On the occasion of International Holocaust Remembrance Day, the Italian Cultural Institute of Helsinki, at the initiative of the Italian Embassy in Finland, organised a concert in the form of a musical narration titled Ferramonti. Colourful Evenings. The event was curated by Laura Vergallo Levi, Sofia Weck, and Francesco Grigolo from the Civica Scuola di Musica in Milan, named after Claudio Abbado.
Sponsored by the Calabria Region, the UCEI – Union of Italian Jewish Communities, the International Memory Museum of Ferramonti di Tarsia, and the Dante Alighieri Society of Cosenza, the performance took place at the German Church in Helsinki.
The musical narration tells the stories of those interned at the Ferramonti di Tarsia camp, located in the province of Cosenza. Among the prisoners were many talented Jewish artists and musicians from Austria, Germany, France, and Poland. Despite the tragedy of their racially motivated imprisonment, the internees at Ferramonti managed to preserve their humanity and dignity through culture, organising performances and concerts known as Colourful Evenings. These events, featuring jazz, cabaret, and operetta, provided comfort—however limited—and offered glimpses of hope.
The performance draws inspiration from an extraordinary musical legacy: a box containing handwritten scores, photographs, diaries, and letters—a tangible testament to the artistic and human vibrancy of the Ferramonti internees. This heritage has been brought back to life through the meticulous philological reconstruction by the group of artists, who performed abroad for the first time in Helsinki following the success of their Milanese performances.
The event was introduced by the Italian Ambassador in Helsinki, Nicola Todaro Marescotti, who emphasised the importance of keeping the memory of the Shoah alive through initiatives such as Colourful Evenings.
