The State College Choral Society will raise its voice this weekend to ensure that history never repeats itself.

At 3 p.m. Sunday at the Pasquerilla Spiritual Center, The State College Choral Society will present Voices of the Holocaust. The event, which debuted last fall, is co-sponsored by Penn State Hillel, the Foundation for Jewish Campus Life. The concert consists of 22 songs written in the concentration camps about the Holocaust.

The idea for the concert originated within the choral society. The society initially wanted to do a choral piece based on oppressed people around the world, but ultimately decided to focus on the Holocaust.

Janet Haner, the choral society's general manager, said last year's concert was sold out and very well-received by the community.

It demonstrated that even in the worst of times, people still had hope, she said.

"It brings home what happened," Haner said.

Last year, the Concordia Treble of the Nittany Valley Children's Choir performed in the concert but could not attend this year's concert due to a previous engagement in New York.

"We look forward to doing the recording with them," Haner said.

Tuvia Abramson, the executive director of Hillel, will give a lecture before the concert and introduce the Holocaust material.

"It's a very emotional and powerful event; it's not like a [typical] concert, it's more like a happening," Abramson said. "I think what's important is for people to show their support in this day and age. People think that 60 years later the Holocaust is not important. When you don't accept other people for who they are, the Holocaust might happen again."

Russell Shelley, the music director of the State College Choral Society has been with the society for seven seasons.

"Tuvia Abramson's enthusiasm is contagious," Shelly said. "[Hillel has] been unbelievably helpful. The most profound part of the whole project has been working with a choir where the music has become a part of us."

Abramson said he feels that the event is very important.

"In the history of the world there has never been a tragedy as inhumane as the Holocaust," he said. "The Holocaust is the worst crime ever committed against humanity...it made it much more disastrous that the world was indifferent to what was happening."

Shelley said he feels that while the Holocaust involved mostly Jews, it is story about all of humanity.

"I think people will take away a unique combination of despair, [in] realizing what happened, and hope that it will never happen again," he said.

The concert was composed by Sheridan Seyfried, a composer studying at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. He also did all the arranging.

Haner said there are a lot of composers who couldn't arrange a concert like Seyfried did.

"When we saw his work, we realized he had the maturity well above his years," Shelly said.