Seventy years ago, George Horner was a prisoner in Theresienstadt, a concentration camp outside of Prague. He was a musician and played the music of Karel Svenk, another prisoner. They played cabaret pieces, the Theresienstadt March, and “How Come the Black Man Sits in the Back of the Car?” for other prisoners. By some historical accounts, music, and more specifically, the creation of music, kept them alive.

On Tuesday night, we sat in Symphony Hall in Boston as now ninety-year old George Horner, in his performance debut, played four pieces that he had played in Theresienstadt. The joy on the face of Yo Yo Ma, the world-renown cellist, who accompanied Dr. Horner, revealed how special the moment was. As I watched and listened, I visualized the young man, playing in the midst of unimaginable misery and, perhaps, transcending for a few moments his immediate surroundings. And I thought of the 70 years from Theresienstadt to Symphony Hall and whether he ever could have imagined then, where he was now.

As Governor Deval Patrick, who witnessed the concert said, it was indeed “a triumph of the human spirit.”