Bailey School of Music Remembers the Holocaust By Kathie Beckett
Laurence Sherr’s “Fugitive Footsteps” featured
Artwork from the online Exhibition Guide of “Words, Music, Memory: (Re)Presenting Voices of the Holocaust.”
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n November 9, 2021, the Dr. Bobbie Bailey School of Music (BSOM), in partnership with KSU Museum of History and Holocaust Education (MHHE) and The Breman Museum, presented “Kristallnacht Commemoration,” featuring music, commentary, and a traveling exhibition to commemorate the historical event. Dr. Jesús Castro-Balbi, director of the BSOM, said, “Kristallnacht is a very important event in history. As an educational institution, we seek to ensure that current and future generations understand the meaning of that event. At the Bailey School of Music, we do that through music, and by partnering with entities on- and off-campus to help us tell that story.” Baritone Cory Schantz joined conductor Samuel Miller and the KSU Chamber Singers in performing Dr. Laurence Sherr’s “Fugitive
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KS U Col le ge of t he A r t s
Footsteps,” based on poetry by Holocaust survivor and Nobel laureate Nelly Sachs. Pianist Judith Cole, tenor Nathan Munson, clarinetist John Warren, as well as cellist and BSOM Director Castro-Balbi, performed works by composers Sherr, Lori Laitman, and Jake Heggie. These composers are also featured in the KSU Museum of History and Holocaust Education
Sherr said he hoped that events like these will “help us remember what happened, so that we may become more aware, understanding, and intelligent global citizens today.”
