Songs of Ashes - a song cycle for Holocaust Memorial Day

‘Songs of Ashes’ is Julian Dawes' setting of fifteen poems by the Polish poet Jerzy Ficowski, dedicated to all those who suffered and died during the Holocaust. It was first performed at the Spiro Institute in April 1992, on the eve of Yom Hashoa, Israel's Holocaust Memorial Day. This concert is in recognition of the UK's Holocaust Memorial Day on Thursday 27th January 2022.

The fifteen poems each tell a story that sets out to give a human face to the Holocaust, and the song-cycle symbolises man’s right to live in a just world.

The songs will be preceded by a reading by William Wollen of Holocaust poetry.