South African contemporary music composer Philip Miller presented his new composition Kaunas Kantata in Cape Town
On September 6, 2022 South African Jewish Museum hosted a preview of the Kaunas Kantata, set to premiere at the Kaunas – European Capital of Culture 2022 celebrations in Lithuania on September 30 - October 1.
A renowned South African composer Phillip Miller talked about his long lasting collaboration with the city of Kaunas to present lost voices of Kaunas (Kovno) Jews, reminding that Kaunas has always been a multiethnic city and Jews were important part of city’s identity.
The centerpiece of the Litvak Culture Forum, Kaunas Kantata, has been created in collaboration with visual artist Jenny Kagan. The Kaunas Kantata, balanced and nuanced musical take on tragic and very painful period in Lithuania‘s history, tells the complex story of the Holocaust, and the trauma it has left in the lives of generations and individuals in the language of music, texts and images. The premiere will be performed by a South African tenor Tshegofatso Moeng and over 200 musicians, the Kaunas Symphony Orchestra, choirs, narrators and various ensembles.
Diana Kopilevic, Charge d`Affairs of the Republic of Lithuania in South Africa, thanked the South African Jewish Museum for continued collaboration. She expresses the wish, shared by the audience, to see future performances of this fascinating work in South Africa and all around the world.
Academics, historians, museum professionals, education experts, representatives of the art world, and community members - the Litvak Culture Forum in Kaunas will bring together dozens of speakers from various fields and countries. Many of the guests will be visiting the land of their ancestors for the first time.
