Michelle Mullen

As the United Nations turns 80 this week, its founding ideals of peace, human rights and international solidarity will be celebrated not in a diplomatic chamber, but in a Bronx concert hall.

Conducted by composer Leonard Lehrman, the commemorative performance takes place at the Amalgamated Housing Co-op’s Vladeck Hall, 74 Van Cortlandt Park South, on Oct. 24. Lehrman will lead both the Metropolitan Philharmonic Chorus and The Solidarity Singers of the New Jersey Industrial Union Council, curating a diverse program that honors the U.N.’s legacy through music and resistance.

Founded in 1945 in the aftermath of World War II, the U.N. emerged from the turmoil of global conflict to prevent another world war. Its charter, signed in San Francisco by 50 nations, pledged to “save succeeding generations from the scourge of war.” Three years later, its Universal Declaration of Human Rights established the moral foundation of peace, a text that Lehrman himself once set to music.

The anniversary concert also marks a homecoming to Vladeck Hall, a site deeply rooted in Bronx musical history. 

“It’s where the Bronx Opera Company began,” the composer said. “It’s also where [my wife] Helene and I had our first public performance together in 1987:  ‘E.G.: A Musical Portrait of Emma Goldman.’”

Helene, who goes by her maiden name Williams, co-founded the Bronx Opera Company. She will join Lehrman in revisiting that work. “E.G.,” written and composed , centers on the Russian-Jewish American anarchist who championed “free speech, free motherhood and freedom from war.” The musical duo will restage scenes that dramatize Goldman’s lifelong commitment to human rights. 

“We’ll be doing scenes including the one where Emma Goldman and [activist] Sasha Berkman visit Lenin,” Lehrman said. “They argue with him about human rights and freedom of speech. It’s a defining moment for understanding Emma’s character and her role in world politics.”

In addition to “E.G.,” the concert will feature selections from Lehrman’s opera-in-progress “Alger,” based on Alger Hiss, the first president of the U.N. The composer said the work explores “the ideals and contradictions that defined the U.N.’s birth.”

The evening’s program spans a wide range of composers and eras, highlighting arrangements of protest songs, wartime ballads and anthems of unity — from renowned composer Dmitri Shostakovich’s final work, the 1975 “Viola Sonata,” performed by violist Daniel Hyman and Lehrman on piano, to Sergei Slonimsky’s “Suite for Viola and Piano” and an aria from Slonimsky’s opera “King Lear.” Sung by soprano Samantha Long, Lehrman translated aria into English from a Russian adaptation, preserving both its lyrical spirit and historical nuance.

Mezzo-soprano Perri Sussman, who will perform several selections that spotlight the concert’s themes of humanity and cultural connection.

 “One of the chorus pieces we’re doing is ‘The House I Live In,’ which Leonard arranged,” Sussman said. “It talks about all different cultures, religions and generations coming together — really blurring those lines. I think that’s perfect for the United Nations theme.”

For Lehrman, who has written more than 270 works, including 12 operas and hundreds of choral and art songs, the concert is both a celebration and call to reflection. 

“I want people to take away a feeling of pride in the past and hope in the future,” he said. “The United Nations was born out of a fight for freedom, and that fight, in so many ways, continues.”

The concert runs from 7:30 to 9 p.m. Admission is donation-based, with proceeds supporting January’s New York City premiere of Lehrman’s new opera, “Sima.”

Keywords

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