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JANUARY'S KADDISH A COMMUNITY CALL TO ACTION
Rochester, NY - The Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO) kicks off the New Year with a very special concert event, Kaddish - "I am Here," on Thursday, January 15, 2015 at 7:30 p.m. in Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre. Tickets start at $15/$10 for students.

Kaddish, named for the Jewish prayer for the dead, is a one-hour cycle of 15 original songs for orchestra, chorus and vocal soloists. It was commissioned in 2005 by the Cohen Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Keene State College (NH) to commemorate its 25th anniversary. Dividing the work into three sections - The World Before, The Holocaust, and Tikkun Olam ("Repair the World") - composer Lawrence Siegel also created the libretto, drawn primarily from his first-hand interviews with Holocaust survivors and sung in Hebrew, English and German. The score also incorporates elements of folk songs and Klezmer music (traditional Jewish music, originating in Eastern Europe). This choral masterpiece is intended to raise awareness of genocide as an ongoing global crisis, and was described by the Houston Examiner as "sweet, shocking, melancholy, uplifting, horrific, and finally, powerfully triumphant." Please visit kaddishproject.net for more information.

Led by guest conductor Eugene Tzigane, Kaddish will feature a 165-voice community chorus made up of Rochester Oratorio Society (Eric Townell, director) singers as well as vocalists from area temples. Vocal soloists are Rebecca Shorstein (soprano), Carla Dirlikov (mezzo-soprano), Dominic Armstrong (tenor) and John Moore (baritone).

The concert coincides with the 70th anniversary of the Allied Forces liberation of the World War II Nazi concentration camps, and will open with Mieczyslaw Weinberg's Sinfonietta No. 1, Op. 41. Weinberg, a Polish Jew, lost most of his family in the Trawniki concentration camp. Following the Weinberg piece, award-winning composer Siegel himself will participate in a brief discussion onstage prior to the Rochester debut of his work.

"A window is closing. As the youngest Holocaust survivors now approach their nineties, it is more important than ever to hear their stories," says Siegel. "I hope that Kaddish, by singing the actual words of Holocaust survivors, will provide a living link from those who actually remember this uniquely tragic chapter of human history, to those who will only know of it as history. May the work create empathy, and may that empathy motivate those who hear it to take a stand against genocide."

The approximately 50 local Holocaust survivors will be invited to attend this third of the 2014/15 season's Special Concerts free of charge. Additionally, the RPO recently coordinated a roundtable discussion with leaders in the Jewish community to discuss education and outreach opportunities; dates for these events will be announced soon. Kaddish sponsors are the Max and Marian Farash Charitable Foundation, the William and Sheila Konar Foundation, Elise and Stephen Rosenfeld, Sarah D. Atkinson, M.D. and Steven Hess.

Except where noted, tickets for all of the above concerts start at $23, and may be purchased in person at the Eastman Theatre Box Office (433 East Main Street) and at all Wegmans That's T.H.E. Ticket! locations, by phone at (585) 454-2100, or online at rpo.org. The 2014/15 season is presented by Dawn & Jacques Lipson.

Personal Reflection on Kaddish by Dr. Robert Karp (Larry's Uncle Bob)
I had the privilege of being at the first performance of Larry's Holocaust Cantata, "Kaddish" in Houston.

It's worth mentioning the venue. The Houston Philharmonic is a world-class orchestra playing in a world-class auditorium, Jones Hall. The house was full, which I guess was over 2,000 people. The concert begins with the melody of a children's song "Oif Pripichik brent a feurl" -- There's a fire in the hearth -- In a Coplandesque modality. Are we in for a grand time with Appalachian ballads and Rodeo? No we are not. The first section draws on the rich, often painful, sometimes joyous or even humor-tinged experience of the Jews in middle Europe in the years before the rise of racial Anti-semitism. One fellow recounts his pre war experience of playing with his gentile friends Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. On Sunday, the boys heard that the Jews killed Jesus and beat him up, but by Tuesday they were friends again. Who knows which of these friends followed the friendship by hiding playmates and which were co-opted into silence and which became active killers?

