Author: Stephanie Jacobson

Roundtable reConnect Festival | 12.–18.10.2026 | Arthouse-Kino | mdw

Posted on September 29, 2026 by - Aktuell, news, Partnerships with Exilarte, posts-en

Dialogues from Exile: Thinking Ahead

Alumni and Experts in Conversation on the Culture of Remembrance, Research, and Artistic Practice 

For twenty years, exil.arte has been dedicated to rediscovering repressed musical life stories and works. What began as an initiative focused on the culture of remembrance has evolved into an internationally networked research and cultural center. This anniversary provides an opportunity to look back together—and, above all, to look ahead.
In conversation with experts, mdw alumni, and long-time collaborators, experiences, perspectives, and visions are shared.

How can memory remain alive? What role do archives, universities, and artists play? And what tasks lie ahead for future generations? A dialogue about the past, present, and future.

Free admission. Please register in advance.

Lest we forget. Persecution and Resurrection | 03.12.2026 | Das MuTh

Posted on September 29, 2026 by - Aktuell, news, Partnerships with Exilarte, posts-en

The MUK Symphony Orchestra performs ostracised music

The MUK Symphony Orchestra, in collaboration with the mdw’s Exilarte Centre, promises a special concert evening with a performance of works by Julius Bürger, Wilhelm Grosz and Hans Winterberg: all composers whose works were deemed ‘degenerate’ and ostracised under National Socialism and subsequently consigned to oblivion. Winterberg’s mystical ballet Mandragora, composed in 1969 and never performed during his lifetime, will receive its world premiere.

Gustav Mahler called his Totenfeier (Funeral Rite), composed in 1888, ‘truth and poetry in sound’; he used it as the first movement of his Symphony No. 2, known as the ‘Resurrection Symphony’. On this evening, it sounds like a tribute spanning the ages: to the persecuted, to their art, and to that which could not be eradicated. A concert poised between loss and rediscovery, remembrance and a new beginning — a plea for the indomitable power of music.

Performed by the MUK Symphony Orchestra (conductor: Andreas Stoehr).

PROGRAMME:

Wilhelm Grosz (1894–1939)
Overture to an opera buffa for orchestra, Op. 14 (1925)

Hans Winterberg (1901–1991)
Mandragora. Mystical ballet (1969)

Julius Bürger (1897–1995)
Gypsy Song for violin and orchestra (1932)

Gustav Mahler (1860–1911)
Funeral Rites. Symphonic Poem for large orchestra (1888)

Date

Thu, 3 Dec 2026, 7.30 pm

Venue

The MuTh – Concert Hall of the Vienna Boys’ Choir
Am Augartenspitz 1
1020 Vienna
+43 1 347 80 80
tickets@muth.at
www.muth.at

Ticket prices

€20 / €10 (concessions)
Tickets available from the MuTh on +43 1 347 80 80, tickets@muth.at or www.muth.at

In collaboration with the Exilarte Centre at the mdw — University of Music and Performing Arts.

ORF Long Night of Museums | 3rd October 2026

Posted on September 28, 2026 by - Aktuell, Events at the Exilarte Center, news, posts-en

To mark its 20th anniversary, the mdw’s Exilarte Center—as part of the ORF Long Night of Museums—will present composers and musicians who were persecuted, forced into exile, or murdered by the Nazi regime because of their Jewish heritage or political resistance.

With an opening concert, quick tours of the anniversary exhibition, and musical performances on the historic Wellesz piano, this evening combines music, biographies, and insights into the many years of work carried out by the mdw’s Exilarte Center to preserve, research, and rediscover ostracized music.

6:15 p.m. | Opening Concert

The piano duo Friederike Haufe and Volker Ahmels will open the evening with music for piano four hands. Volker Ahmels is a long-standing collaborator of the Exilarte Center and director of the Center for Ostracized Music at the Rostock University of Music and Drama.

