Donate today via our Support Page
News
The Lost Music of Auschwitz is on sale now
To commemorate 80 years since the liberation of Auschwitz, this new opera-ballet will tell the stories of the prisoner orchestras and feature forgotten and restored music from the camp.
Constella Music is premiering a new opera-ballet production, created in collaboration with acclaimed choreographer Claudia Schreier. Featuring singers, dancers, and instrumentalists on stage, the production harnesses the expressive power of song, movement, and music to reveal the truth about the prisoner orchestras of Auschwitz.
Rather than follow a traditional narrative arc, the production unfolds through a series of vignettes, each capturing astonishing and deeply emotional moments where music became a source of defiance, solace, or grief. These include marching songs embedded with hidden messages for fellow inmates, a sorrowful piece arranged and performed by the women’s orchestra, and a lullaby that clings to the distant memory of home and children.
The production is based on a collection of music manuscripts found in the archives of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum—written, arranged, and performed by the prisoner orchestras. Damaged and incomplete, these manuscripts have long been overlooked.
​
​
​
​
Eighty years after the liberation of Auschwitz, we offer this work as a new way to commemorate the greatest tragedy humanity has inflicted upon itself. Through this production, we gather in remembrance. And together, we strive to be better.Tickets are on sale now, starting at £22.
​
Leo recently spoke to The Times about the project.
We're Hiring
Please visit here to see the latest opportunities.
Orchestras of Auschwitz
Leo recently appeared on Radio 4 to present this new documentary about his research.
The programme asks what more we can learn and understand about the experience and legacy of the Holocaust by listening to the music that was created and performed by prisoners of Auschwitz.
​
Listen here.
​
Presenter: Leo Geyer
Producer: Eva Krysiak
Executive Producer: Jack Howson
A Peanut & Crumb production for BBC Radio 4
Sky Arts released the documentary-film about Leo Geyer's restorations of music written and performed in Auschwitz performed by Constella Music on Jan 20th at 9 pm.
It can be watched via this link.
Constella Music are creating an opera-ballet to showcase this music for the first time, and we need your support to make this possible.
If you would like to hear more of this music, please consider making a donation below.
We premiered the first-ever recording of Kołysanka (Lullaby), a poignant composition written in Auschwitz in 1941. The video has already had over 25k views so far and the response has been truly heartwarming.
​
Leo spoke to the BBC about the composition twice (World at One & Newshour) and there was great coverage in the Polish press.
We are still quite a way off our financial target for this essential project and need your support to make it possible. If you would like to hear more of this music, please consider making a small donation below.
Imagine the impact if each of our 25,000 listeners would donate just £5!
​
Press
The Lost Music of Auschwitz​
​​
“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”
​
​​
"Extraordinary"
​
​
Holocaust documentary features music performed on a violin that survived Auschwitz
​
​
British composer Leo Geyer on documenting the lost music of Auschwitz.
​
​
Orchestras of Auschwitz​
​​​
"A rediscovered lullaby from Auschwitz"
​
Norman Lebrecht, Slippedisc
​​
"Lullaby from Auschwitz played for the first time since the war"
​
​
"Restored music composed by Pole at Auschwitz premiered on YouTube"
​
​
“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
November 2023
Constella 10th Anniversary
_edited_edited.png){kind=small}
_edited.png){kind=small}
_edited_edited.png){kind=small}
_edited_edited.png){kind=small}
Constella OperaBallet relaunches as Constella Music and calls for support for new production about the Orchestras of Auschwitz. 10th Anniversary event took place on the 27th November 2023 at Lilian Baylis, Sadlers Wells.
Press links:
https://edition.cnn.com/2023/11/24/style/music-auschwitz-premier-gbr-scli-intl/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2023/11/29/sheet-music-holocaust-auschwitz-composer/
https://www.historynet.com/secret-music-auschwitz/
​
​
​
https://player.fm/series/moncrieff-highlights/composer-revives-music-written-by-auschwitz-orchestra
​
​
​
​
https://www.aftonbladet.se/nyheter/a/VPnAqd/musik-fran-auschwitz-spelad-efter-80-ar
​
https://cnnespanol.cnn.com/2023/11/24/musica-compuesta-campos-auschwitz-sonara-restauracion-trax/​
