More About the Recording

I want to express my heartfelt thanks to Gesine Esther Kamprad and Felix Maria Woschek — the former for arranging my 1992 tour of Germany and the latter for producing this concert and having the foresight to have it recorded, as well.  I also very much appreciate their musical support during the performance itself. 

The concert took place in the Universitaetskirche (University Church) in Freiburg in the south of Germany.  The Universitaetskirche is located opposite the site of a synagogue destroyed during Kristallnacht.  A week prior to this I performed in a church in Kiel, in the north of Germany, also located opposite the site of a synagogue that had been destroyed by the Nazis.

At the very same time that the Freiburg concert was taking place we were hearing reports of anti-foreigner and anti-semitic outbreaks in the former East Germany.  Finding myself physically close to such traumatic memories and frightening current realities filled me with much pain and sorrow.  Despite this I was heartened by the large numbers of people who came to hear me and by their willingness to join me in prayerful song.  It appeared to me that there are among the current generation of Germans many who are interested in confronting the injustices of the past and the personal shame they feel about it, and who desire to do what they can to prevent such horrors from ever occuring in Germany again.

As the Nazi beast raises its ugly head once again, the German people are being presented with the opportunity to clearly and consciously reject racial and religious hatred in all its forms.  My prayers are with all those who are working toward this end.  It is my hope that the interactions I experienced during my tour and the dissemination of this recording will contribute to the healing process that needs to occur.