Program:
Works by Ursula Mamlok, Paul Hermann, Arnold Schoenberg, Ruth Schönthal, and Hans Gál

Flash Tours of the Anniversary Exhibition | Musical Moments on the Historic Wellesz Piano
(at 7:15 p.m. // 8:15 p.m. // 9:15 p.m.)

These approximately 20-minute quick tours offer a glimpse into the Exilarte Zentrum’s anniversary exhibition. They showcase selected biographies, works, and themes from 20 years of work dedicated to the preservation, research, and rediscovery of banned music.

Each tour is followed by an approximately 20-minute musical interlude on the historic piano of composer Egon Wellesz. The

Each guided tour is followed by a musical interlude lasting about 20 minutes on the historic piano of composer Egon Wellesz. Pianist Diana Brekalo performs works by Walter Bricht, Hans Winterberg, Walter Arlen, Ruth Schönthal, and Wilhelm Grosz and offers brief insights into the composers’ biographies.

Program:
Works by Walter Bricht, Hans Winterberg, Walter Arlen, Ruth Schönthal, and Wilhelm Grosz

The musical interludes on the historic Wellesz piano take place in the Korngold Room on the first floor. Due to space limitations, seating is limited. If a musical interlude is already at capacity, we recommend attending the next scheduled session.

Further information can be found here.

70 years ACF – Gala concert: 20 years exil.arte association and 10 years Exilarte Centre for Banned Music | 17.09.2026

Posted on September 14, 2026 by - International-en

In 2026, the ACF London celebrates its 70th anniversary. Rather than celebrating the ACF itself, we want this to be an ACF – A Celebration of Friends, of anniversaries and birthdays of artists and scientists who make 28 Rutland Gate a vibrant hub for cultural and scientific exchange between Austria and the United Kingdom.

On the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the exil.arte association and the 10th anniversary of the Exilarte Center of the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna (mdw), we are honoured to announce a gala concert at Senate House, University of London, in cooperation with the Royal College of Music (RCM), and the Alumni Office of the mdw, Members of the ORF Radio Symphony Orchestra and pianist David Hausknecht, will perform works by Austrian-born composers whose lives and careers were profoundly shaped by exile, displacement and new beginnings in the UK such as Hans Gál, Erich Wolfgang Korngold and Joseph Horovitz.

The highlight of the evening will be a performance of Horovitz’s String Quartet No. 5 (1969). For this concert, the Royal College of Music has made available the original manuscript of the work from the Joseph Horovitz estate for research and performance purposes. The London performance will be followed by further iterations in Vienna, including as part of the ORF Radio Symphony Orchestra Vienna’s chamber music series “Aus nächster Nähe” (“From a close distance”).

The concert concludes with Korngold’s Piano Quintet in E major, Op. 15, a masterpiece of early twentieth-century chamber music.

Welcome addresses will be given by Ulrike Sych, Rector of mdw, and Anita Taschler, Alumni Office of the mdw. Presentations by Michael Haas, co-founder of exil.arte and Director of the Exilarte Center of the mdw, and Peter Linnitt, Librarian of the Royal College of Music, will provide insights into the international collaboration dedicated to the research, preservation, and rediscovery of music in exile.

Thursday, 17th of September, 2026 at 6pm

Senate House
Malet Street
London WC1E 7HU

For further information & tickets please click here.

Performers:
Łucja Madziar, violin
Manon Stankovski-Samano, violin
Raphael Handschuh, viola
Katharina Steininger, cello
(Members of the ORF Radio Symphony Orchestra Vienna)

David Hausknecht, piano

The concert will take place during the Exile Centre’s Triennial Conference at Senate House, University of London, and will be followed by a reception.

isa research 2026: Exilarte Concert & Workshop | July 24, 25, and 26, 2026

Posted on July 23, 2026 by - Partnerships with Exilarte, Seminars & Workshops

The Exilarte Repertoire in Context: History, Analysis, Interpretation

The Exilarte Centre at the mdw – University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna is dedicated to researching, preserving and reviving the works of musicians who were erased from cultural memory as a result of persecution and exile under National Socialism. In 2026, Exilarte will celebrate its 20th anniversary as well as 10 years of institutional affiliation with the mdw.

