Sun. March 18

 "Arbeit Macht Frie." You probably weren't there to see those benign, yet chilling, words on banners over the Nazi concentration camps, but you've probably seen them in movies about the Holocaust. Such lies, such evil in such a banal phrase - Work Makes One Free. The Brookline Chorus has given that old Nazi slogan a twist with a night called "Musik Macht Frei," or "Music Makes You Free." On Sunday March 18, they will be singing songs written by those who were in the camps, music that survived because of the deliberate preservation of individuals in the camps. It features Stephanie Kacoyanis, mezzo-soprano and Artist in Residence, Cantor Elias Roseberg, pianist Jenny Tang and the Brundibar children's chorus from the studio of Barbara Gawlick. Music is at the center of this production, but it's not all music. There will be stories of the performances and archival images. Guest speakers, including surviver Edgar Krasa of Newton, will speak about the horrors of Terezin and the music made there.

Music director Lisa Graham explains: "When I did my docotral thesus at USC I decided to research the music from the camps, and one of the most fruitful places was Terezin. It was an unusual camp, because of activities permitted to take place. It was used as a propaganda tool by the Nazis; they wanted to show the world the Jews could have music and organized activities. The truth is it was an awful place and many people perished." While they were there, they had, what Graham calls "a kind of freedom and they did performances, had choirs, even a jazz band." Graham started as Director of Chorale Music at Wellesley College in 2001 and staged a program of music by women two years later. It's there she met Krasa, who was a chef by trade, but became involved in music at Terezin. It was after that meeting that Graham decided to stage the concert on March 18.

"When you first get into this topic," she says, "it is very emotional. You hear the stories and you hear the context. But if you look at the music and step back, it actually stands alone as extraorindary stuff. little gems and jewels, written by musicians that would have gone on" to produce more great work had they survived. The performance  takes place at Temple Emmanuel in Newton Centre at 7 p.m. Tickets: $20

385 Ward St., Newton Centre, brooklinechorus.org