36 April 11 • 2019
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amed Russian composer Dmitri 
Shostakovich read the “Babi Yar” 
poem of famed Russian writer 
Yevgeni Yevtushenko and made a deci-
sion. The words should be joined with 
music to memorialize more fully peo-
ple killed in the Nazi mass atrocities at 
the Babi Yar ravine near Kiev.
James Forger, dean of the Michigan 
State University (MSU) College of Music, 
heard a Baltimore Symphony Orchestra 
concert that brought words and music 
together with Symphony No. 13 and 
made a decision. The concert should 
be performed as part of MSU program-
ming.
The dean discussed his idea with 
Michael and Elaine Serling, known 
through the Michael and Elaine Serling 
Institute for Jewish Studies and Modern 
Israel at the university, where Michael is 
chair of the advisory board. 
They all agreed the concert merited an 
audience that reached beyond the uni-
versity and formed a planning commit-
tee that included Ann Marie Lindley of 
MSU, Sarah Saltzman of the Holocaust 
Memorial Center and Judy Loebl of the 
Jewish Community Center.
Programming, after years of plan-
ning and gaining the support of 
community organizations, is coming 
together with two events that build on 
the Shostakovich piece performed by 
the MSU Symphony Orchestra under 
the guest direction of Christopher 

James Lees, resident conductor of the 
Charlotte Symphony Orchestra.
Both presentations of “Shostakovich 
Babi Yar: Remembering the Holocaust” 
— April 27 at the Wharton Center for 
the Performing Arts in East Lansing 
and April 28 at Orchestra Hall in 
Detroit — also will feature “I Never 
Saw Another Butterfly,” a choral song 
cycle by Charles Davidson, who set 
to music poems by children at the 
Theresienstadt ghetto and concentra-
tion camp. 
While the University Chorale and 
State Singers vocalize Russian lyrics, 
supertitles will provide English trans-
lations.
“We’
re grateful for the many part-
nerships that have come together to 
make this possible,” says Forger, who 
also calls attention to the talents of 
guest baritone soloist Mark Rucker, 
appearing in the Shostakovich seg-
ment, and conductor David Rayl, MSU 
music professor and director of choral 
programs, leading the song cycle.
“The Shostakovich piece is a 
five-movement, very emotional 
work. It’
s so important to under-
stand the words because the poetry 
of Yevtushenko was an indictment 
of the Soviet Union’
s tacit approval 
of anti-Semitism. Shostakovich said 
his music would be the monument to 
these souls, and the words are reflected 
in the music.”

MUSIC AND ANTI-SEMITISM
About 150 MSU students are par-
ticipating in the concert, which is 
preceded by a panel discussion that 
goes beyond the history of the memo-
rial tribute and explores the rise in 
anti-Semitism being experienced in 
the United States and beyond.
Joining Lees on the panel will be 
Dr. Amy Simon, William and Audrey 
Farber Family Chair in Holocaust 
Studies and European Jewish History; 
Dr. Matthew Pauley, associate profes-
sor of history; and Dr. Kevin Bartig, 
associate professor of musicology, all 
of MSU.
For the Serlings of West Bloomfield, 
the program and its messages have a 
very personal connection and impact.
“I had many cousins murdered in 
the same way as the people at Babi 
Yar,” says Michael Serling, who grad-
uated from MSU. “They never even 
made it to death camps. They were 
children in open pits. 
“I also have relatives who escaped 
barely and made it to Israel. Elaine 
and I lived in Israel when we were first 
married, and we became very close 
with Holocaust survivors who settled 
there. They became like family to us.”
Elaine Serling, a composer and per-
former periodically appearing at the 
JCC and elsewhere, has researched the 
life of Shostakovich.
“This very talented composer, 

continued on page 38

music
arts&life

The MSU 
Symphony 
Orchestra under 
the direction of 
guest conductor 
Christopher 
James Lees.

MSU supporters Elaine and Michael Serling 
headed a planning committee to bring the 
program together.

“Th
 e way I 
understand the piece, 
it’
s very defi
 ant of 
anti-Semitism in 
the world. He’
s trying 
to make a statement 
about how horrible 
anti-Semitism is, and 
it’
s very timely.
”

 — MICHAEL SERLING

SUZANNE CHESSLER CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Words & Music

MSU program offers powerful program of 
Shostakovich symphony and Holocaust poetry.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF MSU