Kantor Grabowski. Welcome to the concert in the synagogue on February 23rd!

We celebrate Josef Grabowski's musical life

At the end of February 1943, cantor Josef Grabowski was deported from Norway along with 157 other Jews. Most of them from Trøndelag, Møre- og Romsdal and Northern Norway. Grabowski had come to Trondheim as a refugee only a few years earlier after the rise of Nazism in Germany. He had with him a classical music and cantor education from Germany, and a beautiful singing voice that within a short time left its mark on Trondheim's cultural history.

Josef had a rich cultural background, characterized by both the German-romantic, the Eastern European-Yiddish, and the Jewish-religious. For this reason, Josef was used not only in church services, but also in weddings and classical concerts. After the arrest of the Jews in Trondheim, Josef was sent to Falstad prison camp. There he was forced to sing by German guards. In Julius Paltiel's book it is described as follows: "In the middle of this hell we hear his clear tenor. In a slightly perverse moment, prisoners and guards feel a community in the music.” Josef Grabowski was later sent to Auschwitz and killed, March 3, 1943.

On Sunday, February 23, we invite you to a concert in the synagogue, and we will celebrate this cultural heritage by breathing life into the music that Grabowski held close to his heart. The experienced musicians Morten Michelsen and Tor-Petter Aanes have interpreted a selection of musical pieces that cover this diversity of different cultural heritage, with romanticism, klezmer and Jewish liturgy – sung in Yiddish, German and French. The mediator at the Jewish Museum Trondheim, Eirik Wicklund, will talk about Josef Grabowski’s life and history.

Everyone who wishes to participate is most welcome.

About the musicians
Tor-Petter Aanes is a musician, composer, choir conductor and orchestra leader. He has studied classical singing at NTNU and the University of Tromsø. He has participated in several international productions, including with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra and the Berlin Philharmonic. As a founding member of Urban Tunélls Klezmerband, he has toured much of Europe and the USA, and released several albums. Their next project will be with the Broadcasting Orchestra (KORK) in Store Studio, April 4.

Morten Michelsen is a clarinetist with education from the Norwegian Academy of Music and the Conservatoire National de Versailles. He is employed by the Armed Forces Staff Music Corps in Oslo. Michelsen has broad experience, including as a musical director and musician on countless productions with the National Theatre, the National Theatre, Hålogaland Theatre, the Norwegian Theatre, Oslo New Theatre, the Oslo Philharmonic and KORK. Together with Aanes, Michelsen established Urban Tunélls Klezmerband, which has over 20 years of experience within the klezmer tradition, with a number of concerts at home and abroad, as well as several releases.

Information
Location: Synagogen, Arkitekt Christies gate 1B

Date and time: Sunday, February 23, at 18:00

Tickets can be pre-ordered via hoopla. See link below.

Organizers: Jewish Museum Trondheim, in collaboration with the Jewish Community in Trondheim and the Jewish Cultural Festival Trondheim.