Category: news

Exilarte anniversary concert in New York at the Center for Jewish History | March 1, 2026

To mark the anniversary of the exile in 2026, a concert featuring members of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra and pianist David Hausknecht will be held in cooperation with the Center for Jewish History, the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research, the Leo Baeck Institute, and the Austrian Cultural Forum New York, featuring works by Gustav Mahler, Erwin Schulhoff, and Walter Bricht.
The concert is supported by Alumni Relations – Office of the Rector of the mdw – University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna.

Welcome remarks by Rector Ulrike Sych and Michael Leavitt.

Sunday, March 1, 2026, at 7:00 p.m.

YIVO Institute for Jewish Research
15 West 16th Street, NYC
Located in the Center for Jewish History

Free admission! / Register here.

Program:

Gustav Mahler
Piano Quartet in A minor (1876)
I. Not too fast

Erwin Schulhoff
String Quartet No. 2 (1925)

Walter Bricht
Piano Concerto No. 2 in A minor, Op. 17 (1929)
— Arrangement for piano quintet (1952)
I. Allegro molto moderato
II. Allegretto con moto
III. Introduction, theme, and variations

Moderator:

Gerold Gruber, founder of exil.arte and director of the Exilarte Center at the mdw – University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna

Interpreters:

Lucas Stratmann, violin (Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra)
Martin Klimek, violin (Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra)
Robert Bauerstatter, viola (Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra)
Stefan Gartmayer, cello (Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra)
David Hausknecht, piano (mdw – University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna / Exilarte Center)

The publication about the work and life of the Jewish composer “Richard Fuchs – A Composer’s Search for Identity”

The publication about the work and life of the Jewish composer “Richard Fuchs – A Composer’s Search for Identity” has now been published by Böhlau Verlag!

Author: Valentina Strobl
Editor: Gerold Gruber
Publisher: Böhlau Verlag Vienna
176 pp. / Language: English
Böhlau Verlag Vienna, 1st edition 2025

Richard Fuchs: A Musical Reflection on Homeland, Exile, and Identity

Richard Fuchs (1887–1947) is among the German-Jewish composers whose work emerged at the intersection of exile, loss of homeland, and cultural marginalization. After emigrating to New Zealand, Fuchs, formerly active in Germany as an architect and musician, sought to develop his compositional voice under new social and cultural conditions – yet he remained deeply rooted in his homeland. Based on archival research, the study traces the composer’s “three lives” – as a German, a Jew, and an émigré. It highlights how Fuchs responded to political and social exclusion through his music, reflecting on identity, belonging, and memory.

The estate includes Bürger’s compositions in the form of autograph manuscripts as well as a large collection of personal documents and photographs.

The publication was published in English by Böhlau Verlag.

Concert Series ” Echo of the Unheard” | January 27th, 2026 | Alma Rosé

Alma Rosé came from a well-known Austrian family of musicians and gained fame as a violinist. Her career was abruptly ended in 1938 by Austria’s annexation to Nazi Germany. As conductor of the women’s orchestra in the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration and extermination camp, she was able to save the lives of numerous musicians before she herself died in Auschwitz in 1944.

In memory of the life and work of Alma Rosé (Vienna 1906 / Auschwitz 1944), students and lecturers from the Alma Rosé Institute for String Instruments, Guitar, and Harp in Music Education will perform works by Hans Gál, Gideon Klein, Erwin Schulhoff, and others.

Tuesday, January 27th, 2026 at 7:00 p.m

Palais Ehrbar – Kleiner Ehrbar Saal
Mühlgasse 28
1040 Vienna

Admission free! / Registration here.

Programm:

Gideon Klein (1919 – 1945)
Streichtrio (Theresienstadt 1944) Gideon Klein Trio Wien

Hiroyo Watanabe, Violine
Johanna Hechwartner, Viola
Matthäus Pescoller, Violoncello

Viktor Ullmann (1898 – 1944)
Streichquartett Nr.3, op. 46 (Theresienstadt 1943)Alma Rosé Quartett

Felix Aigner Violine
Pia Onuska, Violine
Marie Alma Mala Schmidt, Viola
Ana Šincek, Violoncello

Hans Gál (1890 – 1987)
aus: 5 Intermezzi für Streichquartett op.10 (1914) Alma Rosé Quartett

Felix Aigner Violine
Pia Onuska, Violine
Marie Alma Mala Schmidt, Viola
Ana Šincek, Violoncello

Erwin Schulhoff (1894 – 1942)
Fünf Stücke für Streichquartett WV 68 (1923) Noema Quartett

Hiroyo Watanabe, Violine
Dominik Fischer, Violine
Elisabeth Mair, Viola
Matthäus Pescoller, Violoncello

Bios:

