“DEFIANT REQUIEM: VERDI AT TEREZÍN” at Royce Hall

Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust and The Defiant Requiem Foundation present a special performance in Los Angeles of the acclaimed Defiant Requiem: Verdi at Terezn on Wednesday, April 17, at 8 p.m. at UCLAs Royce Hall. Proceeds will benefit the museum.Defiant Requiem: Verdi at Terezn, the signature work of the Defiant Requiem Foundation, is a concert-drama that was conceived and created by The Defiant Requiem Foundation President Maestro Murry Sidlin. It combines the magnificent music of Verdi with video testimony from survivors of the original Terezn chorus and footage from the 1944 Nazi propaganda film about Theresienstadt. The performance includes actors who speak the words of imprisoned conductor Rafael Schchter and others.Tony Award-winning actor John Rubinstein will portray conductor Rafael Schchter. In addition to his theatrical work, Rubinstein has appeared in numerous films and television projects and was Emmy-nominated for his role in the acclaimed series Family. Recent appearances include The Orville, Feud and This is Us.Actor David Prather, who will portray the Lecturer, has appeared in various stage productions including Star Spangled Poetry, The Billy Dudes and Under the Concord Sky. As an actor, writer, director and master teaching artist, he has been affiliated with the Music Center for two decades. Music will be performed by the Pacific Symphony and Pacific Chorale, with soloists Aga Mikolaj, Ann McMahon Quintero, Edgaras Montvidas and Nathan Stark. Presented worldwide more than 40 times since premiering in 2002, Defiant Requiem: Verdi at Terezn tells the story of the courageous Jewish prisoners in the Theresienstadt Concentration Camp (Terezn) during World War II who performed Verdis Requiem while experiencing the depths of human degradation. With only a single smuggled score, they performed the celebrated oratorio 16 times, including one performance before senior SS officials from Berlin and an international Red Cross delegation. Conductor Rafael Schchter, who was forced to reconstitute the choir three times as members were transported to Auschwitz, told the choir, We will sing to the Nazis what we cannot say to them. The performances came to symbolize resistance and defiance and demonstrated the prisoners courage.