A SPECTACULAR musical event to mark the anniversary of the liberation of the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp by soldiers from the Durham Light Infantry has been placed in jeopardy.

North-East based InterOpera plans to stage the Darkness to Light event in Durham Cathedral on April 18 to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi death camp.

But with just eight weeks to go, the charity has been dealt a crushing blow when their bid for £35,000 of Arts Council funding was rejected.

Organisers have vowed to press ahead with the event, which they say shows how the arts can combat the wave of anti-Semitism spreading across Europe.

“It is hard to comprehend, when the Arts Council has been so supportive in the past, why such a significant event could not be funded,” said Jill Cole, project manager for InterOpera.

“I think it is indicative of the level of cuts the arts are facing across the board, but it is very hard to swallow.”

Arts Council England has invited the company to reapply for £14,500, with a decision expected at the end of the month, but even if approved it would still leave organisers facing a shortfall of £11,500.

Sharon Artley, of the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust, is backing the event. She said: "I felt it was important in our region not to overlook the role played by the DLI in the liberation of Bergen-Belsen, particularly as two survivors, still alive, are personally known to me.

“An event in Durham Cathedral involving members of our local community seemed to me to be a highly appropriate and meaningful way in this 70th anniversary year to honour this event.”

Darkness To Light will revolve around a theme of shoes, with audiences invited to pile footwear inside the cathedral to symbolise the mountain of shoes found at Bergen-Belsen.

TV personality Dame Esther Rantzen and History Boys’ actor Samuel Barnett both agreed to read poetry and eyewitness accounts of the liberation as part of the programme.

The evening event, which could attract up to 900 people, would feature the Reg Vardy Band, opera soloists, four choirs and seven primary schools from the Durham Dales, as well as chanting of the Jewish Memorial Prayer, El Malei Rachamim, by Rabbi Mark Solomon, and a procession by local children and DLI veterans.

Ms Cole said: “If the bid for a reduced amount is successful, Darkness to Light could still go ahead. Company members have been working round the clock since they heard the news last week to try to find the funding to fill the gap.

“Because of the significance of this commemoration, we are committed to making it happen, whatever it takes.

“We’ve looked again at our budgets to try to ensure that whatever cuts we might have to address, we can still have an event for people to remember.”

• Tickets for Darkness To Light, priced from £8 to £22, are on sale now from the Gala Theatre box office on 0300 026 6600.