Alma Rosé Quartett

Das Wiener Quartett besteht in der heutigen Konstellation seit Herbst 2022. Neben Werken von Joseph Haydn, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Robert Schumann und Antonin Dvorak, umfasst das junge Ensemble ein Repertoire an Stücken verfolgter KomponistInnen in der NS-Zeit, sowie zeitgenössischer Musik, unter anderem Werke von Hans Gál, Szymon Laks, Henriëtte Bosmans und Viktor Ullmann. Inspiriert von der kammermusikalischen Tätigkeit Alma Rosés möchte das junge Ensemble an die Geigerin erinnern. Alma Rosé ist dem Quartett Inspiration und Vorbild – als großartige Musikerin und als mutige und willensstarke Frau. Die Musik ihrer Zeit begeistert und berührt gleichzeitig auf besondere Weise. Diese Gefühle möchten die Musiker:innen mit ihrem Publikum teilen. 

Noema Quartett

Das Noema Quartett wurde im Sommer 2025 gegründet. Ein Schwerpunkt des Ensembles liegt auf der Musik des 20. Jahrhunderts, insbesondere auf Werken vertriebener und vergessener Komponist:innen. Daneben widmet sich das Quartett dem klassischen Repertoire auf historischen Instrumenten. Auftritte führten das Ensemble unter anderem in das „Haus der Geschichte“, Museum in Wien.

Gideon Klein Trio Wien

Das Gideon Klein Trio Wien (Streichtrio) beschäftigt sich musikalisch als Schwerpunkt mit “Entarteter Musik” und spielte bereits beim Festakt zur offiziellen Benennung der Alma-Rosé-Stiege in Salzburg sowie beim Konzert „In Erinnerung an Alma Rosé“ im Haus der Geschichte Österreich – Museum Wien. Alle drei Musikerinnen studieren am Alma Rosé Institut der Universität für Musik und der Wisscenschaft Wien – mdw.

Moderator:

David Frühwirth (Director, Alma Rosé Institute for String Instruments, Guitar, and Harp in Music Education)

Echo of the Unheard: INVISIBLE | 13.03.2026 | Musikverein

On the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the exil.arte association and the 10th anniversary of the mdw’s Exilarte Research Center, this concert honors the voices of those composers, performers, music researchers, and theater artists who were considered “degenerate” during the Third Reich and whose works have often been forgotten. For two decades, the Exilarte Center has served as a contact point and interface for the reception, research, preservation, and presentation of this important cultural heritage.

The evening will focus on works by exiled composers, readings by Cornelius Obonya, and solo and chamber music performances by artists who have been associated with Exilarte for many years. The premiere of Yury Revich’s composition INVISIBLE will provide a contemporary reflection on the theme of invisibility and silencing of exiled artists.

Friday, March 13th, 2026 at 07:30 pm

Musikverein Gläserner Saal / Magna Auditorium
Musikvereinsplatz 1
1010 Vienna

Tickets und further information can be found here.

Performers:

Cornelius Obonya, reading
Josipa Bainac, mezzo-soprano
Yury Revich, violin
Ulrike Anton, flute
Elisabeth Plank, harp
David Hausknecht, piano

ensemble LUX
Louise Chisson, violin
Marie Radauer-Plank, violin
Nora Romanoff-Schwarzberg, viola
Maria Kronick-Achleitner, violoncello

Program:

André Singer

Requiem for the Homeless
Klaviertrio, op. 32

Michael Graubart

Duets and Aria für Flöte solo

Walter Arlen

Arbeit macht frei. Für Klavier und Metronom
Es geht wohl anders

– intermission –

Walter Susskind

Rechenschaft über uns

Erich Zeisl

Komm, süßer Tod
Arrowhead. Trio für Flöte, Viola und Harfe

Hans Gál

Drei Prinzessinnen, op. 33/4
Abend auf dem Fluss, op. 33/5

Wilhelm Grosz

Jazzband. Für Violine und Klavier

Yury Revich

INVISIBLE (Uraufführung)

End of show approx. at 09:30 pm

Concert Series ” Echo of the Unheard” | March 25th, 2026 | The Shoah Songbook

The Shoah Songbook is an ongoing project by the Likht Ensemble that researches and performs music from the ghettos of World War II. The works revolve around themes such as spring, dreams, longing, and resistance, combining lyrical beauty with subtle irony and deeply moving truth. The program is complemented by scholarly lectures by Spencer Kryzenowski and Jaclyn Grossman on vocal music from the estates of the Exile Art Center and on the work of exile composers in Canada.

The project is supported by the Canada Council for the Art.

Wednesday, March 25th, 2026 at 7:00 p.m

Palais Ehrbar – Kleiner Ehrbar Saal
Mühlgasse 28
1040 Vienna

Admission free! / Registration here.

