"ECHOES FROM THE DARKNESS" -- my opera commission based upon the Terezin diaries of Petr and Eva Ginz.
John Califra
working with Kevin Michael Godley to create a truly America form of music theater....."America; WTF!" it features Uncle Sam, Harriet Tubman and FDR as Nazi hunters in 21st century America! Scenes shall be posted.
Years ago, I scored a film - "The Last Flight of Petr Ginz"(Sandra Dickson, dir) - an animated documentary drawn from the diary of a precociously gifted Czech boy. Petr Ginz's extraordinary gifts embraced the arts and literature. He was also highly intelligent and curious - and his interests ranged from the arts to the sciences to literature and history. He was also, a Jew. His diary documenting day to day life in Prague during its Nazi occupation was begun when he was 12 years old. At 14, he was imprisoned in the Terezin Concentration Camp. There, he continued his writing - which grew more insightful, more deeply humanistic and remarkably, given the circumstances, more transcendently optimistic. Petr was removed from Terezin at 16 and taken to Auschwitz where, he was murdered. In the years since completing the project Ive read and re-read the diary. Then, a few weeks ago, I was commissioned to create a chamber opera - adapting the libretto from the diaries of Petr and his sister, Eva, who was also imprisoned in Terezin. I am especially humbled that the project has the enthusiastic support of Petr's surviving family. The score will be for chamber ensemble of strings, winds and piano. The two solo voices will be supplemented by an SATB choir. The work will premier in a program featuring the work of Terezin composers. The Opera will constituted the entire second half of the program. The premier will be in November 2020 at the Center for Jewish History in New York. Subsequent performances are being planned at other venues in the USA and Europe......The opera will have no relationship to the film score Id written for the film. Still, the isolated scenes give a sense of Petr's work and character. here is one