Join Classical 91.5 and WXXI for a special 20-minute sneak preview of the hour-long documentary, Harbor from the Holocaust, followed by a discussion at the Virtual Little Theatre. The film features a musical score by Composer Chad Cannon and performances by traditional Chinese guzheng player Bei Bei Monter and cellist Yo Yo Ma.
Harbor from the Holocaust screens September 3 at 6:30 p.m. via the Little Theatre's Facebook page. The film shares the story of 20,000 Jewish refugees who fled Nazi-occupied Europe during World War II to the city of Shanghai. It explores the extraordinary relationship the refugees, known as “Shanghailanders,” had with their adopted city, through the bitter years of Japanese occupation 1937-1945 and the Chinese civil war that followed.
Reflections on creating the textured musical score for “Harbor from the Holocaust” by composer Chad Cannon, ciolinist Niv Ashkenazi and Cantor Avram Mlotek. The music includes many personal and cultural influences, and features traditional Chinese guzheng played by Bei Bei Monter, and world renowned Cellist Yo Yo Ma playing passages throughout the score.
The screening will be followed by a discussion on the film and how the music in the film evokes the time, the fear, the pain and the joy of the “Shanghailanders.” WXXI Classical 91.5 host Mona Seghatoleslami will introduce the film and moderate the discussion with a guest panel that includes: Michael N. Dobkowski, Professor of Religious Studies at Hobart and William Smith Colleges; Sheila Gissin Weinbach, family member and friend of Holocaust survivors who escaped to China; and Renée Jolles, Wegman Family Professor of Violin, Eastman School of Music; Concertmaster, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra; founder of the Holocaust Remembrance Concert series at the Eastman School of Music.

This screening is presented in partnership with The Jewish Federation of Greater Rochester.
Harbor from the Holocaust airs on WXXI-TV Tuesday, September 8 at 10 p.m.