Program:

Musical works from the archives of the Exilarte Center:
Walter Arlen, Wilhelm Grosz, Erich Zeisl, Hans Winterberg, Walter Bricht, and works by Julius Schloss

Performers:

Jaclyn Grossman – soprano | Spencer Kryzenowski – piano

The Publication about the work and life of the Jewish composer “Julius Bürger – Composer-Conductor – Vocal Coach”

The publication about the work and life of the Jewish composer “Julius Bürger – Composer – Conductor – Vocal Coach” has now been published by Böhlau Verlag!

Author: Ryan Hugh Ross
Editor: Gerold Gruber
Publisher: Böhlau Verlag Vienna
110 pp. / Language: English
Böhlau Verlag Vienna, 1st edition 2024

“JULIUS BÜRGER Composer – Conductor – Vocal Coach”

Bürger studied with Franz Schreker in Vienna and Berlin. On Bruno Walter’s recommendation, Bürger later moved to the Metropolitan Opera in New York as an assistant to Artur Bodanzky. In 1929 he became Otto Klemperer’s assistant at the Berlin Kroll Opera and returned to Vienna after Hitler’s appointment as chancellor in 1933. En route from London to Vienna in 1938, Bürger and his wife foresaw what was to come in Austria and left their luggage in Paris. In 1939 Bürger moved to America, where he worked again at the Metropolitan Opera in 1949 and began a close friendship with Dimitri Mitropoulos. His mother was shot on the way to Auschwitz, and five of his brothers were murdered in the concentration camp.

Julius Bürger’s life and work would be impossible without the care and commitment of his friend, attorney Ronald S. Pohl, Esq. lost to history. Through Pohl’s efforts, much of Bürger’s music was premiered in numerous concert performances in the early 1990s. Selected orchestral works by the composer were also recorded for commercial release, contributing to the composer’s rediscovery. After Bürger’s death in 1995, Pohl continued the preservation and promotion of the unpublished compositions until he placed the estate on permanent loan in the Exilarte Center of the mdw – University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, in the same building where Bürger began his studies.

The estate includes Bürger’s compositions in the form of autograph manuscripts as well as a large collection of personal documents and papers, recordings, newspaper articles and photographs.

The publication was published in English by Böhlau Verlag.

The catalogue to the exhibition “Fritz Kreisler” has arrived!

The catalogue to the exhibition: Fritz Kreisler – a cosmopolitan in exile. From child prodigy to ” King of Violonists”

The exhibition at the mdw’s Exilarte Center shows the different stages of life of one of the greatest violin virtuosos of the 20th century, whose success story started in Vienna and ended in New York. Fritz Kreisler was cosmopolitan on the one hand and affected by the fate of exiles on the other.

On the occasion of the 10th International Fritz Kreisler Violin Competition, which has been held at the mdw – University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna since 1979, the new exhibition of the Exilarte Center of the mdw was developed – to present the life and importance of Fritz Kreisler to the public.

After the Nazis had banned all of his performances and recordings due to his Jewish origins, he emigrated to the USA in September 1939 and became an American citizen in 1943. In addition to his spectacular successes from childhood to the end of his career, the exhibition sheds light on him as a Jew and exile. The exhibition also shows Kreisler’s philanthropic and charitable activities. Material newly discovered in the course of the research complements the difficult research situation.

Authors: 

Ulrike Anton 
Amy Biancolli 
Albrecht Dümling 
Gerold Gruber 
Michael Haas 
Nobuko Nakamura 
Matthias Schmidt 
Eric Wen

Editor:

Prof. Dr. Gerold Gruber (Chairman of the Exilarte Center)

Publisher: 

Verlag Böhlau

If you are interested in buying, please contact: info@exilarte.org

Concert Series “Echo of the Unheard” I May 16, 2023 I Elisabeth Leonskaja, Ulrike Anton and Alissa Firsova I – In the footsteps of students of Philip Herschkowitz and his students

© Marco Borggreve

Tuesday, May 16, 2023, 7 PM (EST)
Palais Ehrbar- Large Ehrbar Hall
Mühlgasse 28, 1040 Vienna

As a former student of Alban Berg and Anton Webern, the composer Philip Herschkowitz was one of the most sought-after private teachers of young musicians in the former Soviet Union after the war until the 1980s. Because of his Jewish origins, Herschkowitz, who was born in Romania, was expelled from Vienna by the Nazi regime. In Moscow, too, he continued to suffer from anti-Semitic threats and his works were frowned upon as “formalistic”. The focus of the concert is the musical work of Dmitri Smirnov and Elena Firsova, both of whom belonged to the narrow circle of private students and whose compositions were on the regime’s notorious “black list” from 1979 onwards. The exceptional pianist Elisabeth Leonskaja could again be won as interpreter of this program, who will perform this evening together with singer Maacha Deubner, flutist Ulrike Anton, harpist Anna Verkholantseva, violist Marta Potulska and pianist and composer Alissa Firsova.

