Brundibár

In 2013-2014, I co-produced and was musical director for the first Sydney performances of the children’s opera Brundibár, written in 1938 by Hans Krása and Adolph Hofmeister (lyrics). The short piece (just over 30 minutes long) was performed 55 times in the Terezín Ghetto (Theresienstadt Concentration Camp) between 1942 and 1944. Our Sydney production was informed by those who had seen these performances: Holocaust survivors in Australia - Jerry Rind, Edith Sheldon, Joe Neustatl, Judy Nachum, Eva Engelman, Peter Engelman, Helen Staub, Kitty Passerová Levy, Irma Hanner and Peter Rössler; and Holocaust survivors overseas - Rut and Uri Bass, Anke Bergman, Jirka Bloch, Hanka Drori, Petr and Eva Erben, Great Hofmeister Klingsberg, Edgar and Hana Krasa, and Alice Herz-Sommer. Most of these survivors are no longer with us. I remain forever grateful for their generosity of sharing their musical experiences with me.

The Making of the Sydney Brundibar Project.

The performances took place at the City Recital Hall, Angel Place in August 2014, co-produced with Opera Prometheus, with exceptional support from the Sydney Jewish Museum and many supporters. My profound thanks to Rod Freedman of Change Focus Media, who so generously filmed the process of this production.