Voices of Terezin Guest Lecture Series - Mark Ludwig

The KSC Voices of Terezin Guest Lecture Series presents Mark Ludwig, executive director of the Terezin Music Foundation & violist with the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

Mr. Ludwig's topic is "Viktor Ullmann’s ‘Der Kaiser von Atlantis’ and the Meaning of Death."

In 1943, Viktor Ullmann, a Jewish prisoner and composer in the Nazi concentration camp of Terezín, completed his one act opera Der Kaiser von Atlantis oder Die Tod-Verweigerung (The Emperor of Atlantis or Death Abdicates). Within the context of deprivation and death in Terezín, Fulbright and Holocaust Music scholar Mark Ludwig explores how this unique opera served as both a satire on Hitler and a parable in the search for meaning in life and death.

Mr. Ludwig will be participating in a 2-day residency at Keene State (Nov 30-Dec 1), providing classroom visitations, a public lecture, and participation in a film panel discussion with the KSC Film Society. Mr. Ludwig's residency is made possible through a gift from the KSC-Pepsico Partnership.

The College's Voices of Terezin project commemorates the remarkable artistry that took place at Terezin, despite the inhumane conditions of the camp, and offers evidence of the triumph of human spirit during the Holocaust, as expressed through music and the other arts. The project is co-sponsored by the School of Arts & Humanities, Redfern Arts Center, Cohen Center for Holocaust & Genocide Studies, Music Department, Holocaust & Genocide Studies Department, KSC-Pepsico Partnership, and the KSC Film Society.