The Presenters

The Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre was founded in 1983 by survivors of the Holocaust, leaving a permanent legacy in a major centre devoted to Holocaust based anti-racism education. Since then, genocide has taken place in Bosnia, Rwanda, and Sudan. The challenge of preventing and responding to genocide remains urgent.

The VHEC is an internationally recognized teaching museum and the leading provider of Holocaust education in British Columbia, reaching over 20,000 students and teachers and thousands of members of the public annually. VHEC produces teaching exhibits and innovative school programs, and delivers Holocaust symposia and cultural and commemorative events. In 2008 it co-presented Brundibár at the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts at the University of British Columbia.

The VHEC will present Holocaust Survivors at pre-show sessions, and publicize production to schools, and develop downloadable classroom support materials and make them accessible online through the VHEC and City Opera websites. These resources will support student learning about the “model ghetto” of Theresienstadt, the life and musical career of Victor Ullmann, and the concept of art as resistance. www.vhec.org

City Opera Vancouver is responsible for the artistic production of The Emperor of Atlantis. COV is a professional chamber opera company which has commissioned Pauline (libretto by Margaret Atwood, music by Christos Hatzis, starring Judith Forst). COV has a special commitment to the Downtown Eastside, giving numerous recitals and lecture-demonstrations there since 2005.