"Eight pounding hearts, footsteps on the stairs, a rattling on the bookcase.” Grammy®-nominated British composer James Whitbourn’s 'Annelies' opens on a harrowing scene, as Anne Frank and her companions-in-hiding come perilously close to being discovered. The hauntingly beautiful oratorio details their experience, with lyrics adapted from The Diary of a Young Girl. At times haunting, frightening, humorous, above all ‘Annelies’ is hopeful, as Anne was herself. As she wrote in her diary: “Where there’s hope, there’s life. It fills us with fresh courage and makes us strong again.”