As part of the isa – International Summer Academy of the mdw, this work takes place in direct dialogue with young musicians: the workshop, led by the founder of the Exilarte Centre, Associate Professor Dr Gerold Gruber, offers students the opportunity to engage intensively with selected works from the Exilarte estates.

The focus is on practical work on the repertoire. Drawing on original sources, interpretative questions, stylistic features and aspects of programme design are explored collaboratively. At the same time, the workshop provides insights into the background of the works and the often fragmentary nature of their transmission.

The workshop is conceived as a fusion of artistic practice and historical reflection: the aim is not merely to reconstruct the music, but to rethink and reposition it as a living component of today’s concert life.

As part of isa26, two prizes were awarded for outstanding artistic achievements. The competitions offered students in the isaMasterclasses the opportunity to present their interpretations to an audience and a panel of expert judges.
The Exilarte Award was dedicated to works by composers who were persecuted, displaced, or murdered during the Nazi regime. The award aims to encourage young musicians to engage artistically with suppressed musical heritage and with themes such as exile, memory, and cultural loss.

Exilarte Award 2026
1st Prize

Duo Jiayi-April
Jiayi Chen, violin
April Siyue Zhang, piano

Work:
Arnold Schoenberg—Phantasy for Violin with Accompaniment of the Piano, Op. 47

2nd Prize

Naz İrem Türkmen, violin

Work:
Franz Waxman—Carmen Fantasy

3rd Prize

Aleksandra Bartuś, clarinet

Work:
Mieczysław Weinberg – Sonata for Clarinet and Piano

Exilarte Workshop:

July 24, 2026, 2:00–4:00 p.m., Lecture Hall K0101
July 25, 2026, 2:00–4:00 p.m., Lecture Hall K0101

Exilarte Concert:

Concert featuring participants in the isa Exilarte workshop, including the Exilarte awards ceremony; the concert serves as the final round of the competition
Host: Gerold Gruber

July 26, 2026, at 11:00 a.m.

“Dear Papa, how is you?” – Letters from E.W. Korngold | Song recital with reading | 28.05.2026

Posted on May 2, 2026 by - Partnerships with Exilarte

Erich Wolfgang Korngold’s songs and letters provide an insight into the turbulent history of his time and the life of his family. A large number of them are held in the Austrian National Library and will be sung or read as part of this music salon. The thematic focus is on Korngold’s stays in the Salzkammergut region, to which he had close ties from his early youth. Many of his works either originated in this area or were orchestrated or completed during his summer stays there. Due to the precarious political situation, Korngold did not return to Austria from film shoots in Hollywood in 1938. His retreat in Gmunden, Schloss Höselberg, was confiscated by the Gestapo in the same year. The loss of his homeland was a deeply painful blow for him.

Interpreters:

Günter Haumer, baritone
Josipa Bainac, mezzo-soprano 
David Hausknecht, piano

Gerold Gruber, reading
Lis Malina, reading

Thursday, 28th of May, 2026 at 7pm

Austrian National Library | Musiksalon
Palais Mollard
Herrengasse 9
1010 Vienna

Admission is free. Registration is not required.

“Fremde Erde” – Exilarte at the Festival of Ostracised Music | 12–29 April 2026 | Vienna, Neubau

Posted on April 9, 2026 by - Partnerships with Exilarte

For the third time, the FREMDE ERDE festival is shining a spotlight on musical works that were banned under the Nazi regime. From 12 to 29 April 2026, in Vienna’s Neubau district, more than 100 musicians will breathe new life into the compositions of over 20 persecuted artists.

The “Fremde Erde” music festival is a project of the VIVA LA CLASSICA! association in cooperation with the Vienna Wiesenthal Institute for Holocaust Studies (VWI), Neubau erinnert, the Jewish Community of Vienna (IKG.Kultur), PEN Austria and Exilarte Zentrum at the mdw – University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna.

