‘Silenced Voices’ to Honor Holocaust Victims

The UT Dallas Ackerman Center for Holocaust Studies welcomes the Dallas Chamber Orchestra to campus on Thursday, May 1, for its second annual Yom HaShoah, or Holocaust Memorial Day Concert.

“Silenced Voices: A Concert of Remembrance” will feature music and poetry by artists who died in the Holocaust. The 7:30 p.m. concert is free and open to the public.

The orchestra will play the music of James Simon and Ervin Schulhoff, both victims of concentration camps.

UT Dallas Founders Professor of Arts and Humanities Frederick Turner will read the poetry of Paul Celan as well as Miklós Radnóti, a Hungarian poet killed on a death march, whose work has been translated into English by Turner and Dr. Zsuzsanna Ozsváth, also of UT Dallas.

In addition, Cantor Don Croll of Temple Shalom Dallas will sing several Yiddish songs of the time.

The Dallas Chamber Orchestra was founded in 1977 by violinist Ronald Neal, who serves as the ensemble’s director. The highly praised orchestra consists of a number of virtuoso performers who play a variety of stringed instruments. The ensemble performs in the tradition of smaller orchestras, without conductor. The Dallas Chamber Orchestra is frequently heard on National Public Radio and has numerous recordings to its credit. Ron Neal is also Clinical Associate Professor in the Arts and Humanities Department at UT Dallas.

Croll is an invested cantor, having graduated with honors in liturgical interpretation from Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion’s School of Sacred Music.

Turner holds three degrees in English language and literature from Oxford University. He is a poet and professor who teaches a wide range of subjects, such as science, poetry and cultural studies.

This event is presented in cooperation with the Jewish Community Relations Council of Dallas.

“A Concert of Remembrance” will begin at 7:30 p.m. in the UT Dallas Conference Center. Although the concert is free and open to the public, reservations are requested. For information, call or e-mail the center, or visit its Web site.

About The Holocaust Studies Program

Since its creation two decades ago, the Holocaust Studies Program at The University of Texas at Dallas has established an international reputation. A component of the School of Arts and Humanities, it is a multi-faceted program based on teaching and research that is augmented and enhanced by the support of endowments for the Ackerman Holocaust Study Center, the Leah and Paul Lewis Chair in Holocaust Studies, the Burton C. Einspruch Holocaust Lecture Series, and the Arnold A. Jaffe Holocaust Book Collection.