AUGUST 31 • 2023 | 75
Details
The Suitcase: One Family’s
Story of Survival will be
presented for free at 2:30
p.m. Sunday, Sept. 10, at the
Zekelman Holocaust Center in
Farmington Hills. Registration
is required by going to
holocaustcenter.org.
his presentation. Instead, he
relies on the narrative and the
music he wrote. He separates
them to establish mood so the
audience can enter their own
thoughts into the program-
ming.
“The computers are press-
ing record, play, repeat, stop,”
he said. “They’re doing all
the things that a recording
engineer might do, but I’ve
preprogrammed this thing.
Though I’ve composed the
arrangements in advance, all
the music is live. It’s a unique,
modern, unusual way to pres-
ent music.”
Born in New York, Lorsch
moved on to New Jersey with
his family. He studied music at
San Francisco State University
and lived in Nevada and
North Carolina before going
to Nashville in 1994. His early
introduction to music came
through his family — his
father on piano and violin,
his mother on piano and his
grandmother on violin.
Although he had been
thinking about doing a
Holocaust program after hear-
ing interview tapes recorded
by his cousins, he looked for
a way to do a one-man per-
formance and was inspired by
the techniques of a one-person
performance by a cellist.
“I’m not affiliated with a
temple, but I belong to the
Jewish Federation,
” he said. “I
go to events, and I also work
with the National Holocaust
Memorial as a volunteer. I
also work with the Tennessee
Holocaust Commission.
”
Lorsch and his wife, Karen,
have two children, Kayla and
Ryan. Their son lives in Grand
Rapids and has a computer
career, although he also plays
instruments.
“I’ve written a lot of music
over the years, so that was
something I knew how to do,
”
he said. ”I’ve never written
anything with words before, so
I did a lot of rewriting.
“Learning how to write
was extremely challenging for
me. To be able to put all these
stories down and write took a
great deal. My cousin, who was
a copy editor for the Baltimore
Sun, whipped it into shape,
and I’m deeply indebted to
her.
”
Lorsch performing
The Suitcase
COURTESY OF TIM LORSCH
©Disney
NOVEMBER 29 - DECEMBER 17
DETROIT OPERA HOUSE • BROADWAYINDETROIT.COM
GROUPS (10+): BROADWAYINDETROIT.COM/GROUPSALES
NOW ON SALE!
Scan the QR code to book:
• Anniversary
• B’nai Mitzvah
• Birth
• Engagement
• Milestone Birthday
• Wedding
Mazel Tov!
Celebrate all of your
milestone moments with
an announcement in the
Detroit Jewish News.
JEWISH NEWS
THE DETROIT