'Defiant Requiem' film screening and concert by the Silver Duo, Oct. 29 - UMaine News

UMaine Alert

Posted: April 19, 2024 - 1:32 PM

At approximately 9:24 a.m. on Thursday, April 19, a University of Maine graduate student was struck by a university vehicle on Long Road at the University of Maine campus in Orono. The student reports that they are at a local hospital with minor injuries.

Emergency services, including the Orono Fire Department, University Volunteer Ambulance Corps, University of Maine Police Department, Orono Police Department and Penobscot County Sheriff’s Office responded to the scene.

The university vehicle involved in the incident was a Chevrolet Express van. It was being operated by a university employee.

Counseling services and support are available for students, faculty or staff who may have been affected. The Counseling Center can be reached at 207-581-1392 and the Dean of Students Office can be reached at 207-581-1406.

The scene has been cleared and Long Road is now accessible. An investigation is being conducted by the University of Maine Police Department with assistance from the Penobscot County Sheriff’s Office Crash Reconstruction Unit. Any witnesses to the incident are encouraged to contact Lt. Noel Santiago at noel.santiago@maine.edu.

‘Defiant Requiem’ film screening and concert by the Silver Duo, Oct. 29

October 19, 2017 Arts, Outreach, School of Performing Arts

UMaine will host a screening of the award-winning holocaust documentary “Defiant Requiem,” followed by a concert by the Silver Duo featuring music composed by concentration camp prisoners.

The screening and concert will take place at 1 p.m., Oct. 29 in Minsky Recital Hall, and is free and open to the public.

“Defiant Requiem” tells the story of acts of defiance and resistance against the Nazis by prisoners at Terezín concentration camp during World War II. Imprisoned conductor Rafael Schächter taught 150 prisoners to perform Verdi’s “Requiem,” to help them sustain hope and courage and to sing to the Nazis what they dared not say.

Murry Sidlin, president and creative director of the Defiant Requiem Foundation, will be present to discuss the film. Sidlin’s multimedia concert, “Defiant Requiem: Verdi at Terezín,” inspired the making of the film.

Following the screening, UMaine professors Noreen Silver, cello, and Phillip Silver, piano, will perform a selection of music composed in the Terezín.

The film is a powerful and sensitive statement on the ability of human beings to find inspiration and dignity through music in the most inhuman of places, says Phillip.

For the past four years, Philip has been performing in an ensemble directed by Sidlin that focuses on the composers imprisoned in Terezín and the music they composed while there.

“As the lurch into darkness infects more and more places in our world, this film gains in importance and relevance to remind and hopefully prevent a return to the truly terrible times in which the events portrayed occurred,” adds Philip.

This event is co-sponsored by the University of Maine Judaic Studies Program, congregations Beth Abraham, Beth El, and Beth Israel in Bangor, and by a grant from the Jewish Community Endowment Associates.

For more information contact Philip, 207.581.1783. To request a disability accommodation, contact Kerry Davis, 207.581.4703.

Contact: Alan Berry, 581.1955