The SCSU Department of Music, in partnership with the College of St. Benedict/St. John's University Departments of Music, The Cantabile Girls Choir, St. John's Boy Choir, and the SCSU Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies will present Minnesota composer Stephen Paulus' and librettist Michael Dennis Browne's Holocaust oratorio To Be Certain of the Dawn. The work will be presented free to the central Minnesota community in two performances. The first will be on Friday, April 25th, 2008 on the St. Cloud State University Ritsche Auditorium at 7:30 pm. A second performance will be on Saturday, April 26th in St. John's University’s Abbey Church. These two performances are the result of the generous support of the SCSU Jewish Studies Program, Joseph Edelheit, Director, and the General Mill Foundation of Minneapolis, MN. Soloists include Dr. Catherine Verrilli, soprano, Dr. Caroline Finley, mezzo, Tom Speckhard, tenor, Axel Theimer, bass, and Jeffrey Hess, cantor. The performance will be conducted by Lee Nelson.
The work was commissioned in 2001 by Rev. Michael J. O'Connell of the Basilica of St. Mary in Minneapolis and celebrates two important anniversaries:
Rooted in themes and subjects of mutual interest to the Jewish and Christian faith communities the 2005 world premiere was within one week of the annual commemoration of Kristallnacht, the beginning of open hostility to Jews in Germany. The oratorio pays tribute to those who lost their lives and honors Holocaust survivors and their descendants. |
Case Statement (pdf 107k)
Paulus Info Sheet (pdf 40k)
Cantabile Request Letter (pdf 154k)
Cantabile Donor Reply Card (pdf 80k)
Bringing Harmony to the World Notecards (pdf 1mb)
Contact Janet Tilstra jstilstra@stcloudstate.edu
Below you will find an updated (but not yet quite final) revised schedule for our tour, as well as links to some of the places and institutions that we will visit. Changes will be minor and mostly due to the schedule of our hosts. Here are some general points:
I look forward to meet you all in February and April (and in between of course) at our workshop-meetings, together with Vicky Knickerbocker, our coordinator who will join us for the tour and who will handle all organizational questions. We will to go through the list of events and we will take a closer look at the significance of the places we visit. We will also address all other questions that you might have. In the meantime, please contact Vicky Knickerbocker or me at any time. (bpreuter@stcloudstate.edu; vknicker@yahoo.com) On this trip you will become cultural ambassadors, you will connect with students in Europe, via the music and with your presence and you will build bonds through religious, national and ethnic boundaries and you will set an important signal: your presence and effort and your visit will demonstrate that the historical obstacles of the twentieth century can be dealt with in a positive way. I am proud to be part of this project and I know that I can count on your responsibility.See you all soon, yours - Bernard |
May20 - Departure St. Cloud, airport Minneapolis
May 21 - Wednesday: Arrival in Frankfurt/Main, Düsseldorf and/or Köln airports (Cantabile: Düsseldorf only; Vicky Knickerbocker will be at airport Frankfurt)
May 21 to May27 - Youth hostel Düsseldorf (bus transfer from all arrivals)
May 22 - Düsseldorf, visit and introduction at Martin Buber Synagogue; visit at Catholic Church in former World War II bunker, “Bunkerkirche”
May 23 - Rehearsal at St. Antonius Catholic Church, Düsseldorf-Oberkassel; visit of
Protestant Church St Anna, visit downtown Düsseldorf, faculty dinner
May 24 - Afternoon concert, reception to follow at community center (Cantabile: 20 families of Catholic St. Antonius will welcome 2 participants each for a family afternoon and dinner)
May 25 - Visit to Cologne Cathedral (Köln) and tour city (Erzbistum); visit at Muslim community in Düsseldorf (“guest workers” community), introduction by staff
May 26 - Visit to a town in nearby Ruhrgebiet (Dortmund or Bochum, former coal mining and industrial area)
(May 26 - Open day, free time, two different tours offered; Xanten, Roman excavated garnison and settlement); Faculty meeting
May 27 - Bus transfer to Freiburg/Breisgau, Germany; Meeting with local musicians and choirs; Local evening concert in Church, visit to Synagogue (bell tower)
May 27 to May 29 - Hotel in Colmar, Alsace, France (next to Kaiserstuhl and Black Forest; Home of Statue of Liberty)
May 28 - Rehearsal at former concentration camp, close to Strasbourg, France:
Natzweiler-Struthof, visit to museum and tour with director, if time permits visit of close by Alsace/Moselle Cultural Heritage and Migration Museum
May 29 - Concert at Natzweiler Struthof; Transfer to Hotel in Freiburg, Germany (Black Forest)
May 30 - Excursion into wine country (mountains), Kaiserstuhl; Faculty meeting
(May 30 – Open day)
May 31 - Visit to European Parliament (tour and lunch), Strasbourg; Europa Park Rust
June 1 - Visit and possibly concert at Freiburg University, tour town
June 2 - Visit to Basel University, Switzerland, tour of Synagogues and lecture by university staff at Synagogue, lunch; visit cathedral (Munster) and downtown
June 3 - Visit to former Jewish community house in Breisach; visit to traditional Jewish cemetery, Ihringen, with retired police offer (site was desecrated by Neo-Nazis; visit of Synagogue and lecture in Freiburg
June 4 - Wednesday: Bus transfer to airport Frankfurt/Main and departure (all), arrival Minneapolis June 4
Some of the accommodations:
Cultural sites we will visit:
The cities we will visit:
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The concentration camp: European Parliament: Religious institutions participating:
Some other activities: Some other partners:
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