AUSCHWITZ: hell on earth – the epitome of horror and death. We all can empathise, either through stories, family connections or personal experience. Even composers and musicians, lauded by the Nazis, were not spared.

In this performance, The Griffyn Ensemble, led by Michael Sollis, presented music written and performed in the surrounds of concentration camps and prisons. It was a triumph, showing how music effortlessly transcends even the deepest human suffering. An audience member introduced the program, explaining how personal it was for him. His grandparents were murdered at Auschwitz.

There were narrated fragments from composers incarcerated in Theresienstadt in then-Czechoslovakia, but later killed at Auschwitz. There was music by Olivier Messiaen while he was in Stalag VIII-A in Poland. And there was music by Henry Cowell, written in San Quentin prison, and a folk oratorio, “March of the Spirit”, by Greek composer Mikis Theodorakis while he was held by the Greek military junta in 1969.

The musical moods were poignant, then playful; sorrowful, then jubilant. For the audience, it was deeply moving, made more so by the profound compassion the Griffyns developed for the music and the people it connected. Guest artist, the boy treble William Duff, especially delighted the audience with his wispy, cheeky singing and acting.

The Griffyn Ensemble’s 2013 season, “Elements of Canberra”, announced at this performance, is one to look forward to. The program includes some fascinating venues as well as a commissioned work, being composed by Sollis for the centenary.