From November 25, 2022 to September 30, 2023, Berlin: Exhibition:
Erwin and Maria Piscator: Political Theater in Exile
Through SEPTEMBER 30, 2023, open MO / DO 10 am - 6 pm; DI, MI & FR 10 am - 4 pm
Kulturvolk / Freie Volksbühne Berlin e.V.
Ruhrstraße 6 | 10709 Berlin | Germany
Exhibtion
Erwin and Maria Piscator: Political Theater in Exile
Posters, photographs, documents and letters illustrate Piscator's importance for the development of theater in the 20th century. In addition to Piscator's work in Berlin in the 1920s and '60s, a focus is on his work in exile in New York, where he founded an important acting school with his wife, the dancer and choreographer Maria Ley.
April 20, 2023, New York: Innovators in Exile I – The Centenary of the Founding of the International Society for New Music in Salzburg – concert
Thursday, April 20, 2023 at 6.30 pm
Leo Baeck Institute, Center for Jewish History
15 West 16th Street | New York, NY 10011 | USA
Innovators in Exile
The Centenary of the Founding of the International Society for Contemporary Music
Under the patronage of Thomas Hampson
First Concert
In 1922, a group of musicians organized a festival in Salzburg to showcase modern music. The photo above (from Egon Lustgarten’s estate in The Lahr von Leitis Archive) shows a portion of the composers who participated in this modern music festival. Seen by some scholars as an attempt to subvert the conservative image of a newly-founded Austria being promoted by the Salzburg Festival, the festival returned in 1923 as the International Society for Contemporary Music, which still exists today.
However, even by 1923, the festival had already earned the ire of anti-modernists, with one reporter calling the participants “musical Bolsheviks.” The majority of those composers would later be exiled – either as Jews or because Nazi ideology linked modernism with Jewishness and communism. Most of these composers, in the midst of or on the precipice of vibrant careers, are now virtually unknown.
Join us in honoring the centennial of the ISCM with three evenings of music from these exiled composers, including Rudolf Reti, Paul Pisk, Karl Weigl, Hugo Kauder, Wilhelm Grosz, Egon Lustgarten, Paul Hindemith, and Egon Wellesz. On April 20th, at the Center for Jewish History, we will kick off the series with chamber works and talks by Michael Haas (exil.arte) and Alexis Rodda (soprano, program coordinator of Elysium Between Two Continents, and independent musicologist).
With:
Vartan Mailiantz, violin
Tamar Sagiv, cello
Vladimir Rumyantsev, piano
and the Kodak Quartet: Edgar Donati, violin; Martin Noh, violin; Daniel Spink, viola, Blake Kitayama, cello
Admission: free – optional $ 10 donation
Reserve tickets here
Presented by Elysium – between two continents and The Lahr von Leïtis Academy & Archive in cooperation with the Leo Baeck Institute, The American Society for Jewish Music, and the Austrian Cultural Forum New York
April 21, 2023, New York: Innovators in Exile II – concert
Friday, April 21, 2023 at 7.00 pm
Marc A. Scorca Hall at Opera America
330 Seventh Avenue, 7th Floor | New York, NY 10001 | USA
Innovators in Exile
The Centenary of the Founding of the International Society for Contemporary Music
Under the patronage of Thomas Hampson
Second Concert
Instrumental music for strings and piano by Wilhelm Grosz, Paul Hindemith, Hugo Kauder, Egon Lustgarten, Paul Pisk, Rudolf Reti, Karl Weigl, and Egon Wellesz
“Innovators in Exile” pays special attention to those seven composers among the founders of the International Society for Contemporary Music (ISCM) who found refuge from Nazi persecution in the United States of America and to Egon Wellesz – a driving force for the creation of the ISCM – who fled to England. Some of them carved out new paths of success, while others died in obscurity, financially destitute and disappointed by the course their life had taken.
Some of the pieces are world premieres, and many have not been performed again since they were written and premiered. The idea of the program is to perform such works by these composers that were written after emigration to reflect their American careers, unless a work was influenced in some way by American music before 1938.
With:
Lydia Rhea, cello
Jason Wirth, piano
violin 1 and 2 and viola tba
Admission: free – optional $ 10 donation
Reserve tickets here
Presented by Elysium – between two continents and The Lahr von Leïtis Academy & Archive in cooperation with the Leo Baeck Institute, The American Society for Jewish Music, and the Austrian Cultural Forum New York
April 24, 2023, New York: Innovators in Exile III – concert
Monday, April 24, 2023 at 6.30 pm
Austrian Cultural Forum
11 East 52nd Street | New York, NY 10022 | USA
Innovators in Exile
The Centenary of the Founding of the International Society for Contemporary Music
Under the patronage of Thomas Hampson
Third Concert
Songs for soprano, tenor, baritone and piano by Wilhelm Grosz, Paul Hindemith, Hugo Kauder, Egon Lustgarten, Paul Pisk, Rudolf Reti, Karl Weigl, and Egon Wellesz
While Paul Hindemith and Egon Wellesz found their footing again after fleeing their native countries, the other promising composers, their careers cut short, struggled financially and eventually fell into complete obscurity.
We want to shed light on these wrongfully forgotten composers and bring them and their beautiful and varied music back to life and onto the stage.
With:
Jeannie Im, soprano
Alexis Rodda, soprano
Bruce Rameker, baritone
Michael Protacio, tenor
Dan Franklin Smith, piano
Admission: free
Reserve tickets here
Presented by Elysium – between two continents and The Lahr von Leïtis Academy & Archive in cooperation with the Leo Baeck Institute, The American Society for Jewish Music, and the Austrian Cultural Forum New York