KENNESAW, Ga. | May 20, 2016

In April and May 2016, Dr. Laurence Sherr, Kennesaw State University School of Music Composer-in-Residence and Professor of Music, travelled to several cities in New Zealand and Australia for the Australasian premieres of his work Sonata for Cello and Piano–Mir zaynen do! (“We are here”). The premiered work integrates Holocaust songs from the partisans, ghettos, and camps with newly composed material.

Performances of Sherr’s sonata were held at St Andrew’s on The Terrace in Wellington, NZ, University of Waikato Conservatorium of Music in Hamilton, NZ, Dilworth School and Auckland Hebrew Congregation in Auckland, NZ, and the Nickson Room at the University of Queensland School of Music Brisbane, Australia.

In addition to these performances, Dr. Sherr’s visit also included several guest lecture presentations. Sherr’s lecture topics included “Remembering the Silenced Voices of Holocaust Song Creators: Weaving Songs of Resistance and Survival into a New Cello Sonata,” “Music at Auschwitz: Aid to Survival or Dehumanizing Degradation?,” and “Suppressed Music and Art during the Nazi Era.” His lectures and presentations took place at the Holocaust Centre of New Zealand, the New Zealand School of Music, and the locations above.

LISTEN: Dr. Sherr discusses the sonata premieres and lectures on Radio New Zealand’s Upbeat program

Sherr is active as a composer of Holocaust remembrance music, lecturer on Holocaust music topics, producer of remembrance events, and Holocaust music educator. In addition to his visit to New Zealand, past performances and lectures have been given in the Czech Republic, Germany, Poland, England, Israel, Australia, New Zealand, and North America.