About the program
The festival – featuring concerts, workshops and lectures – pays tribute to the lives and work of composers whose works were banned under the Nazi regime and denounced as ‘degenerate art’ – a term used at the time to describe all forms of art deemed undesirable in the Third Reich. VIVA LA CLASSICA! brings to life the music of Walter Arlen, Hanns Eisler, Michael Graubart, Maria Hofer, Friedrich Hollaender, Joseph Horovitz, Vítĕzslava Kaprálová, Fritz Kreisler, Józef Koffler, Erich Wolfgang Korngold, Alexander Kukelka, Felicitas Kukuck, Simon Laks, Hermann Leopoldi, Hilde Loewe-Flatter, Ruth Poritzky, Karol Rathaus, Ruth Schönthal, André Singer, Władysław Szpilman, Alexandre Tansman, Viktor Ullmann, Vally Weigl, Mieczysław Weinberg, Ilse Weber, Kurt Weill, Egon Wellesz, Rosy Wertheim, Hans Winterberg, Erich Zeisl, and many other composers.

Detailed information on concert dates and tickets can be found here.

Orchestral concert “Julius Bürger – A Viennese composer returns (Part II)” | 09.06.2026 | ORF RadioKulturhaus

Posted on March 19, 2026 by - Concert Series " Echo of the Unheard", Featured, International-en, Partnerships with Exilarte

The eventful life and dazzling career of Viennese composer Julius Bürger (1897–1995) reflect the musical and social upheavals of the 20th century. His career brought him into contact with numerous influential figures in music history, and his original compositions also bear the unmistakable signature of a master of his craft. Despite significant successes at leading opera houses and radio stations worldwide, Bürger’s artistic path was abruptly interrupted and permanently altered by the rise of National Socialism. Although he continued to compose undeterred in the following decades, a large part of his oeuvre remained hidden for a long time – until these important works were rediscovered in the last years of his life.

The performance of his music followed on from a highly acclaimed concert in August 2023, which focused on Bürger’s serious works. This concert turned its attention to his entertaining, brilliant, and colorful compositions. The Divertimento Viennese orchestra performed under the baton of Vinzenz Praxmarer. The soloists were the internationally acclaimed baritone Thomas Hampson and mezzo-soprano Josipa Bainac. This concert also set a strong signal for musical discoveries: all of the works were Austrian premieres, some of them even world premieres.

The concert will be broadcast on Radio Ö1 on 2nd of July, 2026 at 7.30pm.

ORF RadioKulturhaus/ Großer Sendesaal
Argentinierstraße 30A
1040 Vienna

Performers:

Divertimento Viennese Orchestra conducted by Vinzenz Praxmarer
Thomas Hampson, baritone
Josipa Bainac, mezzo-soprano

Echo of the Unheard – The Vienna Symphony Orchestra marks the 20th anniversary of Exilarte | 23.09.2026 | Wiener Konzerthaus

Posted on March 18, 2026 by - Concert Series " Echo of the Unheard"

On the occasion of the 20th anniversary of exil.arte and the 10th anniversary of the Exilarte Centre of the mdw – University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Katharina Wincor, performed works from the Exilarte music edition by Wilhelm Grosz and Hans Winterberg. Since 2006, what was originally a remembrance culture initiative has developed into an internationally recognised research and cultural centre that successfully combines academic work, archive practice and artistic performance. Through exhibitions, publications, recordings, symposia and concerts, expelled composers have been made accessible to a wide audience.
Today, Exilarte is regarded as a model of living cultural history through the preservation of musical estates, international co-operation and the accessibility of its collections. The years 2006–2026 do not represent an end, but rather a sustainable foundation – for a living archive that gives the music history of the 20th century a lasting new perspective.

