SageArts
We Remember: Songs Of Survivors , a one-hour special which premiered in North America on PBS on April 26th 2022, follows four talented singer-songwriters in New York's Hudson Valley tasked with creating original songs about the experiences of local Holocaust survivors. The film documents the relationships that develop and the songwriting process over many months, culminating in an emotional live concert where the survivors and songwriters are celebrated by friends, family and the community.
More in this PBS PRESS RELEASE.
Here’s an interview related to We Remember with Joe Donahue on WAMC, April 22, 2022:
https://www.wamc.org/podcast/the-roundtable/2022-04-22/we-remember-songs-of-survivors-documentary-to-premiere-on-pbs-on-4-26
A composer/songwriter with the Hudson Valley non-profit organization ‘Sagearts’ since it began in 2014, Elizabeth has been deeply committed to working with Sagearts projects as a way to honor and celebrate the lives of Elders in our community. She has written songs with many different elders, sharing their life experiences through the creation of original pieces of music about their individual lives. Her most recent work through Sagearts has involved writing songs with elders who are Holocaust survivors. The relationships formed between the elders and the songwriters, and the songs that were created about the elders lives were performed for a large live audience on May 5th 2019 at Mount Saint Mary College in Newburgh. This deeply healing and transformative music project honoring the lives of these elders has recently been made into a documentary film for PBS called “We Remember: Songs of Survivors”, airing nationally on April 26th 2022.
At SageArts we believe in the power of story and the arts to bring people together. We start with the creative process, pairing writers, singer/songwriters, and film-makers with elders in our community to create inspired works of performed art that reflect the richness of each elder’s life and character, and we finish the process with a final performance and celebration, inviting the community to take part in a transformative experience to remember.
www.sagearts.org
The above video includes a piece of music I wrote in 2021 in collaboration with an incredible elder. George is a survivor of the Holocaust who came to America from Budapest, Hungary following the war. George, who is also a traditional cantorial singer, joined me as we sang “How I Learned to Pray” together. This piece is a reflection upon George’s life, sharing the wisdom and teachings that he wanted to pass on from his experiences.
On May 23, 2021, after 18 months of working with Holocaust Survivors in the Hudson Valley in person and remotely, songs of 8 incredible survivors were created and shared through a Livestream Concert at the Bearsville Theatre. The songs, which are of resilience and hope, as well as struggle and trauma, capture the wisdom of those who have not only survived but thrived with the courage to tell their stories.
How I Learned to Pray with George from IC Film on Vimeo.