Andrew Cuomo, Mayim Bialik, Renee Fleming, Whoopi Goldberg, Billy Joel, Lang Lang Mark…

“We Are Here: A Celebration of Resilience, Resistance and Hope,” a free, livestreamed, 90-minute concert that will begin at 2 p.m. EDT today, will commemorate the 75^th anniversary of the end of World War II and the 77^th anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising, even as it speaks to the challenges of the current moment.   

It will be presented by the Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Hocaust, National Yiddish Theatre Folkesbiene, Sing for Hope and Lang Lang International Music Foundation. Over 130 organizations from countries around the world—including Australia, Belarus, Canada, France, Greece, Israel, Italy, Lithuania, Netherlands, Poland, South Africa, Ukraine and the United Kingdom—will participate. New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo also will deliver special remarks.

Participants in the concert will include actress Lauren Ambrose; actress Mayim Bialik; Academy Award-winning actor Adrien Brody; soprano Julia Bullock; Grammy-winning soprano Joyce DiDonato; pianist and host of NPR’s From The Top Peter Dugan; Grammy Award and National Medal of Arts-winner soprano Renee Fleming; EGOT-winner Whoopi Goldberg;  comedienne Jackie Hoffman;  Grammy Hall of Famer and Tony-winner Billy Joel; pianist Lang Lang; Grammy-winning mezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard; National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene artistic director Zalmen Mlotek; Tony-winning actress Lea Salonga; Lucille Lortel-winning actor Steven Skybell; and sopranos and Sing for Hope co-founders Monica Yunus and Camille Zamora.

A special feature of the program will be the world premiere of a new work by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer John Corigliano based on a text by Kitty O’Meara, to be performed by Fleming.

The event will culminate with a montage of voices proclaiming “We are here,” including many of the actors, musicians and civic leaders, as well as Holocaust survivors.

The Warsaw Ghetto uprising—in which 13,000 Jews died fighting Nazi oppression in April and May 1943—was the largest single act of resistance during the Holocaust. The uprising was the inspiration for “Zog nit keyn mol,” which means “Never say” in Yiddish and is also known as the “Partisan Song”; it was written in 1943 by Hirsch Glick while in the Vilna Ghetto. Exemplifying Jewish resistance to Nazi persecution, the song was the initial inspiration for the June 14 concert and resonates today with themes of resistance, resilience and hope.

“Both the recent COVID-19 pandemic and the centuries-old pandemics of racism and antisemitism highlight the need for resistance and resilience,” said Zamora.

The “Partisan Song,” added Mlotek. “begins with the words ‘Never say this is the final road for you,’ and ends with the words ‘We are here.’ It is the song that binds together those who fight for justice.”

Sing for Hope brings arts-based hope, healing and connection to millions of people worldwide in hospitals, schools, refugee camps and transit hubs.

The Lang Lang International Music Foundation believes all children should have access to a music education, regardless of their background. Its unique programs encourage music performance at all levels as a means of social and emotional development for today’s youth.

The concert will be viewable after this afternoon’s performance.