Distinguished Lecture Series
Steven Ovitsky
The German Jewish Kulturbund: its Artists and Legacy:
Jewish Musical Life in Germany during the Pre-War Nazi Era 1933-39
October 28, 2018
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In 1933 the German government under the Nazis prohibited Jewish involvement in music with German Aryans. Jewish musicians had major roles in the musical life of the Weimar Republic years as composers, directors and performers from 1919 to 1933 in classical music, as well as cabaret and film. After the Nazis rose to power and Jewish musicians were banned from public performances, musicians and actors formed the Kulturbund Deutsche Juden (The Cultural Federation of German Jews) to provide performances for the Jewish populations of Berlin and other cities. The Kulturbund movement that resisted Nazi oppression became a cultural form of resistance, keeping creativity alive in face of the oppression that was beginning. Ovitsky will explore this unique experiment with rare historic recordings and film of performances and other events during that period by the Kulturbund.
Steven Ovitsky has been is the Executive Director of the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival for the last 14 years, and before that he was President and Executive Director of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and Vice President and General Manager of the Minnesota Orchestra. He is an expert on Jewish music and a sought after lecturer on the subject.
Click to see the films of Steven Ovitsky's talk
Introduction (3 min)
Full Lecture with photos
& sound from the Kulturbund (58 min)
Click for links to Distinguished Lecturers
- Shalom Sabar - Alma Gottlieb - Steven Ovitsky
- Eugene Garver - Misha Klein - Halley Faust - Alan Levenson - Deborah Lipstadt - Zion Evrony - Tomer Persico
- Avinoam Patt
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