GIVING VOICE TO THE VOICELESS

Montreal Gazette
May 1 2008
Canada

Oratorio Terezin puts human faces on the holocaust, using a massive
choir to convey the emotions of children who perished in a nazi
concentration camp

And yet with its scriptural subtext, Fazal’s piece attempts to come
to terms with the question of God’s presence in the midst of any
faith-testing horror.

"The work starts off with I Remember," Phare said, referring to an
opening passage from the Book of Jeremiah. "And it’s God’s voice. It’s
about saying ‘I have not forgotten you.’ And that message is for
everybody. There’s tenderness and compassion."

In the end, the oratorio’s larger message is also about education
and remembering the individual, Phare said.

"It’s not just about the Holocaust," she said. "It’s about Darfur. And
it’s about Rwanda. And it’s about the Armenian genocide."

The three young choristers all agreed that they had been deeply
affected by Fazal’s piece. "It really brought a face to suffering in
general," Ayoup said. "It opened my eyes to the world – everything
in the Middle East, the genocides all over."

"I’m Jewish, and it’s given me permission to grieve for the Holocaust,"
Pearson said. "And that is huge. I’ve never connected with the tragedy
on anything more than an intellectual level. This piece has allowed me
to say, ‘I’m allowed to cry about this, to be devastated by this. And
that’s okay.’ "

Oratorio Terezin will be performed Sunday at 3 p.m. at Salle
Wilfrid Pelletier of Place des Arts. Tickets cost $7.82 to
$111.82. Call 514-790-1245 or go to Also see
For a video of choir rehearsals for the work,
go to www.vanier