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Mina Miller Artistic Director

www.musicofremembrance.org

2019-2020 Season ConcertsSeattle and San Francisco

22nd Season

OUR STORY CONTINUESwith

Music that Matters

"While MOR’s mission is to remember the Holocaust through music, its focus is also emphatically on the present-day relevance of humanity’s darkest chapters." – Thomas May, The Seattle Times

TIMELESS

On January 27, 2020, Music of Remembrance will join people around the world to mark the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. This somber milestone is yet another occasion to recall and honor those people whose lives were touched by the Holocaust. It also compels us to do more than look back at history, and to examine its meaning for today.

MOR’s performances honor the legacy of those targeted by the Nazi regime for their beliefs, identities and ideas – not only Jews, but also political dis-sidents, free-thinking artists and intellectuals, homosexuals and others.

As we’ve done for more than two decades, we’ll perform music created under the most horrific conditions, in the ghettos and concentration camps. We’ll give voice to those whose lives were cut short. And through new musical works we continue to address compelling struggles for hu-man rights in our own time.

Confronting Intolerance

On November 3, we’ll open our concert sea-son with two pathbreaking world premieres. The iconic Japanese composer Ryuichi Sakamoto’s new work, simply titled Passage, focuses on the plight of a refugee seeking to escape violence in his own country in the Middle East. In the second premiere, Veritas, the music of Japanese American composer Shinji Eshima and the striking visual imag-ery of sculptor Al Farrow combine to make a powerful statement about the frightful conse-quences of anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, and religious intolerance of all kinds.

We also feature Paul Schoenfield’s searing Camp Songs, an MOR commission and 2002 Pulitzer Finalist. In a new dramatic production directed by Erich Parce, we’ll experience the grim humor, sardonic words and melodies that the Polish dissident journalist Aleksander Kulisiewicz dared to create while a pris-oner in Sachsenhausen. And following the concert, we’ll gather for MOR’s Annual Gala evening.

Marking a Milestone

At Benaroya Hall on January 27, 2020 we’ll present a free commu-nity-wide concert to mark International Holocaust Remembrance Day exactly 75 years after the liberation of Auschwitz. Wanting to make this moment in history meaningful to young people, we have invited The Northwest Boychoir, the Seattle Girls’ Choir and the University of Washington Chamber Orchestra to join our Mu-sic of Remembrance artists in a program of music by composers whose lives were cut short by Nazi persecution.

Against All Odds

In a special concert on March 1, 2020, we’ll have the honor of bringing and performing on the actual instruments of Violins of Hope. These string instruments all belonged to Jews who played

mina miller

From The Artistic Director

erich parce sings camp songs with mor ensemble

top: university of washington chamber orchestra bottom: seattle girls' choir

them before and during the Holocaust and have been lovingly restored by Israeli violin makers Amnon and Avshalom Weinstein. As a result of the Weinsteins' efforts, these precious instruments can now be heard again even though their former owners were silenced. Our own stellar ensemble will perform a program of mu-sic by composers lost to the Holocaust: David Beigelman, Gideon Klein, Hans Krása, and Erwin Schulhoff. These musical treasures re-main as testament to courage and resilience across the generations.

A Heggie/Scheer Double Bill!

Our spring concert on May 17, 2020 at Benaroya Hall, repeated two days later at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music on May 19, is a rare double bill of works by the incomparable team of composer Jake Heggie and librettist Gene Scheer.

We’ll unveil the Washington premiere of their newest creation, Intonations: Songs from the Violins of Hope, inspired by those same instruments. The compelling work consists of six songs sharing the stories of those Holocaust instruments and imagining how their owners would tell their own stories. For a Look or a Touch, MOR’s earliest commission from Heggie and Scheer, was the first major musical work ever to explore the Nazi persecution of homosexuals. Since our premiere in 2007 it has traveled around the world, and we’re bringing it back in an expanded version. The musical drama is based on the true story of two idealistic young gay men in Berlin whose lives and love were torn apart under Nazi rule. Our production, directed by Erich Parce,

features rising star baritone Jarrett Ott as Manfred Lewin, and acclaimed actor Curt Branom (a long-time fixture of San Francisco’s Beach Blanket Babylon) as Gad Beck. The program bears witness to the power of love, courage and memory.