The pre war experiences end with a rich Brahmsian song, "Mother earth. This is followed by cacophony which was a part of all of the horrific scenarios in the middle section. I must have blocked out some because on re-hearing on SymphonyCast, I barely remembered the first hearing. For example, there is a horrific ode to the German killers with the words of Heinrich Himmler "You are all good fellows...." Will they even be able to perform this in contemporary Germany? [Editor's note: Germany and Austria have actually been exemplary in confronting the Holocaust; I will never forget seeing a group of Germans who had come to see Auschwitz who knelt in prayer in front of one of the barracks.]

Have you ever been in a tin-roofed hut with an approaching thunderstorm? That's the experience of the last piece of that cycle. You hear a name, a birth date, and city and a year of death in a place. Another singer gives another name and then the singers multiply in number until all one hears is a thunder of a storm. Conductor Graf actually led the chorus and orchestra (only voices, no music) so that the sounds came in waves. And then they died out.

The next thing you heard was the bass-baritone chanting the Kaddish. He was said to have been in bad voice though I would not have known it.

The final section is quite short. Like a fine novel, the cantata actually reaches its end with the pentultimate chapter, a setting of an aphorism of Nachman of Bratslav "A heart that is broken must be healed." Here's what I came up with from the web:

"It would be very good to be brokenhearted all day, but for the average person, this can easily degenerate into depression. You should therefore set aside some time each day for heartbreak. You should isolate yourself before God with a broken heart for a given time. But the rest of the day should be joyful."

The finale, "I am here," is quite moving; however it is an after the fact observation. "The heart that is broken must be healed" is the message for those seeking to survive the after-effects, that is live on, after catastrophe.

SymphonyCast Broadcasts Kaddish Monday, November 29th through Sunday, December 5th!
On November 23rd there were two performances of Kaddish in its new full orchestra version by the Houston Symphony. You now have the opportunity to hear this wonderful performance broadcast this week. The concert features Hans Graf conducting the Houston Symphony and Houston Symphony Chorus, with soloists Jessica Rivera, soprano, Margaret Lattimore, mezzo-soprano, Chad Shelton, tenor, and James Maddalena, baritone. Check the list of stations around the US that will air SymphonyCast and mark your calendar. You can also listen online anytime.

Kaddish on the Verge!
As Kaddish gets ready for its prime time performance by the Houston Symphony and Houston Symphony Chorus, with a stellar group of soloists conducted by Maestro Hans Graf, check out this feature article in the Sunday, November 21st Houston Chronicle.

And check back often with us in coming weeks and months as we roll out plans for the September 8th, 2011 performance of Kaddish by the Jerusalem Symphony, and more!

Kaddish on Performance Today
On Tuesday April 21, 2009, Yom Ha Shoah, Performance Today, the nationally syndicated classical music radio program, presented selections from a major new choral work: Kaddish, written and composed by Lawrence Siegel. For a limited period you may listen online at the Performance Today Archives.

Kaddish is an hour-long oratorio for chorus, soloists and chamber orchestra, whose libretto is fashioned from the testimony of survivors of the Holocaust. Kaddish tells their stories in their own words, providing a window into their lives, allowing us to share their experience directly. As the youngest of the survivors approach their eighties and nineties, this window is beginning to close. Kaddish will allow us to hear their voices forever.

The world premiere of Kaddish took place in Minneapolis, MN, on November 15th, 2008, given by VocalEssence, under Philip Brunelle. On November 18th, 2010, a full symphonic version will be premiered by the Houston Symphony and Houston Symphony Chorus. In the period leading up to that performance, a series of significant workshops and presentations will feature the composer and Holocaust survivors. These activities will be produced by Holocaust Museum Houston in partnership with the Houston Symphony.

