Harold Green Jewish Theatre Company Announces Return of The Shoah Songbook Series

Today, the Harold Green Jewish Theatre Company announced the much-awaited return of The Shoah Songbook series. This time, the Likht Ensemble transports listeners to the ghettos of Lithuania in Part Two: Kovno/Vilna. The recital, to be released on January 27, International Holocaust Rememberance Day, is part of a series sharing rarely performed music by Jewish composers from the Holocaust.

Part Two: Kovno/Vilna features the first ever North American recording of Edwin Geist's Three Lithuanian Songs; a premiere recording from songwriter Percy Haid; and original arrangements of Yiddish songs from the Kovno/Vilna ghettos by pianist and co-creator Nate Ben-Horin. These musical manuscripts were unearthed with assistance from the US Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C.

"Even experienced listeners won't have heard most of this stunning music before-some of it has been broadcast and recorded in Europe, but it's not available here," said Ben-Horin. "We're extremely excited to share it."

"As Jewish musicians, we need to enrich the traditional classical canon with fresh context," said Jaclyn Grossman. "Otherwise, we risk neglecting the generation of artists who whose legacies were destroyed during the Holocaust."

The twenty-minute recital spans a wide gamut of evocative words and musical styles, from the haunting pre-war nursery rhyme "Oyfn Pripetchik," to the adventurous harmony and pungent imagery of the Lithuanian Songs, to the captivating tango melodies of "Ein Traum" and "Friling." With recurring motifs of springtime, dreams, suffering, and lost love, beautiful melodies are a vehicle for biting irony and devastating truth. This musical journey is a revealing snapshot of the inner creative life of Jews detained in these Lithuanian camps: their hopes, tragedies, and above all their defiant engagement with life itself.

The Shoah Songbook Part Two: Kovno/Vilna will be presented on January 27th, at 7:30PM ET through https://www.hgjewishtheatre.com/. The performance is free for all attendees, tickets are available now.

Note: Content may be sensitive for some audiences.

About Part Two: Kovno/Vilna

Jaclyn Grossman, Soprano and Curator

Nate Ben-Horin, Pianist and Curator

Ilan Waldman & Madison Matthews, Creative Directors

Ryan Harper, Audio Engineer

Catalog

Oyfn Pripetchik, Mark Warshawsky

Schwerer abend, Edwin Geist, arr: Nate Ben-Horin

Seeballade, Edwin Geist, arr: Nate Ben-Horin

Ein Traum, Percy Haid, arr: Nate Ben-Horin

Zingt un Tantst in Ridelekh, unknown, arr: Nate Ben-Horin

Dynamik des Frühlings, Edwin Geist, arr: Nate Ben-Horin

Friling, Shmerke Kaczerginski, Abraham Brudno, arr: Nate Ben-Horin