Ute Lemper to Perform Works Written in Concentration Camps for LAST MUSIK

Thirty years ago, Francesco Lotoro, an Italian musician, took on a unique challenge - to track down, transcribe and record all the music written in concentration camps. He has already collected 17,000 scores, among them are many masterpieces that without him would have disappeared.

On April 6, New York audiences will have the chance to hear a selection of these works performed by the incomparable German singer Ute Lemper with world famous clarinetist David Krakauer as special guest star with Daniel Hoffman on Violin.

All of the concert's proceeds will support an ongoing quest for witnesses and survivors who may still be able to contribute long lost scores or melodies, and to help create a digital archive and public home for this collection of music.

"Francesco Lotoro has embarked on an extraordinary effort to collect music that nearly escaped the historical record," said the Center for Jewish History's President and CEO Joel J. Levy. "It is an honor for us that some of this music will be performed at the Center, as part of our larger effort to illuminate the history and heritage of the Jewish people."

At the event an artifact that has come to be known as the "Violin of the Mysterious Score" will be on display and played. It belonged to Eva Maria, a young Jewish woman from Turin who was captured by German soldiers and taken to the San Vittore prison in Milan and then to Auschwitz. Eva Maria kept her violin with her, and was known throughout the prison for her skill in playing. Although she committed suicide on barbed wire of the camp, the message of her music lives on. A note affixed to her instrument read, "Der Music macht Frei" ("Music will set you free"), and a short score she wrote contains her brother's camp identification number - serving as a last, desperate tribute to art, creativity and love.

IF YOU GO:

Wednesday, April 6

6:00 p.m. Cocktails
7:00 p.m. Concert
8:30 p.m. Dinner with the artists

Last Musik: Songs for Eternity featuring Ute Lemper

Presented by the Center for Jewish History

Ute Lemper and special guest clarinetist David Krakauer will perform selections composed in concentration camps that Francesco Lotoro collected as part of the Last Musik project. Also featuring Daniel Hoffman, violin, Victor Villena, bandoneon and Francesco Lotoro, piano.

Tickets: $500 Concert and Cocktails; $1,000 Concert, Cocktails and Dinner

Visit www.cjh.org/event/2847 or call 212-294-8310.

The Center for Jewish History which is located at 15 West 16th Street in Manhattan.

The Center for Jewish History in New York City illuminates history, culture, and heritage. The Center provides a collaborative home for five partner organizations: American Jewish Historical Society, American Sephardi Federation, Leo Baeck Institute, Yeshiva University Museum, and YIVO Institute for Jewish Research. The partners' archives comprise the world's largest and most comprehensive archive of the modern Jewish experience outside of Israel. The collections span 1,000 years, with more than 5 miles of archival documents (in dozens of languages and alphabet systems), more than 500,000 volumes, as well as thousands of artworks, textiles, ritual objects, recordings, films, and photographs. The Center's experts are leaders in unlocking archival material for a wide audience through the latest practices in digitization, library science, and public education. As one of the world's foremost research institutions, the Center offers fellowships, a wide array of exhibitions, symposia, conferences and lectures. The Center is a Smithsonian Affiliate, and is a partner of the Google Cultural Institute. The Center for Jewish History is home to the Lillian Goldman Reading Room, Ackman & Ziff Family Genealogy Institute, The David Berg Rare Book Room and The Collection Management & Conservation Wing. Public programs create opportunities for diverse audiences to explore the rich historical and cultural material that lives within the Center's walls.