Professor of Music Ralf Yusuf Gawlick
Professor of Music Ralf Yusuf Gawlick’s new oratorio “O Lungo (D)rom (The Long Road)” had its world premiere in the renowned Konzerthaus Berlin on October 23, featuring distinguished soloists Johanna Zimmer (soprano), Georg Gädker (baritone), László Racz (cimbalom), and the Alban Berg Ensemble Wien. The work sets the words of 13 different Romani poets and writers in 10 languages and Romani dialects—contemporary texts that deal with the centuries-old history of this continuously persecuted ethnic minority in Europe and address both the painful and hopeful moments.
“O Lungo (D)rom (The Long Road)” was the musical centerpiece of an international conference, “Commemoration of the Holocaust against the Sinti and Roma: Current Developments and Challenges,” sponsored by the Central Council of German Sinti and Roma; it was organized for the 10th anniversary celebration of the inauguration of the Memorial to the Sinti and Roma Victims of National Socialism. Keynote speakers included Frank-Walter Steinmeier, president of the Federal Republic of Germany, and the oratorio’s dedicatee Romani Rose, chairman of the Central Council of German Sinti and Roma.
University Communications | November 2022