The U.S.-Israel Opera Initiative has announced that it will dedicate its June 15, 2025, performance of “Theodor” to Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim, the young couple that was killed outside the Capital Jewish Museum.

The performance will see Milgrim’s mother and Lischinsky’s siblings in attendance.

The performance marks the launch of the U.S.-Israel Opera Initiative. The event will take place at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and will include remarks by the opera’s composer, Yonatan Cnaan, and live performances from members of the cast and the Washington National Opera’s Cafritz Young Artists program.

“Theodor,” inspired by the life and legacy of Theodor Herzl, brings to life the story of a visionary whose ideas helped shape modern history.

Lischinsky and Milgrim were shot dead in May 2025 by a man who shouted “free Palestine” outside the Capital Jewish Museum as they left an event billed by organizers as a discussion of the Gaza crisis that aimed to “turn pain into purpose.” Lischinsky worked in the embassy’s political department while Milgrim had been a part of the public diplomacy department for a year and a half.

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