Ulster Orchestra: The Sun Still Shines

Conor Mitchell                 New Work (World Première) 

GABRIEL BEBEȘELEA CONDUCTOR 

“Such a fine sunny day, and I have to go, but what does my death matter, if through us, thousands of people are awakened and stirred to action?” Sophie Scholl 

The name Sophie Scholl is not widely known outside Germany, but her extraordinary story is the inspiration for a brand new work by Conor Mitchell. As a student in Nazi Germany she co-founded the non-violent group the White Rose and distributed leaflets, encouraging citizens to resist the Nazi regime, denouncing the murder of Jewish people and demanding an end to the war. In 1943, while distributing pamphlets at her university, she was reported to the Gestapo and executed after a show trial, aged 21, and her last words as she went to her death were “The sun still shines” (“Die Sonne scheint noch”). Her short life is a stellar example of the necessity of following your conscience and speaking truth to power, no matter what the consequences.  

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