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Berkley High School's choir and orchestra perform in the American debut of
the cantata, Mein Name ist Anne Frank. Cantors Daniel Gross of Adat Shalom
Synagogue and Penny Steyer of Temple Shir Shalom were soloists.
Cantata Debut
Berkley High student reflects on his role
in carrying on Anne Frank's message.
Aaron Cohen
Teen2Teen Staff Writer
0
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110 May 23 • 2013
JN
n May 7, I was among a
group of Berkley High
School students who per-
formed in the American debut of Mein
Name ist Anne Frank, a 45-minute
cantata that combined an entire sym-
phony orchestra with choral and solo
vocal arrangements.
Written by composer Volker
Blumenthaler and librettist Alexander
Gruber, the piece commemorates Anne
Frank and the additional 6 million Jews
who perished in the Holocaust.
Throughout the rehearsal process,
I was able to reflect on what the piece
really means and where I, as a Jew, fit
into the picture. As we took our final
bows, I felt an enormous sense of pride.
Throughout history, the Jewish people
have experienced persecution. As far
back as the Exodus, our lineage has
experienced endless trials and tribula-
tions. So, standing with my fellow musi-
cians as applause filled the BHS audito-
rium, I couldn't help but think, "We're
still here. That's pretty amazing:'
To me, the Anne Frank cantata serves
as a testament to the resilience and
tenacity of the Jewish people. In the
late-1930s to early-1940s, the major-
ity of the world's Jewish population
was wiped off the map during the
Holocaust. Less than a century later,
more than a dozen Jews (members of
the BHS choir and orchestra) took to
the stage to perform a song about it. We
have endured.
With that knowledge comes a certain
responsibility. Mein Name ist Anne
Frank, though written to eulogize the
death of millions, at its core speaks to
the way our generation must approach
the future. It is our obligation as Jews
and as human beings to create a world
where bigotry and injustice no longer
exist. Genocide is currently happen-
ing. War and poverty ravage countries
across the world. We have seen the
consequences of indifference — society
choosing to look the other way. It is our
generation's responsibility to demand
justice for all people.
After the performance, I got a chance
to speak with Dr. Guy Stern, director
of the International Institute of the
Righteous, a division of the Holocaust
Memorial Center in Farmington Hills.
At age 15, the same age as a quarter of
the musicians involved in the perfor-
mance, Stern found himself fleeing the
Nazi reign of terror. In reflecting upon
this, Stern hopes "[our] generation
can now empathize with all of those
who are in that position:' and that
"the memory of Anne Frank becomes
impaled in all of [our] minds:'
The Passover Haggadah tells us that
to remember our years in bondage,
we must constantly retell the story of
the Exodus. In the near future, there
will be no more living survivors of the
Holocaust. Our generation will deter-
mine how the rest of the world remem-
bers the 12 million lives taken at the
hands of the Nazis. This is not a task to
be taken lightly.
As a Jew, participating in the Anne
Frank cantata was an honor and privi-
lege. Though her life was cut short, she
will be forever immortalized in the
music and lyrics of Mein Name ist Anne
Frank.
So be it! Yes, so it may be!
Hear your heart's voice!
Open your heart,
So it won't forget and may become
just,
So that your heart will be hearing in:
Working, learning and loving
❑
Aaron Cohen of Huntington Woods is a
senior at Berkley High School.