Laurence Sherr's compositions have been performed in Europe, Asia, the Middle East, North America, Australia, New Zealand, and the Caribbean, including in 35 states across the U.S. An array of awards recognize his work.
His expertise in music and the Holocaust is manifest through the creation of Holocaust remembrance compositions, the production of Holocaust remembrance events, and through international lecturing, research, and teaching. These activities are synthesized in his recent Music of Resistance and Survival Project. Other areas of creative work include pieces for solo performers and music inspired by nature. Several studies examine his contributions, including the Florida State University doctoral treatise Laurence Sherr: Chamber Music for Flute.
Sherr is the founder and clarinetist of the Atlanta band Oy Klezmer!.
2020 highlights
• Elegy and Vision and Khayele's Waltz featured at memorial event in Neustadt, Germany (article above); the Edelmann-Rust Duo also performed the works at multiple events in California and Germany
• Khayele's Waltz: World premiere of the bassoon–cello version at an International Holocaust Remembrance Day event, Holocaust Museum LA, Los Angeles, CA
• CD releases include Nocturne for piano and Elegy and Vision for cello
• Capriccioso for flute and guitar performed by Duo SoliPse in Skopje, North Macedonia
2019 highlights
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• Performances, lectures, and recordings: New Zealand three-city tour
• Capriccioso for flute and guitar, world premiere; Blue Ridge Frescos French premiere – Paris, France
• Featured composer on Performance Today with broadcast of the cello sonata – Sherr segment heard by an estimated 1 million listeners in five 2017–2019 Performance Today broadcasts
• Music of Resistance and Survival concert including the cello sonata, National Day of Memory, Republic of San Marino
• Lectures in Bologna and Cesena, Italy
• feature article: Music: Remembering the Holocaust
2018 highlights
• Music of Resistance and Survival concert including the cello sonata, and "Suppressed Music and Art during the Nazi Era" lecture, Galicia Jewish Museum, Kraków, Poland (poster above)
• Fugitive Footsteps for baritone and chorus performed in Hamburg, Germany
• Blue Ridge Frescos for guitar performed at Scriabin Museum, Moscow, Russia, and Forfest Festival, Czech Republic (6th video)
• Cello sonata: national broadcast on Radio New Zealand; performance in Hong Kong, China
• Premiere of Khayele's Waltz for clarinet and cello, Atlanta, GA
2017 highlights
• Oslo, Norway: Fugitive Footsteps performance, Ullern Chamber Choir; lecture and performance, Jødisk Museum
• European premiere of Nocturne for piano, Forfest Festival, Kromeriz, Czech Republic (5th video)
• Music of Resistance and Survival concert, Florida Holocaust Museum, St. Petersburg, FL
• Songs Not Silenced: Music Forbidden in the Holocaust, concert with commentary by Sherr; highlights in a one-hour TV program – AIB Special Presentation