In honour of International Day of Remembrance for the Victims of the Holocaust, the Johannesburg Holocaust & Genocide Centre, the Embassy of Italy in Pretoria, the Consulate General of Italy in Johannesburg, Rosa Luxemberg Stiftung and the Istituto Italiano di Cultura invite you to join us for a screening of the acclaimed film, Maestro: In Search of the Last Music, with formal remarks, a candle lighting ceremony by Holocaust survivors, and a performance by acclaimed violinist Sharon De Kock.

The docu-film Maestro makes use of an extremely evocative footage, and manages to retrace the memory of a number of musicians who fell victim to the Holocaust (Shoah). He collected, restored and brought back to life their melodies – sometimes just scribbled on toilet paper – before they vanish within the silence of history.

Sharon De Kock has been a violinist in the Odeion String Quartet and violin lecturer at the University of the Free State since 2008. She has performed and lectured internationally,  returning to South Africa in 2006 and performs regularly as soloist and chamber musician. In June of 2021, Sharon graduated with a DMus degree from the North-West University (NWU) in Potchefstroom. As an avid advocate for teaching children who do not have access to lessons and instruments, Sharon started a community project, Violins for Peace, at the St Patrick”s Anglican church (Bloemfontein) in Jan of 2022. Thanks to the Istituto di Letteratura Musicale Concentrazionaria, Barletta (Italy) for access to the music that will be played at the concert.

RSVP here