Music Preserves Stories Nazis Tried to Erase
Pages from Vedem, a secret magazine created by child prisoners in the Holocaust / courtesy of Terezín Memorial Museum
“This music kept me alive...”
Music of Remembrance’s Art From Ashes honors International Holocaust Remembrance Day
Northwest Boychoir joins MOR for a concert centered on the boys of Terezín – and the creative inspiration that helped them endure imprisonment
Seattle • January 26, 2026
SEATTLE, WA – January 7, 2026 – Music of Remembrance’s 2026 Art From Ashes concert shines a light on the boys of Terezín, whose covert creativity preserved a sense of identity and hope under Nazi imprisonment. Presented on January 26 at 5:30pm at Benaroya Hall in recognition of International Holocaust Remembrance Day, the program centers on the creative works that helped these teenage prisoners endure.
In the early 1940s, a group of adolescent boys imprisoned in Terezín created a weekly magazine, filling it with original poems, stories, and drawings that documented their lives – and shared their dreams of a better world. They produced Vedem (“In the Lead” in Czech) in secret for more than two years. As deportations intensified, the children were sent to extermination camps. One boy buried all 800 pages of their work, ensuring the magazine survived – though most of its creators did not. Decades later, these writings became the foundation of Lori Laitman and David Mason’s oratorio Vedem, commissioned by MOR in 2010 and returning as the centerpiece of this year’s Art From Ashes concert.
The boys also created an imaginary nation they called the Republic of Shkid, complete with its own flag, emblem, and anthem. The idea bonded more than 100 teenagers who passed through their makeshift classroom, only a few of whom survived the war. Four of those survivors reunited at Music of Remembrance’s premiere of Vedem – and shared the Republic’s idealistic anthem with MOR Artistic Director Mina Miller. This year’s Art From Ashes concert will feature the first concert performance of “The Anthem of the Republic of Shkid,” revealing another piece of the creative world these boys built as an act of resistance and survival.
Among the survivors was Emil Kopel, who shared a memory with Miller – a simple melody he had never forgotten. Kopel believed that humming this tune had kept him alive during the 70-kilometer death march from Buchenwald. When he sang it for Miller decades later, she immediately recognized it as Dvořák’s Humoresque. The work appears on this year’s program in Kopel’s honor.
“I still get goosebumps when I think of Emil humming that melody over and over,” said Miller. “The music gave him the strength to keep trudging in the freezing cold, even as people collapsed all around him. Meeting all four survivors was a profound honor, and with this concert, we remember their courage and resilience.”
MOR is also offering free streaming of the 2011 documentary The Boys of Terezín from January 20-31, 2026. Directed by Emmy Award-winning journalist John Sharify, the film traces the creation of the boys’ secret magazine and captures the reunion of four surviving contributors at Music of Remembrance’s 2010 world premiere of Vedem. It also follows Northwest Boychoir, which sang in that premiere and returns for this year’s performance, connecting a new generation of young choristers with the brutal history endured by boys their own age.
“It matters that young people tell this story,” said Jordan Smith, a Northwest Boychoir alumnus. “When we performed Vedem at the premiere, it brought home that these boys were our age. Remembering them is part of making sure their world isn’t forgotten.”
Art From Ashes
Monday, January 26, 2026 @ 5:30pm
Humoresque by Antonin Dvořák
with Rachel Jung, violin (2025 David Tonkonogui Memorial Award Recipient)
“Anthem of the Republic of Shkid” by Karel Hašler
with Northwest Boychoir led by Jacob Winkler
MOR Commission: Vedem by Lori Laitman and David Mason
with Northwest Boychoir; Vanessa Isiguen, soprano; and Martin Bakari, tenor
MOR Chamber Ensemble: Mikhail Shmidt, violin; Laura DeLuca, clarinet; Eric Han, cello; Cristina Valdes, piano
Benaroya Hall (200 University Street)
Seattle, Washington
Tickets: Free. Reserved seating, reservations required.
https://musicofremembrance.org/show-details/afa2026
*Media are invited to film pre-concert rehearsal footage and interviews at Benaroya Hall on January 26 from 3:30-5:00 pm. Contact beth@verismopr.com to arrange.*
About Music of Remembrance
Established in 1998, Music of Remembrance (MOR) pays tribute to historic memory and directly confronts challenges to human rights and dignity today. In addition to its work discovering and performing music from the Holocaust, MOR is admired around the world for its leadership in commissioning, having premiered 48 new works by leading composers. This includes varied chamber ensembles, song cycles, choral works, dance music, film scores, musical dramas, and full-length operas – all using art to confront compelling issues in today’s world. MOR’s online concerts, nine albums, three documentary films, and many outreach programs have added to the impact experienced by live audiences. MOR’s annual David Tonkonogui Memorial Award welcomes new generations along on this journey, nurturing young musicians who seek to address issues of human rights through their art.
Press Contact: Beth Stewart
Verismo Communications
Tel: 618.444.3183 | Email: beth@verismopr.com
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