Remembering Babi Yar
Writer Yevgeny Yevtushenko reads his renowned poem, “Babi Yar,” in commemoration of the 65th anniversary of the massacre in Kiev at a ravine called Babi Yar. On September 29 and 30, 1941, more than 30,000 Jews — along with Soviet prisoners of war, gypsies and underground fighters — were murdered by the Nazis.
The event, Babi Yar Remembered: Yevtushenko and Shostakovitch in Word and Song, includes a performance of the world premiere of the two-piano version of the first movement of Dmitri Shostakovitch’s Symphony No. 13, which is based on Yevtushenko’s poem. The work is performed by pianists Misha and Cipa Dichter, bass soloist Valentin Peytchinov and a male chorus, led by conductor Patrick Gardner.
Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust, 36 Battery Pl.; Sept. 27, 7 p.m.; $25-$65. (646-437-4202 or www.mjhnyc.org)
Why I became the Forward’s editor-in-chief
You are surely a friend of the Forward if you’re reading this. And so it’s with excitement and awe — of all that the Forward is, was, and will be — that I introduce myself to you as the Forward’s newest editor-in-chief.
And what a time to step into the leadership of this storied Jewish institution! For 129 years, the Forward has shaped and told the American Jewish story. I’m stepping in at an intense time for Jews the world over. We urgently need the Forward’s courageous, unflinching journalism — not only as a source of reliable information, but to provide inspiration, healing and hope.
, editor-in-chiefSupport our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
