The Silent Voices Project

The Sound of Silent Voices
The Silent Voices Project
Ton Beau String Quartet & Gershon Willinger
November 1, 2017
59:14

1 I Am a Jew (Poem) by Gershon Willinger 0:29
2 I Am a Jew by Beau String Quartet 1:49
3 Fear (Poem) by Gershon Willinger 0:57
4 Fear and Hope by Ton Beau String Quartet 2:57
5 Homesick (Poem) by Gershon Willinger 1:17
6 Homesick by Ton Beau String Quartet 2:19
7 The Butterfly (Poem) by Gershon Willinger 0:49
8 The Butterfly by Ton Beau String Quartet 4:17
9 An Evening in Terezin (Poem) by Gershon Willinger 1:00
10 String Quartet of the Ghetto by Ton Beau String Quartet 5:44
11 Forgotten (Poem) by Gershon Willinger 1:00
12 String Trio by Ton Beau String Quartet 2:53
13 Terezin (Poem) by Gershon Willinger 1:14
14 Terezin by Ton Beau String Quartet 2:07
15 Birdsong (Poem) by Gershon Willinger 0:52
16 Birdsong by Ton Beau String Quartet 2:03
17 The Little Mouse (Poem) by Gershon Willinger 0:36
18 The Little Mouse by Ton Beau String Quartet 1:23
19 Illness (Poem) by Gershon Willinger 0:23
20 String Quartet by Ton Beau String Quartet 3:35
21 The Closed Town (Poem) by Gershon Willinger 1:08
22 La Ville Fermee by Ton Beau String Quartet 3:29
23 The Old House (Poem) by Gershon Willinger 0:26
24 The Old House by Ton Beau String Quartet 3:37
25 The Garden (Poem) by Gershon Willinger 0:27
26 The Garden by Ton Beau String Quartet 4:42
27 It All Depends on How You Look at It (Poem) by Gershon Willinger 0:52
28 Eyes Now Clear by Ton Beau String Quartet 2:58
29 The World Thats Free by Ton Beau String Quartet 1:21
30 Death After All by Ton Beau String Quartet 1:28
31 Poor Mans Pain by Ton Beau String Quartet 1:02

The Silent Voices Project uses the voices of contemporary children to recreate the voices of children silenced at the hands of the Nazis.
In the project, young composers have created string quartets and trios based on poetry written by children during the Holocaust.
To date, the program includes composers ranging in age from 10 to 20 from Toronto, Waterloo, Philadelphia, Cleveland, and Chicago.
The Vanderbilt Libraries will host "The Silent Voices Project" on Tuesday, April 10, in the Central Library’s Community Room.
Under the artistic direction of Blair faculty member Zachary Ebin, the Toronto-based Ton Beau String Quartet will perform trios and quartets
by young composers based on poetry written by children of the Holocaust.

Dr. Zachary Ebin

has performed extensively in the United States, Canada, and Israel. Having recently completed his PhD at York University,
Zachary’s research interests include music education, music cognition and perception, and discovering forgotten composers. Active as a music educator, Zachary is a member of the faculty at Etobicoke Suzuki Music.
Additionally, he serves as music director of Arco Violini, an advanced student ensemble that performs throughout Ontario.
In high demand as a guest clinician Zachary has taught and lectured all over North America at conferences, institutes, and workshops. To learn more about Zachary Ebin please visit

Gershon Willinger

was born in Holland, in 1942, so does not have many memories from the Holocaust.
After his parents moved to Amsterdam to escape Nazi Germany, he never knew his mother or father; they selflessly gave him to a Christian family as a baby in 1942 to keep him safe.
Gershon was eventually taken from his foster parents when the Dutch police found out they were hiding him.
When he was just two years old he was sent to Westerbork (a transit camp) followed by Bergen-Belsen and Theresienstadt.
In the summer of 1945 he was liberated by Russia – his earliest memory is of Russian soldiers giving him candy.
Gershon eventually returned to Holland and found out after the war that his parents had been murdered in a Polish concentration camp called Sobibor in 1943, shortly after giving him up.
Eventually, Gershon decided to leave the country that failed to protect his parents, and moved to Israel where he felt safe. In Canada Gershon worked as a Social Worker, mainly with disadvantaged youth between the ages of 0 and 21.
He says he feels fortunate to live in a free country and urges young people not to be bystanders to hatred, or to take life for granted.

Ton Beau String Quartet

Based in Toronto, the Ton Beau String Quartet has performed at Maureen Forester Hall, the Toronto Music Garden, the Dinkelspiel Auditorium, the KWCS Music Room, the Toronto Music Gallery and Rolston Hall, at the Banff Centre.
The quartet has also enjoyed several successful collaborations including with folk band The Kruger Brothers, Afiara Quartet, Spectrum Music, pianist David Braid and the Iranian Composers of Toronto (ICOT). The TBSQ’s own series,
Ton Beau Concerts, has included performances with prominent Canadian artists including pianist Peter Longworth, clarinetist Peter Stoll, and members of the Cecilia String Quartet.