Catz Alumnus Launches New Opera-Ballet Project

Catz alumnus Dr Leo Geyer (2019, DPhil Music) has recently launched the culmination of a 10-year music project: a brand-new opera-ballet to commemorate 80 years since the liberation of Auschwitz. Presented by his organisation Constella Music, this live and dynamic project features forgotten and restored music from the camp, finally telling the true stories of the prisoner orchestras.

In the archives of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum lies a collection of music manuscripts—written, arranged, and performed by the prisoner orchestras. Damaged and incomplete, these manuscripts have long been overlooked. For the past ten years, Dr. Leo Geyer has worked closely with the museum, survivors, and historians to bring this music back to life. His work has led to international news coverage, a BBC radio programme, and a Sky Arts documentary, described as “extraordinary” (The Independent), “groundbreaking” (The Daily Express), and “profoundly moving” (Financial Times).

Now, Constella is performing this music live in a new opera-ballet production, created in collaboration with acclaimed choreographer Claudia Schreier. Featuring singers, dancers, and instrumentalists on stage, the production harnesses the expressive power of song, movement, and music to reveal the truth about the prisoner orchestras of Auschwitz.

Rather than follow a traditional narrative arc, the production unfolds through a series of vignettes, each capturing astonishing and deeply emotional moments where music became a source of defiance, solace, or grief. These include marching songs embedded with hidden messages for fellow inmates, a sorrowful piece arranged and performed by the women’s orchestra, and a lullaby that clings to the distant memory of home and children.

Eighty years after the liberation of Auschwitz, we offer this work as a new way to commemorate the greatest tragedy humanity has inflicted upon itself. Through this production, we gather in remembrance. And together, we strive to be better.

The Lost Music of Auschwitz is running 03-07 June 2025. For more information, and to book your tickets, view the link here.