LONG-FORGOTTEN MUSICAL COMPOSITIONS AND ARRANGEMENTS BY HOLOCAUST PRISONERS HAVE BEEN RESCUED FROM OBSCURITY. 80 YEARS ON FROM THE LIBERATION OF AUSCHWITZ, IT’S TIME TO BRING THEM BACK TO LIFE.

In 2015 Leo Geyer, Constella Music's Artistic Director, came across a large collection of musical manuscripts by accident during a visit to Auschwitz. His journey to research, restore, and perform this music has been documented by Sky Arts — receiving critical acclaim across the board.

Now, with your support, we want to share more of these works with the world. Eighty years after the liberation of Auschwitz, Constella is presenting The Orchestras of Auschwitz, a run of five full-length performances in June 2025, comprising music, ballet, and storytelling.

Join us in bringing these extraordinary compositions to the stage and ensuring their place in history.

The Orchestras of Auschwitz

The brutal reality of Auschwitz often played out against a backdrop of jaunty music. An orchestra of prisoners was forced to entertain Nazi officers and perform as their fellow captives marched to and from work.

However, as composer Leo Geyer discovered when he first encountered over 200 musical manuscripts during a visit to Auschwitz in 2015, the prisoners also resisted in subtle ways, embedding hidden melodies that only their fellow captives would recognise. One composition, titled Futile Regrets, deeply moved Geyer.

Thus began Geyer’s mission: to preserve the musical legacy of Auschwitz, to honor the lives lost, and to ensure their stories—and their music—are never forgotten.

At one point, Auschwitz had as many as six orchestras that were sanctioned by the SS. It’s difficult to imagine a more macabre setting for music-making, but for some, like Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, who played cello, the music literally saved their lives.

“That I survived nearly one year in Auschwitz is without any doubt due to the fact that I became a member of the camp orchestra. As long as the Germans wanted music they wouldn’t put us in the gas chamber. Our task consisted of playing every morning and every evening at the gate of the camp so that the outgoing and incoming work commandos would march neatly in step to the marches we played. We sat out there in all weathers, sometimes in sub-zero temperatures. All the works we played had to be arranged and re-orchestrated for our peculiar collection of instruments.”

One of the pieces Leo found was Adam Kopyciński's Kołysanka (Lullaby), written while he was imprisoned in Auschwitz in 1941. We premiered the first-ever recording of this beautiful piece in October 2024.

We Need Your Support

Performances of ‘The Orchestras of Auschwitz,’ are planned for June 3rd-7th 2025, to commemorate 80 years since the liberation of Auschwitz. In addition to finalising the restoration of the music, the Constella team has begun working with internationally renowned choreographer Claudia Schreier to help bring the production vision to life.

Fundraising for this project has begun, and support has already been secured from several foundations championing the performing arts, the Harold Hyam Wingate Foundation, and Cockayne Grants for the Arts, but additional financial backing is still needed. The total cost of the production development and premiere week at The Bloomsbury Theatre in London is budgeted at £300,000.

Your support will help us fund:

- Further research and music composition work

- Choreography by Claudia Schreier

- Artists, creative and support team and much more

Excerpts of the music were performed at Constella’s 10th Anniversary Performance in Sadler’s Wells, and based on extensive national and international press coverage, we know there’s considerable interest in seeing this project realised. Our long-term ambition is to tour ‘The Orchestras of Auschwitz’ nationally and internationally. This music deserves to reach as wide and diverse an audience as possible. And after being lost for so many decades, it is now our collective responsibility to make it happen.

THIS MUSIC AND THESE STORIES FROM AUSCHWITZ MUST BE TOLD AND RETOLD FOR GENERATIONS TO COME. THEY ARE A WAY TO REMEMBER, TO EDUCATE, AND TO HEAL.

BY SUPPORTING THIS PROJECT YOU WILL BE HELPING TO PRESERVE AND HONOUR THE CULTURAL AND ARTISTIC EXPRESSIONS THAT EMERGED EVEN IN THE DARKEST TIMES OF HUMAN HISTORY

Press Coverage

Sky Arts released a documentary film about Leo's research on Jan 20th. It can be watched via this link on Now TV.

For full listings please see our News page: https://www.constella.org.uk/news

“An incredible documentary” — Aida Baghernejad, The Guardian

“Groundbreaking” — George Simpson, Daily Express

“The stories are heart-rending, stomach-turning, but the film ends on a tentatively hopeful note” and “profoundly moving” — Dan Einav, Financial Times

"Extraordinary" — Maria Butt, Indepenent ​

"A rediscovered lullaby from Auschwitz" — Norman Lebrecht, Slippedisc

“Music composed at Auschwitz to be played for first time after being restored.” — Lianne Kolirin, CNN

“Sheet music written by Auschwitz prisoners collected dust for decades.— This British composer restored it.” — Abby Hughes, CBC Radio

“With the wave of a conductor’s baton, a heartbreaking melody began to resound inside a concert hall in London.” — María Luisa Paúl, Washington Post

“The Sadler’s Wells performance is just the beginning for Geyer, who seeks funding to complete the full score. His ambitious vision includes a London production followed by an international tour, ultimately bringing the music back to Poland.” — Olivia Gittel, The Jewish Chronicle

Supporters

Constella would like to thank the following organisations and donors for their generous support of this project.

Adrian and Jessica Nussenbaum

The Harold Hyam Wingate Foundation

Marie-Elvire Marteau

Aton Ben-Horin and Devon Reed McCutcheon

David Craigen

And other generous supporters who prefer to remain anonymous