Eastman School of Music faculty members, students and alumni will join the worldwide observance of Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day) by presenting a concert titled “A Time to Remember” on Sunday, April 16, 2023, at 7:30 p.m. in Kilbourn Hall. The concert features music written by those who perished or survived the World War II concentration and work camps, as well as music written in tribute to those who died, curated by Wegman Family Professor of Violin Renée Jolles.
The program will include a Rochester premiere; Victoria Bond’s Sorrows Springs are the Same, first performed in January 2023 by Renée Jolles at the United Nations’ International Holocaust Remembrance Day ceremony, for which it was written. Jolles will perform the piece for a second time at Eastman, and Bond will be present at the concert to read the poetry upon which her piece is based.
This series of annual concerts was launched in 2014 by Jolles in honor of her father, Jerome Jolles, who buried bodies as part of a work detail in Romania during the Nazi occupation. He survived and came to the United States, where he finished his studies at Juilliard in music performance and composition. A virtuoso accordion player, piano teacher, and composer, Mr. Jolles died in January 2014.
“My father was the kind of Holocaust survivor who rarely spoke about his wartime experiences. Rather, he encouraged us to look toward a bright future filled with love, humor and hope,” shares Professor Jolles. “However, with anti-Semitism, bigotry and hatred on the rise, it is more important than ever to learn from lessons of the past. By remembering the staggering loss of human potential, and glimpsing the genius and humanity of those whose lives were tragically cut short, we can find the energy and willpower needed to combat hate today.”
This year’s concert program consists of:
- Sonata for Clarinet and Piano by Mieczysław Weinberg: Michael Wayne, clarinet, and Andrew Harley, piano
- String Quartet by Rosy Wertheim: Mikhail Kopelman and Yoojin Jang, violins, Joshua Newburger, viola, and Ahrim Kim, cello
- Suite Dansante en Jazz by Erwin Schulhoff: Marina Lomazov, piano,
- Sorrows Springs are the Same by Victoria Bond: Renée Jolles, violin, Victoria Bond, narration
- Songs by Viktor Ullmann: Elise Noyes ‘22E (MM), voice, and Rebecca Golub ‘17E, piano
“A Time to Remember…” is free and open to the public. To learn more about this concert, and other events taking place at Eastman, visit our Concerts and Events Calendar.
Media only: Lauren Sageer, Assistant Director of Public Relations and Digital Content,
(585) 451-8492, lsageer@esm.rochester.edu
###
About Eastman School of Music:
The Eastman School of Music was founded in 1921 by industrialist and philanthropist George Eastman (1854-1932), founder of Eastman Kodak Company. It was the first professional school of the University of Rochester. Mr. Eastman’s dream was that his school would provide a broad education in the liberal arts as well as superb musical training.
More than 900 students are enrolled in the Collegiate Division of the Eastman School of Music—about 500 undergraduates and 400 graduate students. They come from almost every state, and approximately 23 percent are from other countries. They are taught by a faculty comprised of more than 130 highly regarded performers, composers, conductors, scholars, and educators. They are Pulitzer Prize winners, Grammy winners, Emmy winners, Guggenheim fellows, ASCAP Award recipients, published authors, recording artists, and acclaimed musicians who have performed in the world’s greatest concert halls. Each year, Eastman’s students, faculty members, and guest artists present more than 900 concerts to the Rochester community. Additionally, more than 1,700 members of the Rochester community, from young children through senior citizens, are enrolled in the Eastman Community Music School.
About the University of Rochester:
The University of Rochester is one of the nation’s leading private research universities, one of only 62-member institutions in the Association of American Universities. Located in Rochester, N.Y., the University gives undergraduates exceptional opportunities for interdisciplinary study and close collaboration with faculty through its unique cluster-based curriculum. Its College, School of Arts and Sciences, and Hajim School of Engineering and Applied Sciences are complemented by the Eastman School of Music, Simon School of Business, Warner School of Education, Laboratory for Laser Energetics, School of Medicine and Dentistry, School of Nursing, Eastman Institute for Oral Health, and the Memorial Art Gallery.