Songs of Truth, a Co-Sponsored Event

Songs of Truth

Sunday, January 26, 2025

A live concert and multimedia experience:

helping communities combat xenophobia and antisemitism and build bridges of empathy.

Presented by Congregation Rodef Sholom and the Women of Rodef Sholom, with outreach partners at the Osher Marin JCC and the Marin Interfaith Council.

Sunday, January 26, 2025 - 2:00 PM

Rodef Sholom - 170 N San Pedro Rd, San Rafael

Songs of Truth began with a simple melody scratched out on a piece of paper by Ilse Weber in 1944. A young Jewish composer imprisoned in a Nazi concentration camp, Weber was murdered in Auschwitz, but her music survived. In 2023, Music Director Urs Leonhardt Steiner and the Golden Gate Symphony arranged Weber’s work for orchestra and chorus, and Songs of Truth was born. 

Songs of Truth interweaves archival media, live narration and musical performance to bring Ilse Weber’s personal story alive.  The project pays tribute to the talent and resilience of six Jewish composers who continued to create music while imprisoned by the Nazis. This unique blend of first person storytelling, archival media and live performance provides a unique window into learning about the Holocaust that teaches empathy and invites diverse audiences to reflect on the rise of antisemitism, division and hate today. 

Songs of Truth is led by Urs Leonhardt Steiner - Founder & Conductor of the Golden Gate Symphony, with multimedia documentary storytelling by Kate Stilley Steiner, co-founder of the Bay Area’s own Citizen Film, and music curation support from San Francisco’s Contemporary Jewish Museum and Holocaust Music Lost & Found. 

The event at Rodef Sholom will feature students from Brandeis Marin, led by Music Teacher Mike Rennie, and is presented in collaboration with outreach partners at the Osher Marin JCC and the Marin Interfaith Council.

Songs of Truth was made possible by the generous support of the Leavitt Family Fund, the Walnut Fund, the Lisa S. Pritzker Family Foundation and hundreds of individual donors, in partnership with The Golden Gate Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, Citizen Film, Holocaust Music Lost and Found, the Contemporary Jewish Museum, and the JFCS Holocaust Center.

Click HERE for more information