The Discovery Music Series has added a special evening of music and conversation on April 14  that will celebrate the life of the late husband-and-wife Holocaust survivors and longtime Terre Haute residents Eva and Mickey Kor, and their shared love of life and music. The free “Remembrance of the Past: The Blessing of Music” event will begin at 5 p.m. in the college’s White Chapel. It is open to the public and no advanced tickets are necessary.

Musical selections that were special to Eva and Mickey will be performed by classical pianist Clare Longendyke, Rose-Hulman’s 2023-24 Artist-In-Residence. They will be intertwined with stories about the couple’s remarkable lives and loves, shared by Kors’ son, Alex, who joined Graham Honaker in writing the forthcoming book “A Blessing Not a Burden: My Parents’ Story and My Fight to Keep Their Legacy Alive.” 

“One of the things that Clare and I hope to demonstrate is how music can be used for healing and for remembrance,” said Alex Kor. “I hope that the evening is entertaining, inspirational, and thought-provoking … Most people know my mom's story, but don’t know my dad's remarkable story. Sports and music helped him cope, heal, and thrive.” 

As part of the event, Longendyke will perform “Lead Me to Rest” by living American composer, Rex Isenberg. It was composed in 2022 as part of a larger project Longendyke spearheaded to create new works of music that could serve as vehicles for healing and catharsis for audiences. Isenberg's piece is based on the melody from the Jewish tune “Shalom Aleichem” and is inspired by Jewish themes and stories.

Other songs and the stories behind their creation will include “The Railway People” and “Indiana Blue,” both written by Raymond Meade; “Eva’s Tikkun Olam,” by Terre Haute native Loren Gurman, and “Todesengel” (Angel of Death), by the German medieval metal band Saltatio Mortis.

“As a Jewish person and an artist, I have always found that I feel closest to my Jewish heritage when I am making music, especially music by Jewish creators,” remarked Longendyke, who only learned about Eva and Mickey Kors’ stories after beginning her artist residency at Rose-Hulman this year. “To honor two Holocaust survivors in partnership with their son, who has become a friend since we first met only a few months ago, is a career highlight for me. I am so grateful to Rose-Hulman for providing the platform to make it happen.”

Eva received international acclaim for joining her twin sister, Miriam, in surviving the Auschwitz concentration camp in German-occupied Poland during World War II and highlighting the stories of other surviving children through her CANDLES organization, which has a museum in downtown Terre Haute. She was featured in the award-winning film “Forgiving Dr. Mengele,” the documentary “Eva: A-7063,” and two CNN documentaries. Eva also received the Sachem Award, the highest honor bestowed by the State of Indiana, and earned countless other national, state, and local honors.

In 2019, Eva was featured in a special Diversity and Inclusion Series convocation in Rose-Hulman’s Hatfield Hall Theater.