Speaker: Murry Sidlin

This event is a rescheduled program that was postponed last Fall.

It seems impossible to imagine that in the Nazi concentration camp of Theresienstadt, there were 20 or more talented composers who found ways to write and perform while imprisoned. They called themselves the New Music Studio and their music was saved under floorboards or passed along from prisoner to prisoner.

This new music reflected life in the camp, sustained hope, provided spiritual and cultural resistance for both the prisoner composers and audience, and promised a future. Some of the music contained hidden messages, or served as eye (or ear) witness to the horrors of the camp, or of the broken heart.

Murry Sidlin will honor the work of these composers by sharing with us some recordings from Hours of Freedom: The Story of the Terezin Composer. He will also speak of what music means in the most desperate of times.

Murry Sidlin is the president and artistic director of The Defiant Requiem Foundation, the creative producer/music director of the award-winning documentary film Defiant Requiem, and the conductor and creator of the concert-dramas Defiant Requiem: Verdi at Terezín and Hours of Freedom: The Story of the Terezín Composer. Sidlin began his career as assistant conductor of the Baltimore Symphony and then was appointed resident conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra. He has held the posts of music director, artistic director, and principal guest conductor for numerous prestigious orchestras and festivals, and has appeared as a guest conductor around the world.

Northwest Neighbors Village is a local non-profit dedicated to building a supportive community where older adults are valued and age with dignity. We are delighted to offer these programs for free to our neighbors, and keep you engaged and learning. To learn more about us or to support our efforts to enable older adults to thrive in Northwest, DC, please visit our homepage.

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