N.Y. church hold performance dedicated to Women’s Orchestra of Birkenau
St. John the Divine, the largest Anglican cathedral in North America, has invited the nonprofit choral ensemble Ars Choralis to perform on March 28th. “Music In Desperate Times: Remembering The Women’s Orchestra of Birkenau” is based on memoirs and histories of survivors of the only women’s orchestra to play in WWII concentration camps. The story is told through readings, choral music and representative orchestral music played in the camps (Schumann, Chopin, Puccini and traditional music). In exchange for their survival, female prisoners at Birkenau performed in an orchestra formed by the S.S. There were 54 women in the orchestra during its year-and-a-half existence, and all but the conductor survived. Tickets can be purchased HERE. For more information on “Music in Desperate Times”, contact Rebecca Shapiro rshapiro@shorefire.com.
