The Prince George Symphony Orchestra will be performing a Grammy winning piece to mark International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
“The Jewish of Northern BC is really bowled away that the Prince George Symphony Orchestra is taking this step to create a cultural event that helps people in this community recognize International Holocaust Remembrance Day,” said Eli Klasner, Executive Director of the Community Arts Council.
“I think it’s probably safe to say nothing like that has ever happened in Northern BC before. To select such a moving impactful, landmark composition like Different Trains is just another example of how arts and culture is really helping to put Prince George on the map.”
Different Trains is a string quartet with with pre-recorded tape by noted American Jewish composer Steve Reich.
Reich traveled by train between New York and Los Angeles often between 1939 and 1942.
The piece reflects on how different Reich’s experience as a Jewish person would have been had he been in Europe during that time.
Klasner added members of the local Jewish community will be participating in the concert, and engaging in discussion with any members of the audience who wish to.
“Some of us have direct links to the Holocaust, either as descendants of survivors or victims,” Klasner added.
“Depending on the questions and the nature of the dialogue, we’d be happy to share some of those stories.”
The performance will be a Chamber Social put on by the PGSO.
“In recent years we’ve gone from chamber concerts to what we call chamber socials, which is an attempt to make it a little more welcoming, a little less formal,” said Ken Hall, Executive Director of the PGSO.
“We have table seating, we have appetizers for everyone, and a cash bar, it’s a fairly informal setting, and we try to put the audience at ease, do a little chatting in between pieces, and just try to appeal to a group of people who don’t necessarily want to wear a tuxedo.”
The event will take place on Sunday, January 29th at 2:00 p.m..