Concert celebrating the 150th anniversary of the New Synagogue in Szczecin. 8th International Jewish Music Days in Szczecin

8th International Jewish Music Days in Szczecin Concert marking the 150th anniversary of the New Synagogue in Szczecin Concert and meeting with the creators of the virtual reconstruction of the synagogue Holy Trinity Church, 8 Energetyków Street Isidoro Abramowicz – cantor Pestalozzistrasse Synagogue Choir, Berlin Jakub Stefek – organ Tickets: www.spotonart.com/dmz2025 On May 3, 1875, the New Synagogue was officially inaugurated in Szczecin – a building that became a symbol of maturity and emancipation for the local Jewish community. After years of marginalization, prohibitions, and temporary solutions, the city's Jewish residents were given a space that was not only a place of worship but also a sign of their presence in the cultural landscape of the city. On the 150th anniversary of this event, music returns to Szczecin—not in the form of a reconstruction, but as a living memory. Cantor Isidoro Abramowicz, the Pestalozzistrasse Synagogue Choir from Berlin, and organist Jakub Stefek will recall the liturgy of the liberal synagogue, in which the cantor's singing, the voice of the choir, and the sound of the organ created a common structure of spiritual presence. The core of the program consists of compositions by Louis Lewandowski (1821–1894), a cantor and composer who gave Jewish music of the 19th century a new quality by combining Protestant chorale with Hebrew prayer. It was he who composed Psalm 121 especially for the opening ceremony of the Szczecin synagogue in 1875. Alongside his works, the music of Abraham Lichtenstein and Abraham Moshe Bernstein will also be heard – composers associated with the tradition of reformed synagogue singing, whose works could also be performed in Szczecin. The New Synagogue in Szczecin had one of the most beautiful organ instruments in Pomerania. Its interior, designed with a choir and instrument in mind, was destroyed in November 1938 during Kristallnacht. Today, although the building has not survived, its spiritual structure – music, text, voice – can once again be heard. Before the concert, the creators of the virtual reconstruction of the New Synagogue, Anna Koc and Michał Dębowski, will speak. It is a moment when sound and image once again tell the story of a place that no longer exists – but which still demands to be present.