1945: AT WAR’S END
The nonprofit Guarneri Hall, a state-of-the-art, custom-built classical music venue in the heart of downtown Chicago at 11 E. Adams St., proudly presents 1945: At War’s End, a two-day festival commemorating the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, on November 4-5, 2025, 6:30 – 8:30 p.m. The program reflects on the lives of composers and musicians affected by the deadliest armed conflict in human history: Poles of Jewish descent Mieczysław Weinberg and Szymon Laks, Czech composer Bohuslav Martinů, Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovich, English composer Benjamin Britten, and Nagasaki native Michiru Ōshima. Adding to the intimacy of these events and helping make chamber music a deeply personal experience, distinguished guest speakers from the University of Chicago will provide context to the music at each event, and a reception will follow each performance for audience members, artists and scholars to engage in conversations. Tickets can be purchased now at guarnerihall.org, with general admission priced at $50 and student discounts available.
Eighty years after the end of World War II, Guarneri Hall commemorates this historic moment with programs featuring musical works composed between 1944 and 1946, along with one contemporary work, that explore themes of resilience, identity, despair, and hope. Performing artists for both nights include Terra String Quartet (Harriet Langley, violin; Amelia Dietrich, violin; Chih-Ta Chen, viola; Audrey Chen, cello); Brian Hong, violin; Alexander Hersh, cello; and Daniel Pesca, piano. Both programs will open with remarks from University of Chicago professors: Paul Poast, Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science and Committee on International Relations, and Rocky Kolb, the Arthur Holly Compton Distinguished Service Professor of Astronomy and Astrophysics.
The first program, Resilience, showcases music by three Central European composers, each with their own unique story of displacement by the war. Two were Poles of Jewish descent: Mieczysław Weinberg, who fled Poland for the Soviet Union on foot in 1939 and later became a protégé of Dmitri Shostakovich, and Szymon Laks, arrested in France in 1941 and eventually interned at Auschwitz and later Dachau until the camp was liberated. Also in 1941, the Czech composer Bohuslav Martinů fled Vichy France for the United States. Despite their harrowing experiences, in their postwar music, a wellspring of resilience is found in the face of devastation. The program consists of Bohuslav Martinů (1890-1955): Czech Rhapsody, H 307; Szymon Laks (1901-1983): String Quartet No. 3, “On Polish Folk Themes”; and Mieczysław Weinberg (1919-1996): Piano Trio, Op. 24. The program opens with remarks from Paul Poast on the immense scale of displacement wrought by the war, and the lessons that recede into the past as the Greatest Generation fades from memory.
Remembrance concludes this series with a pair of deeply reflective works by Dmitri Shostakovich and Benjamin Britten, both of whom were profoundly impacted by the war’s devastation and the liberation of the death camps in 1945. In different ways, they explore themes of death, grief, and despair that were fresh in the minds and hearts of these composers, although both would later compose works explicitly addressing the war. A contemporary work by Nagasaki native Michiru Ōshima begins the musical portion of the evening. The program consists of Michiru Ōshima (b. 1961): Memories, Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975): Piano Trio No. 2, Op. 67, Benjamin Britten (1913-1976): String Quartet No. 2, Op. 36. The program opens with remarks from Rocky Kolb on the role of the University of Chicago in nuclear history, the development and aftermath of nuclear weapons, and the perils of our current moment as the Doomsday Clock stands at 89 seconds to midnight.
About Guarneri Hall
Guarneri Hall NFP delivers extraordinary classical music to a broad and diverse audience through a curated mix of live performances and original music videos. The hall is a uniquely intimate, custom-built, 60-seat venue in the heart of downtown Chicago with optimal acoustics designed by Threshold Acoustics. In addition to presenting live performances that connect audiences to the dynamism of live performance with unparalleled intimacy, Guarneri Hall also produces high-quality video content designed to advance classical music in the digital age. Named after the famous Italian family of luthiers whose prominence in violin making is equaled only by that of Stradivari, Guarneri Hall (pronounced gwar-NAIR-ee) was founded in 2018 by esteemed violinist and violin dealer Stefan Hersh of Darnton & Hersh Fine Violins. For more information on Guarneri Hall visit guarnerihall.org.
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