Compositions by students supervised by Hendrik Hofmeyr and Hans Roosenschoon, part of the Cape 'Out of the Shadows' festival, 2017

Genre	Concert performance

New Songs from the Jewish Archive: Looking forward through the past

New compositions by students of Hendrik Hofmeyr and Hans Roosenschoon, featuring Minette du Toit Pearce and Jolene McCleland

Tuesday 12 September 13:10, Fismer Hall, Stellenbosch Konservatorium

Friday 15 September 13:10, Baxter Concert Hall, Cape Town

Programme

Conrad Asman, Schlimme Zeit (Bad Time)

Kelsey K. Müller, Strauss Cabarets

Jesse Dreyer, Among people

Carlie Schoonees, Denkmal für die ermordeten Juden Europas (Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe)

Natali Frenz, Ek en jy (Me and you)

Leonore Bredekamp, Brocken: Fragments/Morsels: Stories of hope and defiance from the Holocaust: Cooking with the mouth/The singing train

Michael James Graham, Die letzte Zigarette (The last cigarette)

Matthew Pratt, Bad Time

Performers

Farida Bacharova (violin)

Peter Martens (cello)

Sulayman Human (piano)

Daniel Prozesky (clarinet)

Minette du Toit-Pearce (mezzo soprano)

Jolene McCleland (soprano)

Out of the Shadows focuses predominantly on Jewish culture rescued from the shadows of past loss and suppression. But the project is also motivated by a desire to stimulate new compositions and theatrical works that draw upon that rich heritage, looking forward through the past, creating a new Jewish cultural archive for the future.

Building on the discoveries of the Performing the Jewish Archive team, some of the finest student composers from the South African College of Music and Stellenbosch Konservatorium present newly-composed vocal works based on research emerging from the project. These fresh creations add a new layer to our understanding of the legacy of the Holocaust for current and future generations, both Jewish and non-Jewish. Suffering may be specific and individual, but reflection and the desire to learn from history must be universal; the current global political and societal climate, dangerously redolent of the ‘Schlimme Zeit’ that both opens and concludes this concert, surely renders this message as vital to humanity now as it has ever been.

Prof. Hendrik Hofmeyr: “Performing the Jewish Archive has created a wonderful opportunity for young South African composers to explore and interact with the rich and multi-layered cultural legacy left to us by the victims of one of humankind’s greatest tragedies. I am sure the concerts will help to raise awareness of this legacy, and will help to remind us that even the most terrible persecution cannot crush the human spirit.”

Prof. Hans Roosenschoon: “Let our mindfulness and being in the world never be silenced again by inhumane annihilation. Let us listen to others ...”