Category: posts-en

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

Posted on July 23, 2026 by Stephanie Jacobson - 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.

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.
No registration required.

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

Posted on May 2, 2026 by Stephanie Jacobson - 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 Stephanie Jacobson - 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 Stephanie Jacobson - 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 Stephanie Jacobson - Aktuell, Concert Series " Echo of the Unheard", Featured, news, posts-en

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, will perform 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

Buy your tickets here.

Performers:

Vienna Symphony Orchestra
Mitra Kotte, piano
Katharina Wincor, conductor

Program:

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

intermission

Hans Winterberg
Symphonie Nr. 2

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 Stephanie Jacobson - 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!

The publication about the work and life of the Jewish composer “Wilhelm Grosz – An Unsung Protagonist of Viennese Modernism”

Posted on February 1, 2026 by Stephanie Jacobson - Aktuell, Featured, International-en, news, posts-en

The publication about the work and life of the Jewish composer “Wilhelm Grosz – An Unsung Protagonist of Viennese Modernism” has now been published by Böhlau Verlag!

Author: Katharina Gross
Editor: Gerold Gruber
Publisher: Böhlau Verlag Vienna
160 pp. / Language: English
Böhlau Verlag Vienna, 1st edition 2026

From 1920s Vienna to Exile – The Forgotten Career of Wilhelm Grosz

Wilhelm Grosz (1894–1939), whose estate has been housed at the Exile Art Center of the mdw – University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna since 2018, performed in the grand concert halls of Vienna, the vibrant Berlin of the 1920s, and later in exile in London and New York. Over the course of his career, Grosz moved between the modernist aesthetics of Neue Sachlichkeit, early jazz influences in art music, and popular music. Political upheavals forced him into exile in 1933, where he continued his career in popular music, composing hits such as Isle of Capri. Drawing on his correspondence with his long-standing publisher, the Wiener Universal Edition, and entries from Arthur Schnitzler’s diary, this publication provides a vivid account of Grosz’s artistic networks, the debates of his time, and the multifaceted scope of his oeuvre—from his ‘serious’ music to international popular successes in exile.

The estate includes Grosz’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.

Exilarte anniversary concert in New York at Hebrew Union College | March 1, 2026

Posted on January 21, 2026 by Stephanie Jacobson - Featured, International-en, Partnerships with Exilarte

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 Gerold Gruber and Michael Leavitt.

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

Hebrew Union College, New York Campus
1 West 4th Street
New York, NY 10012

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)

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

Posted on December 15, 2025 by Stephanie Jacobson - Concert Series " Echo of the Unheard"

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 performed 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

Programm:

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

Gideon Klein Trio Wien

Hiroyo Watanabe, violin
Johanna Hechwartner, viola
Weronika Strugala, violoncello

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

Alma Rosé Quartet

Felix Aigner violin
Pia Onuska, violin
Marie Alma Mala Schmidt, viola
Ana Šincek, violoncello

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

Alma Rosé Quartet

Felix Aigner violin
Pia Onuska, violine
Marie Alma Mala Schmidt, viola
Ana Šincek, violoncello

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

Noema Quartet

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

Bios:

Alma Rosé Quartet

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 Quartet

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

Posted on December 11, 2025 by Stephanie Jacobson - Concert Series " Echo of the Unheard", Partnerships with Exilarte

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 honored 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 focused 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 provided 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

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
Mara Achleitner, violoncello