DEFIANT REQUIEM: THE FILM
DEFIANT REQUIEM tells the little-known story of the Nazi concentration camp, Terezín. Led by imprisoned conductor Rafael Schächter, the inmates of Terezín fought back...with art and music. Through hunger, disease and slave labor, the Jewish inmates of Terezin hold onto their humanity by staging plays, composing opera and using paper and ink to record the horrors around them.
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THE ACCIDENTAL UNIVERSITY: INTERACTIVE Terezín
Terezín evolved into a major center of music and art during the Nazi Occupation of Czechoslovakia. Enter the cultural center of this unique Jewish Ghetto for an interactive experience of how prisoners regained hope, courage and dignity in the midst of monumental suffering, disease and death. […]
THE DEFIANT REQUIEM CURRICULUM
Teach the story of Jewish prisoners of the Nazis who used music to defy their oppressors, find courage and sustain hope. How and why did a group of Jews in Terezín Ghetto learn to sing Giuseppe Verdi’s Requiem in the original Latin? What did it mean to them and what does it mean for us? This is the story of Defiant Requiem. The 45-minute documentary film is designed for classroom use and accompanying modules provide lessons adapted to a variety of disciplines.
The Defiant Requiem curriculum was developed by staff and educational consultants to the Foundation and peer-reviewed by a curriculum review panel composed of private, public, and parochial teachers from the DC/MD area. […]
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50th Performance of Defiant Requiem: Verdi at Terezín
Since the world premiere performance on April 20, 2002, the concert-drama Defiant Requiem: Verdi at Terezín has had an unmistakable and unique connection with audiences and performers alike. Everyone knew they were experiencing a different kind of concert – one that pairs some of the most astounding music ever written with an unparalleled story of human resilience. […]
MICHAEL GRUENBAUM: A Life Profile
Michael Gruenbaum says that one of the main lessons he has learned in life is to never take no for an answer. The man has a determination that is often fueled by proving and succeeding at what others think is impossible. Michael has demonstrated this over and over again: from an astonishingly rapid path to academic success (graduating from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology just eight years after being liberated from the Nazi concentration camp at Terezín), to finding a publisher for his autobiographical book after scores of rejections. […]
UNIVERSITY RESIDENCY PROJECT
The Defiant Requiem Foundation established The University Residency Project in early 2014 to provide grants of up to $25,000 to schools of music and music departments at outstanding academic institutions interested in bringing a performance of Defiant Requiem: Verdi at Terezín and other Terezín related events to campus. […]