On 27th January, Manchester Jewish Museum will mark Holocaust Memorial Day 2020 (HMD) with two premieres of musical and theatre performances. Both cultural events feature real life experiences and testimonies of Manchester Jewry, refugees and Holocaust survivors, and will be staged for the first time at Manchester Central Library where the museum is currently located while its permanent home in Cheetham Hill undergoes a major refurbishment.
In the afternoon, a free performance by acclaimed Israeli composer Na’ama Zisser – the first to introduce cantorial music into opera – will be performed, together with a premiere of brand-new songs at the library.
International baritone Peter Brathwaite will be singing alongside the museum’s very own community songwriting group too. The group have been working with saxophonist and composer Joe Steele, and their original compositions will bring to life the museum’s oral history collection depicting arriving in Manchester in the 1930s and 1940s.During the evening of the 27th, the museum’s commemoration of HMD continues with the northern premiere of Holocaust Brunch by theatre maker and story-teller Tamara Micner. Fusing comedy with bagels, this funny and brave solo show tells the true stories of two Holocaust survivors connected to Tamara, and pries open intergenerational wounds to explore why we remember the Holocaust and what it is like to live in the shadows of genocide and displacement.
Visit Manchesterjewishmuseum.com to find out more.
Image Credit: Holly Revell