Highlights of 2024
This year, we launched a Holocaust memorial project—the website www.elmalehrachamim.com.
The composition “El Maleh Rachamim” is the soundtrack to the film Address on the Wall, which recounts the World War II tragedy at Babi Yar. Written by Baruch Berliner, Nachum Slutzker, and Sergey Krutsenko (RIP), the piece draws its inspiration from the traditional Jewish prayer for the departed.
As part of this project, diverse performers and orchestras have presented their unique interpretations of the composition, paying tribute to all those who perished in the Holocaust. This year, we released 24 videos of different performances of “El Maleh Rachamim,” with several others currently in editing and awaiting their debut.
The 2024 concert circuit spanned an impressive array of locations. We toured the United States with Grammy nominee Dmitry Yablonsky, a cellist and conductor. Along with his orchestra, the Kyiv Virtuosi, he performed the Jacob’s Dream concerto in nine cities: New York (Carnegie Hall and Zankel Hall); Cedar Falls (Gallagher Bluedorn Performing Arts Center, University of Northern Iowa); Akron, Ohio (EJ Thomas Hall); Amherst (Fine Arts Center); New Brunswick, New Jersey (State Theatre); Fort Myers, Florida (Barbara Mann Performing Arts Center); Daytona Beach, Florida (Peabody Auditorium); Key Largo, Florida (Ocean Reef Cultural Center); and Vero Beach, Florida (Community Church of Vero Beach).
Dr. Berliner’s compositions were also performed in Italy: in Lerici (Lerici Music Festival), Catania (Palazzo Della Cultura), and Reggio Calabria (Teatro Zanotti Bianco). His compositions were also presented in Portugal (Madeira), Israel (Rishon Lezion at the Hall of Culture of Rishon Lezion), and Austria (Vienna at the Salon Bank Austria). The venues in Russia included the Pushkin Museum and the Rachmaninoff Hall of the Moscow Conservatory in Moscow, the Sobinov Concert Hall (host of the 11th Kogan Festival) and the Volkov Russian State Academic Drama Theater in Yaroslavl, the House of Music in Kostroma, as well as the Rachmaninoff Concert Hall, the Cathedral, and the Yantar Hall in Kaliningrad. To the Belarusian audience, Dr. Berliner’s compositions were presented at the Belarusian State Philharmonic in Minsk.
The year 2024 saw two world premieres of Berliner’s works. In May, the brilliant violinist Haik Kazazyan and the Kaliningrad Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Mikhail Kirchhoff, debuted Violin Concerto No. 2, “The Binding of Isaac.” In June, The Binding of Isaac piano concerto premiered, performed masterfully by Miroslav Kultyshev, winner of the 13th International Tchaikovsky Competition, accompanied by the Kaliningrad Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Mikhail Kirchhoff.
Three major studio recordings of Dr. Berliner’s compositions were made in 2024. In the summer, two compositions were recorded in Moscow by the Moscow State Academic Symphony Orchestra, one of Russia’s oldest and most prestigious ensembles. The Violin Concerto No. 2, “The Binding of Isaac,” was recorded with violinist Haik Kazazyan, and the Genesis fantasia concertante with pianist Filip Kopachevsky. In October, a version of the “Sonata Fantasia Jacob’s Dream” was recorded in St. Petersburg, brilliantly performed by pianist Natalia Erte and violinist Grigory Sedukh, who plays a unique violino piccolo.
Additionally, several other studio recordings were made for our projects. In March, the Blagovest choir ensemble recorded the Russian-language choral version of “El Maleh Rachamim,” along with the choral parts for the Genesis Rock Show symphonic rock opera, a collaborative work by Dr. Berliner and Eugeniy Atsapkin, the songwriter and lyricist.
In November, we recorded Evgeniy Knyazev, National Artist of Russia and Rector of the Shchukin Theater Institute, a renowned actor celebrated for his many roles in theater and film, including his portrayal of Mikhail Berlioz in Mikhail Lokshin’s 2024 adaptation of Master and Margarita. Mr. Knyazev recorded Old Testament texts for the Genesis Symphony Poem and the Genesis Rock Show symphonic rock opera.
Throughout the year, our YouTube channel videos garnered 1,600,000 views, with the total view count nearing 6,000,000. Traffic to the website www.berlinersgenesis.com increased by 20% compared to the previous year, with more than six thousand unique visitors.
The second book is a study written exclusively for the Baruch Berliner’s Genesis International Project by art historian and cultural studies scholar Aleksandra Makarevich. Titled The Biblical Narration of Jacob’s Dream in Fine Art, it thoroughly examines the classic Old Testament story and its development from its inception to the present day.
We extend our congratulations to our listeners and partners as we step into 2025 with even grander plans and ambitious projects.