“Poignant and stirring, The Thinking Heart leaves an indelible impression. The performers transform the essence of Etty’s rich inner and outer worlds as a chronicler of life.” — Robert Bernheim, Executive Director, Holocaust & Human Rights Center of Maine.

“The Thinking Heart”, an ensemble performance work in two voices, with cello, based on the writings of a Dutch woman, Etty Hillesum, who died in the Holocaust, will be presented at The Portland Conservatory of Music, 202 Woodford Street (Woodford Congregational Church), Portland, Saturday evening, February 13, at 7:30 pm. Admission: $15. (Reduced admission on request.)

“The Thinking Heart” is an original arrangement of the diaries and letters of Etty Hillesum, constellated as poems by Martin Steingesser, and presented by him and Judy Tierney, with cellist Robin Jellis.

Etty Hillesum, a Jewish woman who lived in Amsterdam during the Nazi occupation, wrote a luminous diary and over 70 letters, collected and published together in a book, Etty: The Letters and Diaries of Etty Hillesum. The journal and letters were written over two years, between 1941 and ‘43, ending with her transport to Auschwitz, where she died at 29.

“Beautifully done, the combination of voices and cello extraordinary,” said Tricia Ryden, Assistant Director of Wiggin Memorial Library, in Stratham, NH. “Profoundly moving.”

“Etty inspires wonder, deepening appreciation for the kind of courage that affirms and celebrates life under the weight of oppressive forces,” Steingesser says. “Here is a tragic story heightened to the finest moral and aesthetic pitch by courage, determination and the ability to transform the experience in writing.”

“The Thinking Heart” is available as a CD from Old Port Records, of Lewiston, Maine (www.OldPortRecords.com).

Martin Steingesser is a poet and performer and author of a book of poems, “Brothers of Morning”. “His poems articulate the many seasons of the heart,” said Baron Wormser. Portland’s first Poet Laureate (2007-09), he was selected to receive the Maine Alliance for Art Education’s Bill Bonyun Award in 2006 “for exemplified talent and professionalism as an artist and for being an inspiration to students, teachers and the community.”

Judy Tierney has been presenting poems in Maine for several years and has been nourished in the garden of poetry over many life seasons. She was creator and host of a weekly radio program, “Walking in the Air,” celebrating poetry and its voices, on WRFR, Rockland’s community radio station.

Robin Jellis has performed in Maine for more than 10 years and has played with the Bangor Symphony. She is on the faculty of the Portland Conservatory of Music. Her music for The Thinking Heart is mostly improvisational, meditations inspired by the poems. There are quotes from Earnest Bloch’s Schelomo. Other influences include folk songs and J.S. Bach’s Suites for Unaccompanied cello. The final movement is an original piece by Jellis.

“The Thinking Heart” has been sponsored by the Maine Humanities Council & Maine Arts Commission

Martin Steingesser
Portland, Maine’s First Poet Laureate (2007-09)
www.martinsteingesser.com
www.MatchBook.org
PO Box 7575
Portland, Maine 04112-7575