Chamber Music Society gives voice to composers lost to the Holocaust
Chamber Music Society gives voice to composers lost to the Holocaust
Sunday performance will feature pieces written by composers murdered during the Holocaust.
Thanks to sponsor Stuart & Branigin for ongoing support to help make this edition of the Based in Lafayette reporting project possible.
Five composers – four who were murdered or died during the Holocaust, another who survived the Nazi concentration camps during World War II – will be featured Sunday in a Holocaust Remembrance concert by the Tippecanoe Chamber Music Society.
Among the string trios and quartets for the afternoon at St. John’s Episcopal Church in downtown Lafayette are those written under Nazi persecution by Hans Krása, Viktor Ullman, Zikmund Schul, Gideon Klein and Simon Laks, assembled for a performance that coincides with the Greater Lafayette Holocaust Remembrance Conference.
Amy Brandfonbrener, artistic director for the Tippecanoe Chamber Music Society, offered this ahead of Sunday’s concert.
Question: How did the theme for this concert come about, tied to composers lost in the Holocaust?
Amy Brandfonbrener: I have friends around the country who have performed a piece here and there, and I was interested in trying to do an entire performance of works.
Question: Tell me how you assembled the pieces for this concert.
Amy Brandfonbrener: I went online to see where the pieces might be obtained and found through Yad Vashem (The World Holocaust Remembrance Center) that there is Terezin Music Memorial Project that has published some of our music, and others I found through more traditional publications of music.
Question: Students at Southwestern Middle School, under a Gedalyah Engel Education Award, had a performance last year with a similar theme. Is there any connection with that?
Amy Brandfonbrener: After I decided to program this concert, I contacted the Greater Lafayette Holocaust Remembrance Conference and am now on the board, so I am aware, after the fact, of last year’s concert at Southwestern Middle School. The Greater Lafayette Holocaust Remembrance Conference has been generous in including us in their advertising for this year’s conference and Rebekah Klein-Pejsova has kindly agreed to speak briefly before the concert.
Question: Have the circumstances the composers faced affected how you have approached these pieces as you prepare?
Amy Brandfonbrener: As far as the composers circumstances affecting our preparation, I think we always try to respectfully honor a composers intent but maybe even more so with this concert. Since there is little performance history, none of us have heard any of these pieces performed before. And usually when one is learning new repertoire, there are either the composers themselves to contact or a rich tradition, including recordings and performances to reference. We have been very careful to not correct what may be mi prints, unless we are very convinced of a mistake in the part, and we are observing every small musical marking since the composer is unavailable to clarify intent.
Question: What other context should the audience know as it settles in for the performance?
Amy Brandfonbrener: I think the audience should enjoy what is some amazing music. Each work has a distinct voice and viewpoint, and while the music itself should be heard and celebrated, one can still be shocked and devastated to hear what the world lost in this small sampling of artistic talent that was ended before its full flowering and time.
IF YOU GO: The Tippecanoe Chamber Music Society performance will feature Amy Brandfonbrener, viola; Regan Eckstein, violin; Margot Marlatt, cello; and Allison Nyquist, violin. The concert will be at 4 p.m. Sunday, April 16, at St. John’s Episcopal Church, 600 Ferry St. in Lafayette. Tickets: $15 for adults, $5 for college students, free for K-12 students. Tickets will be available at the door or in advance at store.tippecanoechambermusic.org.
A RELATED NOTE/EVENT: The Greater Lafayette Holocaust Remembrance Conference will host “Stars Without a Heaven,” a photographic exhibit from Yad Vashem, from 5-8 p.m. Tuesday, April 18, at the West Lafayette Public Library to mark Holocaust Remembrance Week. The exhibit features photographs looking at the experiences of children during the Holocaust. Lafayette Mayor Tony Roswarski and West Lafayette Mayor John Dennis will proclaim the start of Holocaust Remembrance week in the community during a 6 p.m. ceremony at the library, 208 W. Columbia St.
OTHER READS …
JUDGE AGREES TO MOVE DELPHI MURDER SUSPECT: Where Richard Allen – a 50-year-old Delphi man charged in the 2017 murders of Delphi teens Abby Williams and Libby German – will wind up wasn’t clear Friday. But Special Judge Fran Gull ordered that Allen could be moved from the segregation unit he was in at Westville Correctional Facility, after his attorneys said Allen’s mental and physical health were rapidly deteriorating as he awaits trial. In an order Friday, Gull left Allen’s placement up to the Department of Correction.
Allen’s attorneys filed an emergency motion, hoping to move him to the Cass County Jail – about 20 minutes from Delphi – to keep him closer to his defense team and hoping that the change in conditions could keep him stable enough to prepare for trial. The Carroll County sheriff requested to move Allen to another facility for safe keeping, given the amount of public interest in the case.
Carroll County Prosecutor Nick McLeland filed a response late this week to the request to move Allen to Cass County, but the document as locked from public view in online court filings.
Here's more on the motion, the murders and the case: “Attorney: Delphi murder suspect breaking down from ‘prisoner of war’ conditions. Emergency motion asks to move Richard Allen from state prison to a county jail as he awaits trial on 2017 murders of Delphi teens Abby Williams and Libby German.”
Allen is next expected in court for a hearing for June 15 in Carroll Circuit Court, with an additional day on June 16, if needed, to hear arguments about whether to grant him bail. Attorneys are expected to discuss a potential trial date in June, as well.
BOMB THREATS AT SCHOOLS ACROSS INDIANA: Greater Lafayette schools reported nothing of the kind, but dozens of districts took precautions Friday after bomb threats were made across the state. WFYI reporters Dylan Peers McCoy, Eric Weddle and Elizabeth Gabriel had this look at the situation: “Bomb threats close dozens of Indiana schools for in-person instruction.”
NRA IN INDY: With former President Donald Trump, former vice president and Indiana governor Mike Pence and others on hand, here’s some of the coverage of Friday’s opening of the NRA conference in Indianapolis:
WBAA reporter Ben Thorp and WFYI reporter Lee V. Gaines combined for this: “Trump, Pence and others express opposition to gun control at NRA conference.”
Politico and Importantville reporter Adam Wren: “The 2024 gun debate is already over.”
IndyStar reporter Brittany Carloni: “Takeaways from Donald Trump's remarks at the 2023 NRA convention in Indianapolis.”
Again, IndyStar reporter Brittany Carloni: “Takeaways from former Vice President Mike Pence's speech at the NRA convention.”
From Indiana Capital Chronicle reporter Casey Smith: “Donald Trump talks gun rights — but not his criminal charges — at NRA convention.”
AFTER THE FIRE: The investigation continues into a fire that destroyed three homes and damaged two others Wednesday morning on Wilmington Circle, just east of Lafayette. (From that first day: “LFD: Proximity contributed to fire that spread to 5 homes.”) The J&C pulled together a video, assembled from doorbell cameras, documenting the spread of that fire and the firefighters’ response. Here’s a link to the video.
Thanks, again, to Stuart & Branigin for sponsoring today’s edition.
THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING BASED IN LAFAYETTE, AN INDEPENDENT, LOCAL REPORTING PROJECT. FREE AND FULL-RIDE SUBSCRIPTION OPTIONS ARE READY FOR YOU HERE.
Tips, story ideas? I’m at davebangert1@gmail.com. Like and follow Based in Lafayette on Facebook: Based in Lafayette