Remembrance & Hope
Saturday, November 15, 2008, 8 pm
Concert Conversation at 7 pm
Ted Mann Concert Hall
2128 Fourth Street South, Minneapolis

Tickets: $20, $30, $40 (Service charges may apply. Student and partial view tickets are half price. Group discounts are available.) To order, call 612-371-5656 (800-292-4141) or purchase online at vocalessence.org

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. (August 18, 2008) – The personal testimony of fifteen Holocaust survivors comes to life in Kaddish: Music of Remembrance and Hope, a new work by Lawrence Siegel. Artistic Director Philip Brunelle leads the VocalEssence Chorus and soloists Maria Jette, Krista J. Palmquist, Jason Collins, and James Bohn in the world premiere of this inspirational composition that culminates in a message of hope and peace. Highlights from a new authorized edition of Leonard Bernstein’s Mass for chorus, chamber orchestra, tenor soloist and narrator will also be featured.

Remembrance & Hope takes place on Saturday, November 15, 2008 (8 pm) at Ted Mann Concert Hall in Minneapolis. Minnesota Public Radio’s John Birge will host a Concert Conversation at 7 pm, immediately prior to the performance, with composer Lawrence Siegel and Holocaust survivor Dr. Sabina Zimering. For tickets and information, call 612-371-5656 (800-292-4141) or visit www.vocalessence.org/kaddish.

Named for the Jewish prayer for the dead, Lawrence Siegel’s Kaddish: Music of Remembrance and Hope conveys the stories of Holocaust survivors in their own words, providing a window into their experiences. The work incorporates elements of folk music, weaving in themes and melodies suggestive of klezmer and other musical traditions. In both words and music, Kaddish: Music of Remembrance and Hope illustrates a specific moment in history while illuminating the Holocaust as a profound human tragedy—one whose implications extend beyond the Jewish experience to concern all people everywhere. While promoting mutual understanding and empathy between and among all faiths and cultures, the composition culminates in a message of hope and peace.

“What Kaddish has given me the opportunity to do is weave together most of the strands that make up my life,” says composer Lawrence Siegel. “I am Jewish; I am a composer; and also, I have a lot of experience creating text from interviews. All of these factors have come to bear in creating this work.”

Kaddish: Music of Remembrance and Hope was commissioned by the Cohen Center for Holocaust Studies at Keene State College in Keene, New Hampshire to honor the Center’s 25th Anniversary. Additional information can be found at www.kaddishproject.org. This performance is dedicated to the memory of Dr. Stephen Feinstein, the late director of the University of Minnesota’s Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies; the late U.S. Congressman Tom Lantos, who was the only Holocaust survivor to have served in the U.S. Congress; and Raoul Wallenberg, a Swedish diplomat who assisted in rescuing thousands of Jews from the Holocaust during World War II.

For press information and photographs related to Remembrance & Hope, please contact Jennifer Bauer (612-547-1459, jbauer@vocalessence.org) or visit the press section of www.vocalessence.org.