Saul Dreier, the sole Holocaust survivor of his family, is scheduled to play his “Survival Through Song” show on Wednesday at the Newhall Family Theatre on Walnut Street in Newhall.
Chabad of SCV is hosting the event, which will begin at 7 p.m. on Wednesday. Dreier, a Florida resident who will turn 100 years old on April 29, is a drummer who started his Holocaust Survivor Band in 2014 and has been traveling the world and performing since. According to Dreier, he played at the Holocaust Museum L.A. in April, but he’s never been to the Santa Clarita Valley before.
“I don’t play survivor songs,” he said in a telephone interview on Monday morning. “I play general Klezmer music.”
According to a news release, Dreier endured Nazi labor camps, concentration camps and Oskar Schindler’s factory. He began the Holocaust Survivor Band to honor victims and share a message of resilience through his music.
On Wednesday, Dreier will perform with a clarinet player. He said he couldn’t bring the whole band to California, but the show should be moving.
Dreier will share his story, play music and provide a Q&A session for members of the audience to learn more about him, his experiences and his journey. The show is typically about an hour to an hour and a half long, he said.
Born in Poland, where, according to his website, his youth was stopped by World War II, he came to America in 1949. He lived in New Jersey, he said, until 1980, when he moved to Florida. He’s been there since.
His foundation, Saul’s Generation Foundation, has the goal of spreading the idea of peace in the world, organizing trips to memorial sites, helping people of Polish origin who live abroad find and strengthen ties with Poland, and promoting connecting generations — activating the elderly and the youth.
For more information about the show and to get tickets ($18), go to ChabadSCV.com/Survivor. For more information about Dreier’s foundation, go to SaulDreier.com.