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The Friends of the Oswego Public Library, in collaboration with the Oswego Opera Theater and the Safe Haven Holocaust Refugee Shelter Museum, will host a special program featuring the story behind the re-discovery of the music and lyrics to “The Golden Cage,” an operetta composed by two of the refugees who lived at Fort Ontario’s Safe Haven from August 1944 until February 1946.
The program will take place in the library’s community room on Friday, Oct. 28 at 3 p.m. Admission is free, and all are welcome to attend. Patrons are asked to register online for this program at the link on the library’s website: oswegopubliclibrary.org
Charles Abeles, an Austrian musician, composed the music, and Miriam Sommerburg, a German artist and author, wrote the text for the operetta that was only recently found in a trunk in the home of the composer’s nephew in Germany. The libretto was discovered in the National Archives in Washington, DC. They have been put together and edited for performance by Juan Francisco LaManna, DMA, Professor of Music, and Director of Orchestras at SUNY Oswego. LaManna will offer insights on the genesis of the operetta. He will be joined by Musicologist Marilynn Smiley, President of the Oswego Opera Theater, who uncovered the lost operetta, and by Audrey Hurley, President of the Safe Haven Board of Trustees.
“The Golden Cage” was first performed on New Year’s Eve, 1945 and an abbreviated version in January 1946. The first performance of “The Golden Cage” since its debut on New Year’s Eve in 1945 at the Fort Ontario Emergency Refugee Shelter will take place on Saturday, Nov. 12 at 7:30 p.m. and on Sunday, Nov. 13 at 3 p.m. in the Waterman Theater in Tyler Hall on the SUNY Oswego campus.
“The library’s community room is the perfect venue to host this special program,” says Library Director Luke Connor. “Since its founding, the library has been a center where our community shares information and ideas and where we celebrate Oswego’s unique history. I invite all our patrons to support this program and, in turn, to support our partners at Oswego Opera and Safe Haven.”
“This is a great opportunity to hear the story behind the discovery of this unique opera and its significance for the people of Oswego,” says Jeanne Brown, President of the Friends of the Library. “It is a story our community needs to hear. We are happy to collaborate with Oswego Opera and Safe Haven for this special program and performance preview.”
Information about the Safe Haven Museum, and the Oswego Opera will be available at the program. Tickets for the November performances are available at: tickets@oswego.edu
