The idea of The Sound of Resilience came to Renan Koen and Binnur Karaevli when they worked together on The Eye of Istanbul, the biopic documentary about Ara Guler that Binnur directed. Renan Koen composed some of the music for that project. Renan who is a classically trained pianist and a composer also works as a music therapist in Istanbul. Renan's healing work with troubled children and youth caught Binnur’s attention, however, when she found out that Renan’s inspiration is the resilience of the musicians who perished during Holocaust, the idea of making a documentary took hold.
"Ever since I was a child, I have taken part in Holocaust commemoration services, during one of these events, I heard people talking about the Theresienstadt concentration camp and that the musicians interned there continued to compose and perform even during their confinement. I immediately started researching this matter. It took a long time for my research to bear some fruit. During this research I met relatives who had moved to the US because of the mass migration of the Jews after WWI and I found out that my grandmother’s nuclear family who stayed behind in Thessaloniki were all deported to Auschwitz and murdered there during WWII...Since 2009 I have been working on the music of the composers of Therezinstadt and the culmination of this work was a concert I gave in Istanbul in 2015. I would like to give a concert at the Therezinstadt concentration camp as well. The resilience of these composers inspire me and the fact that they continued to compose music under the worst circumstances encourages me. I always refer back to the struggle of these heroes when I help people through music therapy.”
"Ever since I was a child, I have taken part in Holocaust commemoration services, during one of these events, I heard people talking about the Theresienstadt concentration camp and that the musicians interned there continued to compose and perform even during their confinement. I immediately started researching this matter. It took a long time for my research to bear some fruit. During this research I met relatives who had moved to the US because of the mass migration of the Jews after WWI and I found out that my grandmother’s nuclear family who stayed behind in Thessaloniki were all deported to Auschwitz and murdered there during WWII...Since 2009 I have been working on the music of the composers of Therezinstadt and the culmination of this work was a concert I gave in Istanbul in 2015. I would like to give a concert at the Therezinstadt concentration camp as well. The resilience of these composers inspire me and the fact that they continued to compose music under the worst circumstances encourages me. I always refer back to the struggle of these heroes when I help people through music therapy.”
Renan Koen
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