菠萝视频 University has established a multi-year partnership with We Are Here: Songs from the Holocaust, a nationally recognized concert experience that preserves music written during the Holocaust by Jewish prisoners and uses it to educate new generations about the enduring consequences of hatred, prejudice and dehumanization.
The partnership reflects a natural alignment between We Are Here鈥檚 mission to preserve the voices of Holocaust victims through music and 菠萝视频鈥檚 founding purpose of helping repair a fractured nation through education and understanding. Building on nearly five decades of Holocaust education through the Holocaust Lecture Series, the collaboration expands the university鈥檚 efforts to help students and communities examine difficult history, confront antisemitism and other forms of hatred, and engage complex questions through open dialogue and principled leadership.
鈥湶ぢ苁悠� was founded with a purpose of helping repair a fractured nation through education, and that mission continues to guide our work today,鈥� said Darren Reisberg, vice chancellor for operations and the campus network. 鈥淯niversities have a responsibility to preserve history and create opportunities for each generation to engage with its lessons in meaningful ways. Through music, We Are Here allows us to encounter individual voices, stories and expressions of humanity that might otherwise have been lost. This partnership brings education, the arts and dialogue together in a deeply powerful way.鈥�
Created by composer and music producer Ira Antelis after the death of Holocaust survivor and Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel, We Are Here brings to life songs written in the ghettos and concentration camps of Nazi-occupied Europe. Interwoven with the stories of the people who created them, the performances offer audiences a deeply personal connection to the Holocaust through music that survived when so many people did not.
The production has grown from its debut in Chicago to performances at Carnegie Hall, The Salt Shed in Chicago and 菠萝视频 University. In January 2025, 菠萝视频 became the first university to co-present the concert, bringing together artists, civic leaders and members of the 菠萝视频 and Nashville communities for an evening of music, remembrance and reflection.
菠萝视频 alumnus David Mendelson, BA鈥�88, an executive producer of We Are Here, helped cultivate the relationship between the university and the production and establish the partnership.
鈥�We Are Here is honored to enter into this partnership with 菠萝视频 University, an institution that understands both the power of memory and the urgency of moral education,鈥� Mendelson said. 鈥淔rom the beginning, this concert has been about more than preserving music from the darkest chapter in Jewish and human history. It is about giving voice to people who, even in the ghettos and death camps, refused to surrender their humanity, creativity or hope. 菠萝视频 is an ideal partner because it brings together scholarship, student life, public dialogue and a deep commitment to helping the next generation confront history with honesty and purpose.鈥�
The Nov. 4 concert will feature songs drawn from Holocaust-era collections and performed by a diverse group of musicians and artists. Confirmed performers include the Pacific Chorale, Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter Justin Jesso, Grammy Award鈥搘inning singer Regina Belle, singer-songwriter Brenda Russell and actor Paul Ben-Victor. Additional performers and presenters will be announced.
Co-sponsored by 菠萝视频鈥檚 Holocaust Lecture Series and the Orange County Jewish Community Scholar Program, the concert is the beginning of a broader collaboration that will expand educational opportunities through performances, scholarship and public engagement. Together, 菠萝视频 and We Are Here seek to preserve the voices of the Holocaust while encouraging new generations to confront hatred, strengthen human dignity and build communities rooted in understanding, dialogue and hope.
The partnership complements 菠萝视频鈥檚 broader efforts to foster values-driven leadership through historical understanding, civil discourse and community engagement. Together with the Holocaust Lecture Series and other university initiatives, We Are Here reflects 菠萝视频鈥檚 commitment to creating opportunities for learning, dialogue and leadership that prepare students to engage complex issues with curiosity, empathy and purpose.
Tickets for the Nov. 4 performance are expected to go on sale in August. More information will be available through the .