In this, our third decade of musical witness, we continue to weave indelible history together with the human challenges that face us today. The issues are timeless. The time is now. MOR performs music that matters. It would mean so much to have you continue this journey with us.

Mina Miller, Founder and Artistic Director

Thanks to the sponsors of MOR’s 22nd season:

"we were played by proud people.”

jake heggie and gene scheer

Passage

ryuichi sakamoto

Music that Matters! In two timely world premieres, MOR confronts the threats today of religious

hatred and fear of the stranger.

Struggle: a refugee flees violence in his own land

VeritasSoulful: a statement against religious intolerance

“While working on the archi-tectural sculptures of religious temples, I became aware of the importance of doors as portals.” - Al Farrow

Camp SongsSardonic: a Sachsenhausen prisoner speaks

"To believe in love in a concentration camp, that was not easy. But we had to believe."

- Aleksander Kulisiewicz

sunday, november 3, 2019 at 6:00 p.m.(immediately following our concert)

The Norcliffe Founders Room at Benaroya Hall

Help MOR continue fulfilling its unique mission. Special gala packages start at $300. ($180 is a tax-deductible contribution.)

MOR’s Annual Gala Evening

aleksander kulisiewicz

“The global view of cultures is part of my nature. I want to break down the walls between genres, categories, or cultures.”

- Ryuichi Sakamoto

sculpture by al farrow, “vandalized doors” series.

“The Kulisiewicz texts that I am setting are caricatures which (in Joseph Conrad’s words) ‘put the face of a joke upon the body of truth.’ They are an affirmation of dignity; a declaration of man’s superiority to all that befalls him.” - Paul Schoenfield

3:15 p.m. meet the artists Composer Shinji Eshima, Sculptor Al Farrow, and Media Designer Kate Duhamel

Shinji EshimaVeritas (2019)

Media design by Kate Duhamel of sculpture by Al Farrowworld premiere commissioned by music of remembrance

Walter Gray, celloJonathan Green, double bass

Simon SargonBefore the Ark (1990)

Takumi Taguchi, violin Mina Miller, piano

Passage

Ryuichi SakamotoPassage (2018)

Text by Kareem Lotfyworld premiere commissioned by music of remembrance

Made possible through the generous support ofYoshiaki and Naomi Minegishi

James & Sherry RaisbeckMikhail Shmidt, violin Takumi Taguchi, violin

Susan Gulkis Assadi, viola Walter Gray, cello

Paul SchoenfieldCamp Songs (2001)

Based on the music and poetry of Aleksander Kulisiewicz (1918-1982) from his incarceration in the Sachsenhausen concentration camp

commissioned by music of remembrance

Karen Early Evans, soprano Erich Parce, baritoneLaura DeLuca, clarinet Mikhail Shmidt, violin Walter Gray, cello

Jonathan Green, double bass Jessica Choe, piano

New dramatic realization directed by Erich Parce

Sunday, November 3, 2019 | 4:00 p.m.Illsley Ball Nordstrom Recital Hall | Benaroya Hall, Seattle

Violins of Hope is a unique project inspired by a private collection of string instruments, mostly violins, that have been lovingly restored over the past two decades by Israeli violin maker Amnon Weinstein. The instruments all belonged to Jews who played them be-fore and during the Holocaust. Many were donated by or bought from survivors; some arrived through family members and many simply carry Stars of David as a decoration. These precious instruments can now be heard again even though their former owners were silenced.

“Since the Shoah, when the Jewish cultural world was eradicated, I seek out the remaining sliver of culture: dusty violins in thousands of pieces, and I renew their lives as I repair and renovate them, piec-ing them together and cleaning them so that they may play their lively tunes once again. And even if the Jewish violinists have disappeared, I try to promise to them that their legacy will be born again as the notes are played.” - Amnon Weinstein, Tel Aviv

Through our partnership with Music at Kohl Mansion, a string quartet of instruments of the Violins of Hope will travel from Israel to Seattle and be heard in a program of music by composers lost to the Holocaust.

Violins of Hope come to Seattle

Miecyslaw WeinbergAria, op. 9 (1942)

Mikhail Shmidt, violin Natasha Bazhanov, violinSusan Gulkis Assadi, viola Walter Gray, cello

Violins of HopeSunday, March 1, 2020 | 5:30 p.m.

