Frederic Rzewski: The People United will Never Be Defeated

Upcoming Performances
:

June 13, 18:45 – KULTurWERKstatt Urdenbach, Düsseldorf

July 4, 12:00 – Hamburger Bahnhof, Berlin

“The People United Will Never Be Defeated!” by Frederic Rzewski

Heather O’Donnell, piano

Composed in 1975 as 36 variations on a Chilean protest song, the work stands as one of the most powerful musical responses to political repression in the 20th century. In 2026, fifty years after its premiere at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington D.C., the piece invites renewed listening - especially at a moment when questions of artistic freedom and the role of cultural institutions in democratic societies have again become urgent.