Hours of Freedom

The Fran Eizenstat and Eizenstat Family Memorial Lecture Series presents…

HOURS OF FREEDOM: The Story of The Terezin Composer
Produced by The Defiant Requiem Foundation
Stuart E. Eizenstat, Board Chair

Murry Sidlin, creator and conductor
Callan White, narrator
Arianna Zukerman, soprano
Leah Wool, mezzo-soprano
Jonathan Blalock, tenor
David Kravitz, baritone
Herbert Greenberg, concertmaster
Julian Schwarz, cello
Phillip Silver, piano
Hours of Freedom Chamber Players

Hours of Freedom dramatizes music by fifteen composers imprisoned in the Theresienstadt (Terezin) Concentration Camp during WWll. Presented as nine chapters with titles including, “Hope,” “Fate,” “Longing,” and “The Eyewitness,” this concert combines music, video, and narrative to showcase works by Viktor Ullmann, Gideon Klein, Zigmund Schul, Pavel Haas, Rudolf Karel, and ten others. The compositions performed portray the agony and suffering of camp life, along with the inspiration, revelation, harmony, and hope that comes through music.

2019 marks the 31st year of The Eizenstat Family Memorial Lecture Series, now known as The Fran Eizenstat and Eizenstat Family Memorial Lecture. This prestigious event has featured three Nobel Peace Prize winners, two Pulitzer Prize winners, two United States Presidents, two United States Vice Presidents, two United States Supreme Court Justices and two Israeli Prime Ministers among other national and international eminent guests.

Ahavath Achim cultivates a Jewish community of purposeful belonging. We inspire and support spiritual journeys by deepening relationships with one another. We believe it is at the crossroads of our spiritual paths that life’s purpose and God might be found.

The Defiant Requiem Foundation is a non-profit organization based in Washington, DC, dedicated to preserving the memory of the prisoners in the Theresienstadt Concentration Camp (Terezin) during World War II, who, despite monumental suffering, disease and the constant presence of death, found hope and inspiration in the arts and humanities.

Ambassador Stuart E. Eizenstat has been Chair of the Foundation’s Board of Directors since 2011. Gratefully acknowledging support from The Molly Blank Fund of The Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation.