Different Trains: A Special Performance at Union Terminal

Join us in commemorating the Nancy & David Wolf Holocaust & Humanity Center’s third anniversary at Union Terminal with a special performance of American Jewish composer Steve Reich’s “Different Trains.”

As a child during World War II, Steve Reich rode trains between his divorced parents in New York and Los Angeles. Later in his life, he realized that had he been in Europe, he would have been on very “Different Trains,” those leading to extermination camps. The piece highlights the intersections of history by combining the recorded voices of Holocaust survivors, American train porters, and train sounds, with the playing of the string quartet, to create a powerful, moving experience, and one uniquely appropriate for performance at the Holocaust & Humanity Center at Union Terminal.

This performance by 4-Way, Cincinnati’s String quartet, will also include African-American composer Rhiannon Giddens’ song, “At the Purchaser’s Option.” The two pieces evoke memories of a tragic past filled with oppression and dehumanization, experienced by Jews during the Holocaust and African Americans during slavery. At the same time both reflect on humanity’s struggle for survival and dignity in the darkest hour.

Register at the event website.