UNO Professor of Flute, Dr. Christine Beard, was invited by the Holocaust Museum Houston (HMH) as a guest speaker to present her lecture-recital, “Refuge, Resistance, & Torture: The Role of Music During the Holocaust” on Thursday, February 6, 2025. Drawing over 100 attendees, the event was well-received by both the audience and HMH administration, one of whom described it as, “one of the finest programs we’ve held at the museum.”

While in Texas, Beard was also invited to present her lecture-recital at the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Texas-San Antonio, for which she collaborated with faculty pianists Collette Valentine (UT) and Jeong-Eun Lee (UTSA) in performing music by Dick Kattenburg, Ilse Weber, Jan Novak, Vally Wiegl, Marius Flothuis, and Leo Smit. Beard also taught flute masterclasses at UTSA and the University of Houston during the 5-day Texas tour.

Dr. Beard will be the keynote speaker for the Omaha Jewish Community Center’s Yom Ha Shoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day) commemoration event at Temple Israel on April 23 for which she will focus her program on the lives of musicians Ilse Weber and Leo Smit, both of whom were murdered during the Holocaust. In addition to curating a Holocaust-themed recital program for the Samuel Bak Museum on May 10, Christie will present her lecture-recital at Michigan’s Zekelman Holocaust Center in June; in Costa Rica in July; and at the National Flute Association Convention in Atlanta in August. For a complete schedule of Christie’s upcoming events, visit her website at www.christiebeard.net