The East Valley JCC’s Center for Holocaust Education and Human Dignity and the City of Chandler will present “Music in the Shadow of the Holocaust” at 6 p.m., Thursday, Jan. 9, at Chandler Center for the Arts, 250 N. Arizona Ave., Chandler.
The program brings together two powerful Holocaust commemoration projects that explore how, as a community, we can approach topics such as genocide, identity and tolerance through art and music. The program features acclaimed pianist Carolyn Enger and award-winning composer Daniel Asia and their respective works, “Mischlinge Exposé” and “To Open in Praise.”
Enger, a Steinway Concert Artist, is a pianist and recording artist based in the greater New York City area, whose family’s roots reach back to Breslau, now Wroclaw, Poland. She has gained critical acclaim from publications including The New York Times and Gramophone for her lyrical and dynamic playing, her deeply felt interpretations of works from Beethoven and Schubert to contemporary music, and her warm, personal approach.
Her “Mischlinge Exposé” brings to light the stories of the Mischlinge, the legal term used in Nazi Germany to denote persons deemed to have both “Aryan” and Jewish ancestry. Honoring people like her father and godmother, the piece is interwoven with music and writings of prominent German Jewish converts and Mischlinge.
Asia is a former composer-in-residence with the Phoenix Symphony and a professor of music composition at the University of Arizona. Through his program “To Open in Praise,” Professor Asia will speak about the Jewish spirit in classical music, delving into the mysteries of Judaism, music and their interrelationships.
VIP tickets, which include reserved seating, are $36 and general admission tickets are $18 in advance and $25 at the door.
For more details or to purchase tickets, visit evjcc.org/holocaustmusic or call 480-897-0588.
This program is part of The Center for Holocaust Education and Human Dignity at the EVJCC. Programs include presentations, guest speakers, exhibits, an annual Yom Hashoah program and Generations After, a program for children and grandchildren of survivors. The center is a member of the Association of Holocaust Organizations.
