JTS in the Berkshires presents:
Verdi in Terezin: A Composer’s Inspiration
Dr. Gerald Cohen, Assistant Professor, H. L. Miller Cantorial School, Jewish Theological Seminary
Lecture and Performance

The Nazis allowed a measure of art and education to take place in Terezin, both as a way of occupying the prisoners and to deceive the world as to the nature of concentration camps. Composer and cantor Gerald Cohen will tell the story of a determined group of prisoners in Terezin and their performance of Verdi’s Requiem under the direction of the dynamic conductor Rafael Schachter. Cohen will explore the significance of the Verdi Requiem at Terezin and discuss his own composition for string quartet, Playing For Our Lives, which was written as a tribute to the Terezin prisoners and which draws upon the Verdi as inspiration. Will include a musical performance by the Pittsfield High School String Quartet.