Composer and conductor Leo Geyer first entered Auschwitz ten years ago to research a piece he was writing about a Holocaust historian. While he was there, the archivist alerted him to some previously unresearched musical manuscripts. And so began a project that saw Leo return to the camp again and again, as he immersed himself in the lost music of Auschwitz, its wonder and its horrors.   Prisoners were forced to play at the behest of the Nazis. But they also found ways to use music to protest, find comfort and survive.

In this podcast, marking the 80^th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, we hear from Leo Geyer and two of the ensemble with whom he recovered the lost music of Auschwitz:  Jewish soprano Caroline Kennedy and Hungarian Roma violinist Antal Zalai.

Picture credit: © Sky UK/ Windfall Films