They Left a Light: Masterpieces from Nazi Prison Camps at Mendocino Music Festival

Although no one wants to relive the Nazi prison camps, some miraculous music was written and performed, affirming the power of music as an ultimate refuge. Hear Messiaen’s visionary “Quartet for the End of Time” and a variety of works from (Terezin) which brought meaning and the will to survive to victims of the 20th century’s greatest catastrophe.
Experience musical life at the concentration camp Terezin. The Nazis’ need to conceal the true fate of Europe’s Jews resulted in many high profile artists and intellectuals being removed to a “spa/resort/paradise ghetto” north of Prague. Despite appalling conditions of starvation, disease, fear, loss, and despair, remarkable music was written and performed, affirming the power of music as an ultimate refuge.

Jeremy Cohen, Emily Onderdonk, and Burke Schuchmann will play stunning virtuoso string trio compositions. Erin Neff, soprano and Igor Vieira, baritone, whom Opera News Magazine calls “superb” and “show-stealing,” sing Cabaret and Art Songs.

Photographs of the camps, the composers and original performers, as well as translations of the songs, will be projected. Special arrangements of the rarely heard cabaret material have been made by Julian Waterfall Pollack.

We wish to dedicate this concert to the memory of Max and Rosa Eichengruen, who died at Terezin. They are the paternal grandparents of Walter Green, co-founder of Mendocino Music Festival.

• Venue: Mendocino Headlands State Park
• Date: Thu July 16, 2009 8:00pm
• City: Mendocino
• Price Range: $15 to $48
• Tickets: 707 937-4041

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