The Kaddish Project

Debut Performance
of Kaddish conducted by Lawrence Siegel, Composer
May 3, 2008 at 8pm
Redfern Arts Center
Keene State College
After much anticipation, Kaddish debuted as a sold-out performance to nearly 600 people. Preceded by a benefit dinner to support the Cohen Center for Holocaust Studies at Keene State College, the evening was graced by Holocaust survivors, community leaders, dignitaries, and Holocaust scholars from across the country. The music and words captivated hearts and minds, and audience members spoke of Kaddish as being spellbinding, intriguing, and full of hope as well as humility.

Please visit our website again soon for a photo gallery of the May 3rd Kaddish debut and testimonials.

World Premiere of Kaddish conducted by Philip Brunelle
November 15, 2008
Minneapolis, MN, as part of the 40th anniversary season of VocalEssence
Founded in 1969 under the name Plymouth Music Series, VocalEssence is recognized internationally for innovative exploration of music for voices and instruments. Each year the organization presents an engaging collection of concerts featuring the 120-voice VocalEssence Chorus and the 32-voice Ensemble Singers along with soloists and instrumentalists. Led by founder and artistic director, Philip Brunelle, there is no organization quite like VocalEssence in its range, variety and quality of performance.
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With words taken directly from interviews with survivors of the Holocaust, Kaddish is an innovative, engaging, and inspiring new work for chorus, soloists and chamber orchestra by Lawrence Siegel. Kaddish is intended to raise awareness and address the issue of genocide as an ongoing global crisis. By singing the actual words of Holocaust survivors, Kaddish creates empathy in its audience. With its passionate story of the redemptive power of the simple virtues of daily living, Kaddish motivates its audience to take a stand against genocide.

The Kaddish Project was created to bring attention to the intentional and systematic destruction of individuals and entire cultures throughout the world. Kaddish consists of fifteen movements for chorus, soloists and chamber orchestra based on firsthand testimonies of Holocaust survivors. It illustrates a specific moment in history while illuminating the Holocaust as a profound human tragedy - one whose implications extend beyond the Jewish experience to concern all people everywhere.

Kaddish was commissioned by the Cohen Center for Holocaust Studies at Keene State College to commemorate its 25th anniversary and to follow its mission, "To remember and to teach." Through words and music, Kaddish speaks to our shared responsibility as human beings to respond to prejudice, hatred and injustice wherever we encounter it.

Your tax-deductible financial donations will make it possible to continue teaching the facts and lessons of the Holocaust, motivating successive generations to recognize an ethical responsibility to respond to prejudice and hatred.
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Kaddish Project • Cohen Center for Holocaust Studies
Keene State College • 229 Main Street • Keene, New Hampshire 03435-2701 • 603-358-2300