Music of Remembrance was established in 1998 to remember the Holocaust and honor its lessons with concert performances, recordings, and educational programs. In addition to discovering and performing music from that period, we look beyond the Holocaust itself to address the experience of others who have been excluded or persecuted for their faith, ethnicity, gender, or sexuality. Our commissioning program is unique in the world, bringing over 30 new works into the world. These varied commissions include chamber works, choral music, song cycles, musical dramas, fully-staged operas, film scores, and choreography.

Music that Matters! We tell stories that communicate urgent lessons for today. Our recent programs have introduced new works speaking out on:

the separation of families at the Mexican border
the struggles of child boat refugees
the threats of nuclear war
the consequences of religious intolerance
the wartime incarceration of Japanese Americans
the persecution of gay people by the Nazis

In addition to our concerts at Seattle’s Benaroya Hall, we now perform annually in San Francisco and will travel to Chicago in spring 2023. Thousands of people have been ​​​​​touched by our online concerts, nine audio CDs, three documentary films, and an opera DVD and outreach programs. Bringing new generations along on MOR’s journey, our annual young artist award has helped nurture young musicians hoping to address human rights questions through their art.