Shostakovich & Philip Glass

When the world emerged from its deepest silence, music became both witness and healer — a way to remember what was lost and to rediscover hope through sound. From the ashes of war, composers found new languages of truth, resilience, and transcendence.

Dmitri Shostakovich’s String Quartet No. 8, written in the bomb-scarred city of Dresden, mourns both the victims of war and the composer’s own inner struggle. Philip Glass’s String Quartet No. 3 (“Mishima”) looks to a later generation, tracing Japan’s search for identity and meaning after the war.

Performing these works invites us to remember the past with compassion and to look forward with renewed hope — a reminder that, even amid tragedy, music continues to give voice to resilience and the unbroken human spirit.