24 | OCTOBER 5 • 2023 J
N

OUR COMMUNITY

who is working 
on her doctoral 
degree in musical 
arts; and Tianyu 
Liu, a violin 
student. 
Matt Brower, 
the pianist for 
the 6-WIRE Trio, 
is also a U-M 
alum, so this is a 
strong Michigan 
homecoming 
type of event. 
The 6-WIRE Trio 
also features Cathy Yang, an 
erhu master originally from 
China, who will bring her 
virtuosity on the erhu, a two-
stringed Chinese violin. The 
name 6-WIRE comes from 
the sum of the two strings of 
the erhu and the four strings 
of the violin, promoting the 
exchange of East and West.
We are hoping to share 
this part of history unknown 
to many people in the Jewish 
and Chinese communities 
and the world at large. We 
live in a very divided time 
right now — we’re hoping 
that by telling this lesser-
known Holocaust story in a 
musical fashion, we can help 
to further educate people on 
how the Jewish and Chinese 
communities came together 
at a horrible time and helped 
one another to thrive and 
the role that classical music 
played during that time.

JN: Give us a little taste 
of what the audience will 
experience on Oct. 19. 
You’ve mentioned it’s going 
to be multimedia, and there 
is a very interesting display 
from the Shanghai Jewish 
Refugee Museum available 
for viewing at Congregation 
Shaarey Zedek.

Gao: The Shanghai 
Jewish Refugee Museum 
is collaborating with us 
by sharing this touring 
exhibition that narrates the 
history of how these 20,000 
Jews survived the Holocaust 
by escaping to Shanghai. 
As many may not know, 
Shanghai was one of the only 
cities that accepted Jewish 
refugees at the time. The 
museum wants to share this 
part of history with the 

world. 
We did a lot of research 
in developing Shanghai 
Sonatas, including my fellow 
creators, Alan Goodson 
(book writer) and Joyce Hill 
Stoner (lyricist), so we can 
educate the audience about 
this period in history. 
We will be performing live 
classical, crossover, Jewish 
and Chinese music and will 
use a large screen to project 
snippets of performances 

from the musical. We 
will introduce the story, 
history and some of the 
characters created for the 
musical. For instance, there 
is a violinist that escaped 
Dachau concentration camp 
by coming to Shanghai, and 
he met a Chinese student 
who later became a pioneer 
in developing Chinese 
classical music education. 
The multimedia components 
will make it a dynamic 
experience for all. People will 
also be able to experience the 
exhibition from the Shanghai 
Jewish Refugees Museum 
prior to or following the 
concert.
We hope everybody 
will come to understand 
how these two cultures 
that had absolutely 
nothing in common — no 
common language, culture, 
background, religion or 
music — became somehow 
connected through classical 
music and were able to help 
each other at a very difficult 
time in their history. I think 
that’s the spirit we’re all 
looking for today in America, 
and in the world. 

Tianyu Liu

Yun Han

DETAILS
“Creating Shanghai Sonatas,” 
presented in partnership with 
the Zekelman Holocaust Center, 
takes place at 7 p.m. Oct. 19 at 
Congregation Shaarey Zedek in 
Southfield, and is sponsored by 
the Louis C. and Edith Blumberg 
Foundation in memory of 
Alene and Graham Landau (z”l). 
Register at https://shaareyzedek.
shulcloud.com/event/creating-
shanghai-sonatas.html.

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2023, 7:00 P.M.

Creating Shanghai Sonatas
Creating Shanghai Sonatas

Soundstage Shaarey Zedek

To register for Creating Shanghai Sonatas,
scan the QR code or visit: tinyurl.com/CSZsonatas

A special musical evening telling the story of the Jewish refugees
that came to Shanghai to escape the Holocaust. Performed and created
by violin virtuoso Sean Gao, his 6-WIRE ensemble, and guest artists.
Free to the community, although registration is requested.
Patron level available for preferred seating.

Generously sponsored by the Louis C. and Edith Blumberg
Foundation in memory of Alene and Graham Landau (z”l)

continued from page 23

