“Singing Saved My Life” is a sentiment that resonates with anyone who has ever found strength through song in times of sorrow, trials, and upheaval. The program begins with a Mass in F Major (1941) by Austrian composer Marcel Tyberg. During the dark days of World War II, Tyberg, a devout Roman Catholic, was arrested by the Nazis because one of his great-great-grandfathers had been registered as Jewish. Performing a final concert of his works for his friends, one described his “face shone transfigured and happily smiling out of the dimness.” He was deported to Auschwitz, and died in 1944.

In addition to works by Felix Mendelssohn, Dan Forrest, and Kim Andre Arnesen, the second part of this program, Holocaust Cantata (1998), features actual songs from concentration camp prisoners — men and women, Polish soldiers, and Jewish internees. This collection of songs was translated from the Polish and arranged by Donald McCullough from archives of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. From this work comes “Singing Saved My Life,” a quote from a prisoner who sang in a secret camp barracks quartet: “It wasn’t long before other performers joined us in our evening events to gain a few moments of escape for themselves, while providing a means for their comrades in misery to also escape.”

The Master Singers Chorale is pleased to welcome many collaborating artists on this concert. Cellist Rebecca Kuo Konow will be featured on Holocaust Cantata and on the cello solo “Prayer” by Ernest Bloch. Soloists Nicole Smith (soprano), Rachael Pavloski (mezzo-soprano), and Daniel Yutzy (baritone) will be highlighted in Holocaust Cantata and the Mass, as will organist Charlotte Beers Plank (on April 28 only) and the Master Singers Chorale’s collaborative pianist Anne Dalby on piano. FREE ADMISSION. Master Singers appreciates the support of the Ohio Arts Council and Akron Community Foundation.