Joseph B. Hirt, a Holocaust survivor and former teacher at Unionville High School, will take part in the Brandywine Valley Chorale’s Holocaust Cantata at the high school on April 30.
EAST MARLBOROUGH — Joseph B. Hirt, a Holocaust survivor and former teacher at Unionville High School, will take part in the Brandywine Valley Chorale’s Holocaust Cantata at the high school on April 30.
Hirt, who is 89, escaped from Auschwitz, World War II Nazi death camp, after eight months of incarceration where he witnessed torture, starvation and murders and came close to death himself. More than one million people died in the camp.
The Brandywine Valley Chorale will present Donald McCullough’s Holocaust Cantata: Songs from the camps on Saturday, April 30 at 7:30 p.m. at the Unionville High School auditorium, 750 Unionville Road. Tickets cost $15 for adults and $10 for students and can be obtained at www.thebvc.org. or at the door.
McCullough’s work is an extraordinary musical journey through one of the bleakest episodes in human history, according to Jason Throne, Artistic Director of the Brandywine Valley Chorale.
Hirt will give the introduction to the cantata. Hirt grew up in a Jewish family in Poland, where his father was president judge of the regional court. As Hitler’s forces advanced, Hirt’s family relocated to Belgrade, Yugoslavia. The family had plans to travel to New York but the Germans bombed Belgrade the day before their departure. After several months, Hirt was captured while searching for food and taken to Auschwitz.
Hirt also was a tipstaff for Chester County Common Pleas Court Judge John L. Hall. Hall was a student of Hirt at Unionville High School. Hirt retired from teaching in 1993.
Hirt will attend a reception following the concert.
The Brandywine Valley Chorale was founded in June 2007 by a group of Brandywine Valley musicians, arts supporters and friends, BVC was created to add the art and beauty of choral music to the fine arts repertoire that is available in our area. Today, approximately forty auditioned members strong, this fine group of men and women perform bi-annually throughout the lovely Brandywine Valley Region, including Unionville, West Chester, Kennett Square, and Wilmington. For more information, see www.thebvc.org.
