Shadows / Schatten / Shotns: Songs from Testimonies in the Fortunoff Video Archive

Hidden in over 12,000 hours of Holocaust survivor testimony lies a treasury of songs — lullabies, resistance anthems, ghetto ballads, and melodies of mourning — waiting to be heard again.

Songs From Testimonies is a live multimedia concert built from the Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies at Yale University. Musicologist and multi-instrumentalist Zisl Slepovitch has carefully selected songs from thousands of recorded testimonies, researched their origins and context, and created vivid new arrangements that honor the spirit of each piece. World-renowned vocalist Sasha Lurje and the ensemble invite the audience into the world of the survivors. Telling their stories and giving context to Dr. Slepovitch’s captivating interpretations of these songs, the music is interwoven with video projections of the survivors themselves — their faces, their voices, their stories — giving them a presence and agency that transcends time.

The audience becomes part of an act of collective witness: celebrating the resilience and profound artistry that…