Category: Aktuell

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

Posted on April 22, 2026 by - 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.

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

Posted on April 9, 2026 by - Aktuell, news, Partnerships with Exilarte, posts-en

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.

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

Posted on March 18, 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!

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

Posted on December 8, 2025 by - Aktuell, news, Partnerships with Exilarte, posts-en

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.

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

Posted on December 7, 2025 by - Aktuell, Concert Series " Echo of the Unheard", Featured, news, posts-en

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

Tuesday, June 9th, 2026 at 07:30 pm

ORF RadioKulturhaus/ Großer Sendesaal
Argentinierstraße 30A
1040 Vienna

Ticket reservations from April 1st at the RadioKulturhaus ticket office (in the entrance area of the Großer Sendesaal)
Phone: +43 1 / 501 70-377
Email: radiokulturhaus@orf.at
Opening hours:
Mon. – Fri. from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.
Closed on Saturdays, Sundays, and public holidays
(For events, the box office opens 60 minutes before the start of the event.)

Performers:

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

Echo of the Unheard – The Wiener Symphoniker mark the 20th anniversary of Exilarte | 23.09.2026 | Wiener Konzerthaus

Posted on December 6, 2025 by - 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:

Wiener Symphoniker
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