Music as a Lifeline
Oct 14, 2024, 6.30 PM @ Festival Center D'24
Event language: English
Singer-songwriter and author Roxanne de Bastion and Holocaust survivor Pepi Pérez will talk about how art and music have helped them through the most difficult times of their lives and what contribution they can make to remembrance. De Bastion’s book The Piano Player of Budapest tells the story of how her grandfather and his piano survived the Holocaust.
To accompany the book, Roxanne de Bastion has recorded an album of grandfather's music together with guitarist Simon Tong (The Verve / Damon Albarn). Songs from the Piano Player of Budapest consists of restored original recordings, pre-recorded works using her grandfather's original piano and sheet music, as well as reimagined works. (Listen now on Spotify: Link) Roxanne will perform two songs from this album, bringing her grandfather's music back to life as well as shining a light on his story.
The talk will be followed by the film Pepi Fandango, about Pepi Pérez’ life and his search to find the fandango, which he learned from Roma children in a concentration camp.