From Trauma to Enlightenment: Howard Reich’s Conversations with Elie Wiesel

Join us in conversation with award-winning journalist, author and filmmaker Howard Reich. The son of two Holocaust survivors, Reich grappled for much of his life with the inherited trauma of events he never experienced. He searches for meaning in his mother’s battle with the ghosts of her past and finds enlightenment from an unexpected source, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Elie Wiesel.

Reich shares his personal journey and his intimate association with Wiesel during the last four years of the educator’s life. He discusses how that experience became the inspiration for an intimate musical drama, The Dialogue of Memories, with Reich’s words and music by Tom Cipullo. The opera, commissioned by Music of Remembrance, illuminates how we can reach understanding across generations and open doors of memory, hope and compassion. The work receives its world premiere by Music of Remembrance on May 17, 2026, at Seattle’s Benaroya Hall.

Howard Reich and Paul Regelbrugge (Holocaust Center for Humanity), moderated by Mina Miller, Founder and Artistic Director of Music of Remembrance.