Carnegie Mellon Philharmonic’s Concert of Banned Music
One of the more disturbing trends in recent American political discourse has been the reflexive way in which more and more people are willing to equate their opponents’ views with Nazism. The sheer frequency and glib nature of these accusations risks minimizing the real horrors that acually did happen in the 20th century. Hopefully, tonight’s concert by the Carnegie Mellon Philharmonic will be something of an antidote to that trend when the orchestra, under the direction of Ronald Zollman, performs a program of music banned in Hitler’s Germany. It’s an opportunity to reflect on the real suffering of real people under real fascists, those who face suppression of free expression today, and to remember that freedom of expression will always exist on the knife’s edge. You can find full details about the event here.