Illsley Ball Nordstrom Recital Hall | Benaroya Hall, Seattle

Hans KrásaDance (Terezín, 1943)

Mikhail Shmidt, violin Susan Gulkis Assadi, viola Walter Gray, cello

David BeigelmanDybbuk Dances (Lodz Ghetto, 1941)

Artur Girsky, violin Natasha Bazhanov, violin

Erwin SchulhoffFive Pieces for String Quartet (1923)

Mikhail Shmidt, violin Natasha Bazhanov, violinSusan Gulkis Assadi, viola Walter Gray, cello

Gideon KleinString Trio (Terezín, 1944)

Mikhail Shmidt, violin Susan Gulkis Assadi, viola Walter Gray, cello

Betty OliveroZeks Yiddishe Lider un Tantz from The Golem (1997)

Laura DeLuca, clarinetMikhail Shmidt, violin Artur Girsky, violin Susan Gulkis Assadi, viola Walter Gray, cello

IntonationsA rare double bill!

Two Holocaust-inspired works of composer Jake Heggie and librettist Gene Scheer

Intonations: Songs from the Violins of HopeInspired by Violins of Hope, instruments that were owned and played by Jews before and during the Holocaust, collected and lovingly restored.

For a Look or a TouchA new production of the intense musical drama of two idealistic young men whose lives and love were torn apart by Nazi persecution.

Laura Krumm, mezzo soprano, joins MOR for the Washington premiere of Songs from the Violins of Hope. A graduate of San Francisco Opera’s Adler Fellowship program, she has been featured in numerous mainstage productions of the company over the years. This season her engagements include Javotte in Manon at the Metropolitan Opera.

Jarrett Ott, baritone, interprets the role of Manfred Lewin in For a Look or a Touch. His coming season with the Staatstheater Stuttgart spans four centuries of opera with roles in Iphigénie en Tauride, The Barber of Seville, La Cenerentola, La Bohème and Nixon in China. He’ll also reprise the title role in David Lang’s prisoner of the state in a European tour that includes London, Copenhagen Barcelona and Rotterdam.

Curt Branom, actor, has been a long-time fixture in San Francisco’s legendary variety show Beach Blanket Babylon, lampooning characters from Michelle Bachmann and Bernie Sanders to King Louis XIV. Branom also teaches interpretation to opera and music theater students at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, and at Song Fest in Los Angeles.

I became a perfomer because being on stage made me feel alive, it forces you to be present and focused. – Curt Branom

Noted as one of 25 “Rising Stars” by Opera News

Making their MOR debuts…

we dedicate these concerts to the memory of robert orth (1947 – 2019), whose artistry, wisdom and

humanity remain inspirations to us all.gad beck in a displaced persons camp (1945-47).

courtesy ushmm

Sunday, May 17, 2020 | 5:30 p.m.Illsley Ball Nordstrom Recital Hall | Benaroya Hall, Seattle

Tuesday, May 19, 2020 | 7:30 p.m.Caroline H. Hume Concert Hall, San Francisco Conservatory of Music

meet-the-artists: composer jake heggie and librettist gene scheer4:45 seattle; 6:45 san francisco

Intonations: Songs from the Violins of Hope (2019)Music by Jake Heggie Libretto by Gene Scheer

Washington State Premiere

commissioned by music at kohl mansion

Laura Krumm, mezzo soprano Mikhail Shmidt, violin

Artur Girsky, violin Natasha Bazhanov, violinSusan Gulkis Assadi, viola Walter Gray, cello

For a Look or a Touch (2007)Music by Jake Heggie Libretto by Gene Scheer

commissioned by music of remembrance

Manfred LewinGad Beck

Jarrett Ott, baritoneCurt Branom, actor

Zart Dombourian-Eby, flute Laura DeLuca, clarinetMikhail Shmidt, violin Walter Gray, cello Jessica Choe, piano

Erich Parce, Director

jake heggie gene scheer

“The title comes from a line in the documentary Paragraph 175: ‘You could be arrested for a look or a touch.’ Under the Nazis, innuendo was enough to convict a person.” - Jake Heggie

The Northwest Boychoir, Seattle Girls’ Choir and the University of Washington Chamber Orches-tra join forces with MOR’s stellar instrumental ensemble drawn from the Seattle Symphony.