Wilhelm Grosz
Vienna, 1894 – 1939, New York City

Grosz studied at the Academy of Music and Performing Arts (now the mdw) under Franz Schreker and musicology under Guido Adler. He turned to popular music early on, for example with his Jazzband Sonata (1922) and the jazz ballet Baby in der Bar (1928). Despite Julius Korngold’s praise for his opera Sganarell, he began a career in Berlin as a producer, arranger and conductor with Ultraphon. In 1934 he fled to London and wrote numerous hits such as Red Sails in the Sunset. In 1939 he followed Erich W. Korngold’s advice to move to New York, where he died shortly after his arrival.

Hans Winterberg
Prague, 1901 – 1991, Stepperg / Upper Bavaria

Winterberg, from a German-speaking Jewish family in Prague, studied with Finke, Zemlinsky and Hába. Initially protected by his marriage to the non-Jewish pianist Maria Maschat, he was divorced in 1944 and deported to Theresienstadt. After being liberated from the ghetto, he emigrated to Germany and never returned to Prague due to the political situation. In Bavaria, he fought for compensation and struggled to find work, including at Bayerischer Rundfunk. Despite individual performances, he was denied widespread recognition throughout his life.

Wednesday, September 23rd, 2026 at 07:30 pm

Wiener Konzerthaus
Lothringerstraße 20
1030 Wien

Performers:

Vienna Symphony Orchestra
Mitra Kotte, piano
Katharina Wincor, conductor

Program:

Wilhelm Grosz
Serenade op. 5
Tanz op. 7
Spanish Rhapsody for piano and orchestra (UA)

intermission

Hans Winterberg
Symphonie Nr. 2

Programmheft_23.09.2026_Wiener Konzerthaus

Anniversary exhibition “Out of the Shadows into the Light – Persecuted Composers and their Legacy” opening on April 16th, 2026

Posted on March 1, 2026 by - Aktuell, Exhibitions, news, posts-en

The anniversary exhibition presents, for the first time, a panorama of the estates preserved at the Exilarte Center of the mdw – University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, offering insight into the lives, works, and legacy of composers who were persecuted and marginalized. At the same time, it situates their creative output within its historical context and highlights its significance for contemporary research and cultures of remembrance.

The Exilarte Center preserves, researches, and makes accessible to the public the estates of numerous musicians whose lives were shaped by persecution, displacement, exile, or murder during the National Socialist era. The collection encompasses composers, performers, conductors, musicologists, as well as dancers and theatre practitioners whose artistic careers were violently disrupted or forced into exile. Many of them went on to shape the musical landscapes of their host countries, while others fell into obscurity after 1945 and are only now being rediscovered through the work of Exilarte.

These biographies reveal a multifaceted panorama of European music history in exile: from composers trained in Vienna who went on to revolutionise film music in Hollywood, to conductors who founded new orchestras overseas, to music educators, theorists, and performers who left a lasting mark on cultural life in Great Britain, the United States, Latin America, Israel, Australia, and Asia. At the same time, many of these life stories stand for the irretrievable loss of artistic potential caused by disenfranchisement, internment, material hardship, or murder in concentration camps.

The estates held at the Exilarte Center therefore document not only individual artistic biographies, but also offer a broader perspective on the global consequences of displacement and persecution for the music of the twentieth century. They demonstrate how European musical traditions were transformed in exile and what new cultural impulses emerged from experiences of loss and new beginnings. At the same time, they point to the long period of silence after 1945, during which many of these works and names disappeared from collective memory.

The anniversary exhibition builds upon this unique biographical archive. Through selected life stories, it conveys the diversity, scope, and contemporary relevance of the legacy of exile, linking personal destinies with broader historical and musicological contexts. In doing so, it makes a vital contribution to remembrance culture, historical responsibility, and the sustained visibility of suppressed cultural history.

The duration of the exhibition is from 16.04. – 20.12.2026

Opening hours are:
Wednesday – Friday: 15:00 – 19:00
Saturday: 13:00 – 17:00

Closed on public holidays.
Free admission!

  • © Stephan Polzer
  • © Stephan Polzer
  • © Stephan Polzer
  • © Stephan Polzer
  • © Stephan Polzer
  • © Stephan Polzer