Meeting the Ghosts is a poignant, 70-minute immersive multimedia performance created by composer and musician Lynn Hutchinson. Blending live chamber music, narration, archival photography, and historical film footage, this compelling production brings to light a forgotten chapter of Amsterdam’s World War II history. At its heart is the music of Dutch Jewish composers whose artistic voices were silenced under Nazi occupation, paired live-to-picture with an original contemporary score reflecting a modern expatriate’s encounter with this history.

Conceived during Hutchinson’s years living in Amsterdam, the project honors the quiet, courageous acts of local community members—both Jewish and non-Jewish—who risked everything to hide and preserve musical manuscripts during the occupation. Though many of these composers were persecuted and murdered, their music survived. Meeting the Ghosts transforms these recovered manuscripts into a living soundscape, illuminating both the tragic magnitude of the Holocaust and the enduring power of cultural preservation and moral courage.

Presented by Chamber Project St. Louis at the Clark Family Branch of the St. Louis County Library in partnership with the St. Louis Kaplan Feldman Holocaust Museum, this program offers a deeply engaging entry point into historical memory. By hearing these restored works performed live alongside archival visuals, audiences encounter the silenced artists across time, forming a powerful, immediate connection to human resilience and collective responsibility.