© Peter Kogoj

In an interview with Irene Suchy, the pianist Elisabeth Leonskaja and the composer Alissa Firsova will talk about their apprenticeship years with Philip Herschkowitz and the compositions on the evening’s program. The concert takes place in memory of the composer and Herschkowitz student, Dmitri Smirnov, who died of Covid-19 in 2020.

Works by: Elena Firsova, Dmitri Smirnov, Arnold Schönberg and Philip Herschkowitz

Performers:
Elisabeth Leonskaja (piano)
Ulrike Anton (flute)
Maacha Deubner, (soprano)
Alissa Firsova (piano)
Anna Verkholantseva (harp)
Marta Potulska (viola)


Moderation: Irene Suchy


When: May 16, 2023, 7 PM (EST)
Where: Palais Ehrbar- Large Ehrbar Hall
Mühlgasse 28, 1040 Vienna

CD Presentation Hans Winterberg, Piano Music  June 9, 2022

The Exilarte Center at the mdw – University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna in Cooperation with Toccata Classics.

The Theresienstadt composer Hans Winterberg (1901 – 1991) has only been known to the musical world for a few years. The Exilarte Center is largely responsible for the rediscovery of the composer and will publish a large number of compositions in cooperation with the publishing house Boosey & Hawkes over the next few years.

On her second CD with works by Hans Winterberg, the pianist Brigitte Helbig recorded the Toccata, the First Piano Sonata (1936), the Impressionistische Klavier-Suite, the Suite (1956) and Erinnerungen an Böhmen for Toccata Classics. This new CD will be presented on June 9, 2022 at 7:30 p.m. in the Franz Liszt Hall of the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna. Prof. Dr. Gerold Gruber, chairman of the Exilarte Center, will guide the audience through this exciting evening, where Brigitte Helbig will interpret some of the works she has recorded. Furthermore, Peter Kreitmeir, grandson of Hans Winterberg, will speak about his numerous efforts supporting the work of his grandfather.

CD Presentation: Piano Music by Hans Winterberg (Volume Two), Toccata Classics

Thursday, June 9, 2022
7:30 p.m.
mdw –University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna
Lothringerstrasse 18
Franz Liszt-Saal (3rd floor)
1030 Vienna/Austria

Admission free!

Wearing an FFP2 mask during the event is recommended.

The Exilarte Center represents the mdw at the Long Night of Research I May 20, 2022

Expelled, persecuted and banned by the Nazi regime – what musical estates are telling us…

On May 20, 2022, the Exilarte Center will represent the mdw – University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna with several events about the estate of Marta Eggerth and Jan Kiepura during the Long Night of Research.

The son of Jan Kiepura and Marta Eggerth, Marjan Kiepura, himself a pianist and artistic partner of his famous mother, will report on the fate and brilliant careers of his parents in an interview with Prof. Dr. Gerold Gruber (chairman of the Exilarte Center).

Historical film recordings and audio documents from Eggerth/Kiepura can also be viewed and listened to during the event.

In addition, there will be regular guided tours through the exhibition of the Exilarte Center “My Song For You – Marta Eggerth and Jan Kiepura Between Two Worlds”.

The exhibition shows the stage and film careers as well as the musical heritage of these two famous singers. After the so-called Austrian “Anschluss” in 1938, they were forced to turn their backs on Vienna, which the Hungarian soprano and the Polish tenor had initially chosen as their new home. Through scientific research on this important estate, it has also been possible to draw attention to numerous other fates of friends and colleagues of Marta Eggerth and Jan Kiepura who were persecuted or murdered by the Nazi regime.

Long Night of Research, May 20, 2022, 5 – 11 p.m.

From 5:30 p.m., Exilarte Center (1st floor)
Short tours through the exhibition “My Song For You – Marta Eggerth and Jan Kiepura Between Two Worlds” including trivia on the content of the exhibition

7 p.m., Franz Liszt Hall (3rd floor)
Opening: video greeting from Ulrike Sych, rector of the mdw
Marjan Kiepura and his wife Jane Knox-Kiepura will report on the interesting life stories of Marta Eggerth end Jan Kiepura. In addition, historical film recordings and audio documents will be shown.

8 p.m., Franz Liszt Hall (3rd floor)
Q&A with Marjan Kiepura and Jane Knox-Kiepura

From 8:30 p.m., Exilarte Center (1st floor)
further short guided tours & trivia 

Free entry!

Recording of the event: https://mediathek.mdw.ac.at/lnf22

Exilarte Center at the mdw – University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna
Lothringerstrasse 18 (1st floor)
1030 Vienna, Austria