In honor of Holocaust Remembrance Day, Congregation Rodef Sholom, the Women of Rodef Sholom, Osher Marin JCC, Marin Interfaith Council, and Brandeis Marin are proud to host Songs of Truth, an unforgettable tribute to the talent and resilience of Jewish composers who created music while imprisoned during the Holocaust.  Songs of Truth provides a unique window into learning about the Holocaust through music & storytelling, while inspiring audiences to recognize, reflect on, and resist the rise of antisemitism 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 Holocaust Music Lost & Found. The event in our sanctuary will feature students from Brandeis Marin, led by the school's Music Director, Mike Rennie.

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 was made possible by the generous support of the Leavitt Family Fund, the Walnut Fund, Roselyne Chroman Swig, the Lisa S. Pritzker Family Foundation and hundreds of individual donors, in partnership with: Congregation Rodef Sholom, Women of Rodef Sholom, Osher Marin JCC, the Marin Interfaith Council, Brandeis Marin, The Golden Gate Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, Citizen Film, Holocaust Music Lost and Found, the Contemporary Jewish Museum, and the JFCS Holocaust Center.