Virginia and Norman Bobins and Karyn and Bill Silverstein have been named chairs of the Jewish Federation's gala presentation of "Defiant Requiem: Verdi at Terezin
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which makes its Chicago premiere Thursday, March 23, at Symphony Center in Chicago.
The powerful production is a one-time effort to raise significant funds to benefit the Federation's Holocaust Community Services program; 100 percent of the proceeds will benefit this critical program to serve Holocaust survivors in need.
Sponsorship opportunities are available now. For more information, call Rachel Sternberg at (312) 444-2893.
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Defiant Requiem," created and conducted by Maestro Murry Sidlin, is the story of how, in the depths of the Holocaust, within the notorious Terezin (Theresienstadt) concentration camp, one man's dream gave birth to an unparalleled act of defiance.
The multi-media production, complete with full concert choir and orchestra, commemorates the courageous Jewish prisoners who-with little or no prior musical training-learned, mastered, and performed Verdi's "Requiem Mass" as a statement of defiance and resistance.
It brings to life the tale of Raphael Schächter, a young conductor deported to Terezin from Prague, who was the force and inspiration behind the performances. From a single smuggled score, he taught a choir of 150 Jewish inmates the two-hour requiem by rote. Despite suffering from hunger, disease, and forced labor, the prisoners performed the famous oratorio 16 times in the camp-including one concert before senior SS officials and a Red Cross delegation.
When sung by prisoners rather than worshippers, the words of the requiem became a condemnation of the Nazis. Confronting their captors face to face, these Jews sang to the Nazis what they could not say.
In retelling the events, "Defiant Requiem" features a complete performance of the Verdi Requiem, combined with elements of on-stage drama, video interviews and authentic film from the era. The Chicago production features actors Jeremy Piven and Tovah Feldshuh, the Chicago Philharmonic Orchestra, the Chicago Vocal Artists Ensemble, soprano Jennifer Check, mezzo-soprano Ann McMahon Quintero, tenor Zach Borichevsky, and bass Nathan Stark.
Tickets go on sale in January.
Since its debut in 2002, some 65,000 people have experienced Defiant Requiem, which has been performed across the U.S. and around the globe, most notably in New York, Boston, Washington, D.C., Budapest, Prague, Berlin, Jerusalem-and on the grounds of Terezín.
The Federation's Holocaust Community Services program provides safety-net services to rescue local Holocaust survivors from material and social poverty. Holocaust Community Services delivers food, medical care, dental care, financial aid, and in-home care to Holocaust survivors in need, and creates a sense of extended family and community through regular socialization opportunities and weekly support groups. Every month, the number of survivors diminishes, but the needs of those who remain continue to grow. Holocaust Community Services must increase its resources today to ensure that Chicago's Holocaust survivors can live in comfort and dignity tomorrow.