Mina Miller Artistic Director, Piano

Distinguished Artists2019-2020 CONCERT SEASON

Natasha Bazhanov Violin

Curt Branom Actor

Laura DeLuca Clarinet

Walter GrayCello

Jonathan Green Double Bass

Susan Gulkis Assadi Viola

Erich Parce Baritone/director

Laura KrummMezzo soprano

Mikhail Shmidt Violin

Monday, January 27, 2020 at 5:30 p.m.

illsley ball nordstrom recital hall, benaroya hall

FREE to the

Community

Jessica Choe Piano

Karen Early EvansSoprano

Artur GirskyViolin

Jarrett OttBaritone

Season ticket subscribers receive priority ticketing.

Art From Ashes Commemorating International Holocaust Remembrance Day

and the 75th Anniversary of the Liberation of Auschwitz

Takumi TaguchiViolin

Order Today! online: www.musicofremembrance.org/tickets

phone: (206) 365-7770fax: (206) 985-6924mail: music of remembrance po box 27500 | seattle, wa 98165-2500

*Seating preferences are subject to availability and orders will be processed in order of receipt.

Subscriptions: three-concert series

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Seattle concerts take place at the Illsley Ball Nordstrom Recital Hall, Benaroya Hall, 3rd Avenue & Union Street.Location.

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exclusive subscriber benefits:

Single concert tickets.Single tickets are $55 each and can be purchased directly through the Benaroya Hall box office.

Mail to: Music of Remembrance / PO Box 27500 / Seattle, WA 98165-2500

MOR Annual Gala Evening$300 $____________ Nov. 3, 2019 6 p.m.

Priority ticketing for Art From Ashes, January 27, 2020 marking International Holocaust Remembrance Day on the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz.

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Art From Ashes Commemorating International Holocaust Remembrance Day

and the 75th Anniversary of the Liberation of Auschwitz

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Named by Opera News as one of the top ten opera CDs of 2007, MOR’s recording of Hans Krása’s beloved children’s opera is the first to use Tony Kushner’s brilliant English libretto. A memorial to the children of the Terezín concentration camp, the disc also includes six poems by child prisoners, given life in Lori Laitman’s song cycle I Never Saw Another Butterfly.

Brundibár

Letter to Warsaw

Letter to Warsaw is Thomas Pasatieri’s extraordinary musical setting of one woman’s intimate first-hand account of life in the Warsaw ghetto and in the Majdanek concentration camp, where she perished.

Vedem Northwest Boychoir

A stunning musical tribute to the teenage boy prisoners in Terezín who shared their poetry and stories every Friday for two years in a secret maga-zine they called VEDEM. Using the boys’ own poems, composer Lori Laitman has created a

compelling oratorio that poignantly evokes the courage, idealism, and wisdom of those remarkable youths.

Schoenfield & Schwarz

Three MOR commissions! In his searing Camp Songs and his evocative Ghetto Songs, compos-er Paul Schoenfield gives voice to the words of two brilliant poets—one a Holocaust survivor, one murdered—and the full range of their emotions. Gerard Schwarz’s haunting Rudolf and Jeanette is a tribute to his Viennese grandparents killed by the Nazis.

Jake Heggie and Gene Scheer’s musical drama tells the true story of two gay lovers the Holocaust tore apart forever. Also, Lori Laitman’s song cycle The Seed of Dream, based on poetry by Vilna Ghetto survivor Abraham Sutzkever, and the elegiac In Memoriam by Gerard Schwarz.

For a Look or a Touch

In this eloquent portrait of survival, composer Jake Heggie and librettist Gene Scheer convey the vastness of the Holocaust’s scope through emo-tionally rich portraits of those caught

in its grasp. Three MOR–commissioned works—Another Sunrise, Farewell, Auschwitz, and For a Look or a Touch—tell stories that offer compelling musical witness to sur-vival in the face of unimaginable adversity.

Out of Darkness (CD and DVD)

In Tom Cipullo’s compelling opera After Life, the ghosts of Pablo Picasso and Ger-trude Stein confront each other over the role of art and artists in a troubled world. Lori Laitman’s haunting song

cycle In Sleep The World Is Yours captures the lyrical verses of Selma Meerbaum-Eisinger, murdered in a Nazi labor camp at age 18. Both works commissioned by MOR.

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MUSIC OF REMEMBRANCE (MOR) fills a unique cultural role in Seattle and throughout the world by remembering the Holocaust through music with concert performances, educational programs, re-cordings and commissions of new works.

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Information and ordering are available on our website: www.musicofremembrance.org