Remembering Alexander Tamir: A special Encore from the ( Lebensmelodien)

, Lebensmelodien: A specialEncore in memory of Prof. Alexander Tamir from the concert the day Alexander Tamir passed away. This short piece was composed byAlexanderWolkovsky, an11yearsold boy in the Vilna Ghetto winning a Judenrat competition in April 1943 encouraging cultural endeavors in the ghetto. The song describes the events at Ponary as a mother singing a lullaby to her son. She tells him of the tragedy of Vilna but expresses her hope that from the darkness light will break forth. Most people have never heard of Alexander Wolkovsky. Lovers of classical music know him by his Hebrew name, Alexander Tamir. The change of identity included the deliberate erasing of the memory. Tamir, who survived the holocaust, diedon the 15th ofAugust 2019 in did not want to remember those horrific daysin the Vilna Ghetto. What he wanted to do was to play classical music on the piano and to teach young people how to appreciate music.