jake HeggieAnother Sunrise
Soprano, clarinet, violin, cello, double bass, piano
Song cycle based on the life of writer Krystyna Zywulska from an interview in Barbara Engelking's book Holocaust and Memory.
2011
- Betty OliveroKolo’t (“Voices”)
Mezzo soprano, clarinet, violin, viola, cello, harp, percussion
Based on the history of Sephardic settlement at Thessaloniki and an anonymous poem from a resident who survived Auschwitz concentration camp.
2010
- Choreography for Joel Engel's The Dybbuk Suite
- Lori LaitmanVedem
Boychoir, mezzo-soprano, tenor, clarinet, violín, cello, piano
Based on the story of boys at Terezín publishing a clandestine journal Vedem.
2009
- Aharon HarlapPictures from the Private Collection of God (arrangement)
Mezzo-soprano, baritone, oboe, string quartet
Song cycle based on the poetry of Yaakov Barzilai, a Hungarian Holocaust survivor.
2008
- Choreography for Franz Schreker's The Wind
- Paul SchoenfieldGhetto Songs
Soprano, baritone, clarinet, violin, cello, double bass, piano
Based on the poetry in a notebook of Mordechai Gebirtig.
- David StockMayn Shvester Khaye
Mezzo-soprano, clarinet, string quartet
Arrangement of the song by Israeli singer Chava Alberstein based on the poem written by Pole Binem Heller for his sister, who died in Treblinka extermination camp.
- Gerard SchwarzRudolf and Jeanette
Flute, oboe, bassoon, trumpet, horn, 2 violins, viola, 2 cellos, double bass, piano, harp, celesta
A musical tribute to Schwarz’s maternal grandparents, Rudolf and Jeanette Weiss, who were murdered at a concentration camp in Riga, Latvia.
2007
- Jake HeggieFor a Look or a Touch
Actor, baritone, flute, clarinet, violin, cello, piano
Duet between actor and singer based on the journal of Manfred Lewin written for his lover Gad Beck, who tells his story in Paragraph 175 (film).
2005
- Lori LaitmanThe Seed of Dream
Mezzo-soprano, cello, piano
Musical setting of poems from the Vilna Ghetto by Abraham Sutzkever.
- Gerard SchwarzIn Memoriam
Solo cello, string quartet
A musical tribute to cellist David Tonkonogui, a teacher of Schwarz’s son Julian.
2004
- Thomas PasatieriLetter to Warsaw
Soprano, piano
Musical setting of six texts by Pola Braun written in the Warsaw Ghetto and Majdanek concentration camp.
2003
- Lori LaitmanFathers
Baritone, violin, cello, piano
Musical setting of Holocaust related poems by Anne Ranasinghe and David Vogel that focus on father-child relationships.
2002
- Paul SchoenfieldCamp Songs
Mezzo-soprano, baritone, clarinet, violin, cello, double bass, piano
Musical setting of five poems written in Sachsenhausen concentration camp compiled by Aleksander Kulisiewicz.
2000
- David StockA Vanished World
Flute, viola, harp
A snapshot of the pre-war world of East European Jewry, living on the edge of the abyss.