Weekend Passport: Requiem Concert In Solidarity With Genocide Victims

People light candles to mark a day of memory for the victims of the Holodomor in 1932-1933 at the former KGB building in Vilnius, Lithuania, Friday, Nov. 25, 2016.
People light candles to mark a day of memory for the victims of the Holodomor in 1932-1933 at the former KGB building in Vilnius, Lithuania, Friday, Nov. 25, 2016. Mindaugas Kulbis / AP Photo
People light candles to mark a day of memory for the victims of the Holodomor in 1932-1933 at the former KGB building in Vilnius, Lithuania, Friday, Nov. 25, 2016.
People light candles to mark a day of memory for the victims of the Holodomor in 1932-1933 at the former KGB building in Vilnius, Lithuania, Friday, Nov. 25, 2016. Mindaugas Kulbis / AP Photo

Weekend Passport: Requiem Concert In Solidarity With Genocide Victims

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The world has and continues to face many genocides. The Ukrainian Genocide Famine Foundation (UGFF-USA), based in Chicago, has argued for decades that people need to be more literate in identifying and discussing genocides. The Ukrainian Genocide, known as the Holodomor, occurred 85 years ago. Stalin’s agricultural policy withheld food from millions of Ukrainians. According to UGFF board member, Fr. Myron Panchuk, the genocide debates around the Irish Potato Famine, the starvation of Dakota Indians in 1862, and even 2017’s Rohingya genocide, are to the detriment of victims.

Andrew Koehler is directing the Kalamazoo Philharmonia in the North American premiere of composer Yevhen Sankovych’s Ukrainian Requiem at the Harris Theater. The performance is dedicated in memory of all genocide victims, recognized and unrecognized. In this week’s Weekend Passport, we’re joined by Panchuk and Koehler, along with arts contributor Nari Safavi.