Arts & Culture

Concert on Holocaust Struggle Presented at UK

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Feb. 25, 2011) − "The opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference. The opposite of art is not ugliness, it's indifference. The opposite of faith is not heresy, it's indifference. And the opposite of life is not death, it's indifference." - Elie Wiesel

The University of Kentucky Symphony Band invites the public to escape the winter weather and attend a special performance of "Night," composed by Robert Rumbelow, director of Bands at the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, and based on the book of the same name by Elie Wiesel.  The performace takes place at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Feb. 28, at Singletary Center for the Arts Concert Hall. This event is free and open to the public.

"Night" recounts Elie Wiesel's test of faith and struggle for life through the horrors of the Holocaust. Wiesel and his family are packed into a crowded cattle car and shipped to the Auschwitz-Birkenau complex, where this young boy survives inhumanities that cause him to question a silent God who could let such suffering occur. The concert performance will be accompanied by special lighting and projected images that further illustrate the horror, tragedy and triumph of Wiesel's story.

Other pieces to be performed that evening are: "An American Fanfare" by Rick Kirby; "Satiric Dances" by Norman Dello Joio; Mass from "La Fiesta Mexicana" by H. Owen Reed; and First Suite in E-flat by Gustav Holst.

Chuck Campbell, conductor of the Heartland Winds, and Joe D. Moore, a doctoral conducting candidate at UK School of Music in the UK College of Fine Arts, will serve as guest conductors during the event.

The UK Symphony Band is comprised of music majors and talented musicians from other majors across campus. Conducted by George Boulden, associate director of UK Bands, the group performs music for large and chamber ensembles.