2023 Elie Wiesel Memorial Lecture Series: Celebrating the Music of Elie Wiesel
Please note that the October 29 event “Music & Memory: Songs Lost and Found” featuring Matthew Lazar has been postponed.
This year’s Elie Wiesel Memorial Lecture Series titled “Celebrating the Music of Elie Wiesel” will explore the music beloved by Elie Wiesel, one of the world’s greatest humanitarians whose writings and work for peace are known around the globe. What is not as well-known is Professor Wiesel’s deep love for music and the meanings music held for him. The author of a cantata, music inspired Elie Wiesel in his writings and spiritual life. We are proud to present two programs exploring these deep connections between Elie Wiesel’s music, life, and writings this fall.
September 27:
Songs and Stories, featuring David Sparr and Cantor Deborah Katchko-Gray
This year’s first Elie Wiesel Memorial Lecture, Songs and Stories, took place on September 27 from 5:30 to 7 PM. The event featured Dr. Henry Knight and Cantor Deborah Katchko-Gray.
Dr. Knight, a close friend of Elie Wiesel who connected to him through music, discussed the relationship between Elie Wiesel’s writings and his music and spoke about his deep connections to both.
Cantor Deborah Katchko Gray presented her profound ties to Elie Wiesel and his music as she explored the meaning of Hasidic tunes in spiritual life that inspired Elie Wiesel. Cantor Deborah also presented clips of Elie Wiesel’s songs in her talk.
Read Cantor Deborah Katchko-Gray’s “Remembering Elie Wiesel” post in The Times of Israel here.
About the Speakers
Cantor Deborah Katchko-Gray is a 4th generation cantor and Founder of the Women Cantors’ Network. Deborah has served Congregation Shir Shalom in Connecticut since 1999. She is the first recipient of the Debbie Friedman Miriam Award. Deborah has ten recordings and two books; Katchko-Three Generations of Cantorial Art and Prayerful Creations. She is in “Modern Judaica — Today’s Makers, Today’s Sacred Objects.” Her story is included in “The Invisible Thread — A Portrait of American Jewish Women.” Her archives are in the American Jewish Archives and National Museum of American Jewish History.
Deborah’s Elie Wiesel papers and memorabilia are housed in the Mugar Library at BU. She is writing a book, “Class Notes — A Lifetime of Learning with Elie Wiesel.” The Jewish Broadcasting Service plays her presentation on Songs and Stories of Elie Wiesel every Yom Hashoah. Deborah recently helped form The Women of the Wall Choir. Learn more at her website.
Dr. Henry Knight is Professor Emeritus of Holocaust and Genocide Studies and the former Director of the Cohen Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Keene State College in New Hampshire. He is the co-chair of the biennial Steven S. Weinstein Holocaust Symposium and a retired member of the United Methodist clergy. Knight served as chaplain and member of the departments of Religious Studies at The University of Tulsa and Baldwin-Wallace College in Ohio. He is a past president of the Annual Scholars Conference on the Holocaust and the Churches and is a member of the Readers Committee for the Elie Wiesel Foundation’s Prize in Ethics Contest.
This event has been postponed until spring.
Music & Memory: Songs Lost and Found, featuring Matthew Lazar
The second lecture of this year’s Elie Wiesel Memorial Lecture Series, Music & Memory: Songs Lost and Found, will feature Matthew Lazar, Founder and Director of the Zamir Choral Foundation, of which Elie Wiesel was the Honorary Chairman for a quarter of a century. Maestro Lazar is a renowned conductor of Jewish music who had a close personal and musical relationship with Elie Wiesel and conducted him several times. Through video, audio, personal recollections, and live performances, Lazar will bring to life little-known aspects of Elie Wiesel’s musical world and the depth of his musical connections.
About The Speaker
Matthew Lazar is the leading force of the Jewish choral movement in North America. His visionary leadership in service of the Jewish community led to the creation of the Zamir Choral Foundation, HaZamir: The International Jewish Teen Choir, the North American Jewish Choral Festival and many choral ensembles in cities across the United States and Israel. His superior talents as a conductor and interpreter of Jewish music have elevated the standards of Jewish musical performance, and educated audiences across North America. He created the first Choral Institute for the training of the next generation of conductors of Jewish and Israeli choral music, and the first conference dedicated to the life and music of Salamone Rossi.
Matthew Lazar collaborated with Elie Wiesel z”l on several programs and projects celebrating the unique relationship of the Jewish people with Jerusalem, and conducted him in Carnegie Hall, at the 92nd Street Y, and in a special concert entitled Memories and Melodies of My Childhood.