Acclaimed pianist Carolyn Enger and award-winning composer Daniel Asia brought their powerful musical works to Chandler Center of the Arts this past week for “Music in the Shadow of the Holocaust.”
On Thursday, Jan. 9 the performance begin with Enger’s “The Mischlinge Expose” where she shared her family’s story in a multimedia performance that included her performing live on piano to a film that talked about the Mischlinge, which was the legal term used in Nazi Germany to refer to people deemed to have both “Aryan” and Jewish ancestry.
After a brief intermission, Daniel Asia, a professor of music composition at the University of Arizona and a former composer-in-residence with the Phoenix Symphony, spoke to the audience, humorously sharing his background and explaining the piece that was to follow, “To Open in Praise.” The music was based on Jewish texts performed by singer Jeremy Huw Williams, violinist Steven Moeckel and pianist Paula Fan. After the performance, Enger and Asia answered questions about both their music and their lives.
The following day, about 450 high school students from the Chandler Unified School District attended a special program with Enger and Asia at the Chandler Center for the Arts.
The program was presented by the EVJCC’s Center for Holocaust Education and Human Dignity and the City of Chandler.
Thank you to those who enjoyed us for this special performance and for the agencies that joined us in the lobby at community tables beforehand: the Greater Phoenix Jewish Film Festival, the Jewish Tuition Organization, Jewish News and Jewish Family & Children’s Service.
