“VOICES” of the Holocaust: A World Premiere Concert

Join Central Synagogue for the world premiere of Michael Shapiro’s VOICES – a free public concert based on Sephardic poetry of the Holocaust. This performance will feature Daniel Mutlu, the Senior Cantor of Central Synagogue, Ember Choral Arts, and the American Music Ensemble, conducted by Deborah Simpkin King. There will be a pre-event Q&A with music icon Paul Shaffer.

The concept for VOICES was born more than twenty years ago when Michael Shapiro served as Music Consultant to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC. After reading poetry by Sephardic victims during the Shoah, he wrote this hour-long choral and chamber ensemble as a requiem: “not solely [as] a work of remembrance, but as a warning.” The composition is varied in tone and includes hints of cabaret, religious observance, and transcendent echoes that reflect the international impact of the Holocaust on Jewish people from different countries. According to Shapiro, “the composition delivers an ending that bespeaks longing for a Jewish homeland, through which the voices of those stilled by evil and tyranny will be heard.”