Performance Today features live concerts by famous artists in concert halls around the globe, and is one of America's most popular classical music radio programs, with more than 1.2 million weekly listeners on 237 stations around the country. To find your local station and airtime, go to: http://performancetoday.publicradio.org/stations/

Of the premiere performance of Kaddish, the Minneapolis Star Tribune said: "... In its lyrical simplicity, the music created an emotional connection to the story. Kaddish had a gravitas and an emotional immediacy that made even the familiar story of the Holocaust fresh and compelling." The Minnesota Pioneer Press said: "... Joy of a kind born in resiliency emerges like a glow of white light in the final section of Lawrence Siegel's oratorio ... the impact of the conclusion is thrilling."

Kaddish was commissioned by the Cohen Center for Holocaust Studies at Keene State College, Keene, NH, one of the nation's oldest Holocaust Resource Centers, in honor of its 25th anniversary. The Center has been recognized as a "Center of Excellence" by the Jewish Foundation for the Righteous. It boasts a strong collection of print and media resources and supports a minor in Holocaust Studies at Keene State College.

Kaddish is bringing together a growing group of supporters, friends, and ambassadors, whose common purpose is to use this work of music to raise awareness of the issue of genocide; to take part in an act of tikkun olam (repairing the world). Kaddish hopes to accomplish this work by engendering empathy, not only for survivors of the Holocaust, but for survivors of genocide and oppression everywhere.

For more information about Kaddish please contact the publisher: Larilea 128 Paine Rd. Westmoreland, NH 03467 603-355-8353
larry@tricinium.com

Kaddish World Premiere
November 15, 2008
VocalEssence, conducted by Philip Brunelle,
Lawrence Siegel, Composer
Minneapolis, MN – The World Premiere of "Kaddish", took place November 15, 2008 as part of the 40th anniversary season of VocalEssence, conducted by Philip Brunelle, featuring soprano Maria Jette, mezzo Krista J. Palmquist, tenor Anders Eckman and bass-baritone James Bohn.

Interest is building around the world- in Houston, Texas, Toronto, Canada, Copenhagen, Denmark, Jerusalem, Israel, and many other places- in hosting performances of "Kaddish."

As Ambassador Richard Swett offered, after the May 3 debut: "I am so impressed and proud of what you have done. The breadth of the impact it will have I predict will be global, but the piece itself possesses a humility and optimism that is unlike any other piece on the holocaust....[T]his piece was one of the most impacting pieces I have ever heard. The libretto was so real it was palpable."

The Kaddish project is proud to invite you to witness this work for yourself. Please contact us with your thoughts, or just to be kept informed.



Pre-performance video interview by 3minuteegg

read the brochure [2 MB PDF]

 

Debut Performance of Kaddish conducted by Lawrence Siegel, Composer
May 3, 2008 at 8pm
Redfern Arts Center
Keene State College
After much anticipation, Kaddish debuted as a sold-out performance to nearly 600 people.  Preceded by a benefit dinner to support the Cohen Center for Holocaust Studies at Keene State College, the evening was graced by Holocaust survivors, community leaders, dignitaries, and Holocaust scholars from across the country.  The music and words captivated hearts and minds, and audience members spoke of Kaddish as being spellbinding, intriguing, and full of hope as well as humility. 

Please visit our photo gallery of the May 3rd Kaddish debut.

 

Yankee Magazine highlights Kaddish in their May/June 2008 edition
Song cycle on Holocaust opens world tour in New Hampshire by Justin Shatwell

read the feature article

 

Larry Siegel interview on NPR
The Kaddish libretto uses the words of Holocaust survivors as they remember the horror and tragedy of that dark page of human history. Larry Siegel gives Word of Mouth host Virginia Prescott a preview of the piece.

listen to the interview on nhpr

 

NH Union Leader: A Prayer for the Dead
New Hampshire composer Lawerence Siegel unveils work that honors Holocaust victims, celebrates survivors.

April 24, 2008, Keene, NH --The Westmoreland composer was asked by the Cohen Center for Holocaust Studies to create a piece called “Kaddish,” a term that refers to a Jewish prayer recited as part of the mourning rituals at funerals and on the anniversary of the death of a loved one.

for entire article download pdf file