René Staar was commissioned by the Tonhalle Düsseldorf to write a new work for the annual Human Rights Concert established by Adam Fischer. The work is entitled »Schwarzer Schnee« [Black Snow] and is scored for soprano, speaker, Hungarian Cimbalom, choir and orchestra. The selected texts address the struggle for press freedom. 

The planned world premiere for March 19, 2022, with Marisol Montalvo, Sylvie Rohrer, the Choir of the Städtischer Musikverein zu Düsseldorf and the Düsseldorf Symphony Orchestra conducted by Adam Fischer, had to be postponed due to corona measures. It is rescheduled for May 2024.