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.
